Bujdosné Pap Györgyi et al.: Mozgó frontvonalak. Háború és diplomácia a várháborúk időszakában 1552-1568 - Studia Agriensia 35. (Eger, 2017)
Florin-Nicolae Ardelean: On the Foreign Mercenaries and Early Modern Military Innovations in East Central Europe. Castaldo's Army in Transsylvania and the Banat
principles, took place in 1551, when Transylvania was occupied for a short period by the Habsburgs. In order to efficiently govern the new territories, and to defend them from the Turks, Emperor Ferdinand I sent a considerable number of mercenaries led by the Italian count Giovanni Battista Castaldo.4 Castaldo was in command of a rather large military force consisting of mercenaries of different origins, gathered from the various European territories under Habsburg control. This army was described by Ascanio Centorio degli Hortensii in his book Comentarii della guerra di Transilvania. According to Centorio the army consisted of7400 soldiers (5700 infantry and 1700 cavalry) and 13 light artillery pieces.5 This information is partially confirmed by official documents and has been accepted by most historians concerned with this subject. However, a fact that is generally overlooked, is that the Habsburg troops were very mobile during their stay in Transylvania (from 1551 to 1553). The army was divided in smaller detachments that were spread in several locations, especially in the southern parts of Transylvania and in the Banat. As the Ottoman menace increased, new troops were brought in from Royal Hungary and form other Habsburg territories while some of the older contingents were sent to other sections of the frontier in Hungary (at the siege of Szeged for example).6 7 Smaller detachments travelled between Transylvania and Royal Hungary on a regular basis. In July 1551 for example, István Dobó and a contingent of 200 cavalry travelled from Transylvania to Hungary in order to protect a convoy of supplies and, most importantly, the money needed to pay the wages of soldiers.' Before the first siege of Temesvár, in 1551, Castaldo himself appreciated that he was in charge of about 9000 soldiers in Transylvania and that Sforza Pallavicini was expected with 3500 more men.8 In the next two years the mercenary army of Castaldo diminished, especially after the fall of Temesvár in 4 By the time he received the command of the Habsburg army heading for Transylvania in 1551, Castaldo was an experienced military commander. In the first decades of the Sixteenth century he fought in the Franco-Spanish wars in northern Italy and afterwards continued to serve in the army of Charles V D Ayala 1867.86-124. 5 Centorto 1566.65-66.; Kropf 1896. 323-324. A report dating from 14May 1551 also describes the composition of this multi-national army that was advancing through Upper Hungary. The largest part consisted of German infantry (around 7000 landsknechts), a company of 200 hussars, a few companies of Hungarian infantry and 6 companies of Spanish infantry. ÖStA HHStA Hungarica AA Fas. 57, Konv. C, f. 57-60. 6 Reizner 1900. doc. LXXX, 147; doc. LXXXIV 150-151.; ÖStA HHStA Hungarica AA Fas. 63, Konv. A, £237. 7 ÖStA HHStA Hungarica AA Fas. 58, Konv. C, £ 5-6. 8 ÖStA, HHStA, Hungarica AA Fas. 60, Konv. A, £ 108-109. Other sources indicate that Pallavicini came with a new regiment of Czech and German mercenaries (the Brandis regiment) consisting of 3000 soldiers and 400-500 heavy cavalry from Silesia under the command of Carol Serottin. Centorio 1566.101-102.; Kropf 1896.324. 118
