Military regulations

I intend to share a few military regulations from the period of Ottoman wars.

The regulation issued by Prince Bocskai István of Transylvania (before 1606)

The “jus militare Hungaricum”, based on Lazarus Schwendi’s regulations, was followed by several other regulations in the 17th century, but none of them regulated the discipline and duties of the Hungarian military in such detail and in such a general way as Schwendi’s regulations, which were based on the German model.

Only Bocskai István’s “Statuta et leges militares”, published in April 1606, can be compared in character with the “military law code” of the Hungarian cavalry and infantry. Bocskai not only regulated the number of cavalry troops and pledged his soldiers to loyalty, but also specified the most common offenses and misdemeanors and their punishment in eleven points. His regulations were already generally valid and were the first of their kind, specifically among the Hungarian military regulations. It not only regulates the number of troops, the right to appoint officers, and the discipline of the army, but also the relationship of soldiers with the civilian population.

Bocskai amid his “little angels”, the Hajdú soldiers

Regarding the number of troops, he orders that “…the regulations of the cavalry army shall be that the captain on horseback shall have not more than five hundred horses and that the captain shall not keep a lieutenant of superior rank who has less than one hundred horsemen. Both the captain and the lieutenants under him shall have their numbers and names written in order.”

For the sake of good relations with the population, he commands, “No one shall take the serfs’ horses, oxen, or any movable or immovable property, whatever they may be, and if anyone steals them, he shall return the property to the captain and be severely punished for such an act: if the captain does not do so, he shall forfeit his office, and if he has sold the property, he shall compensate the poor man.”

A Hungarian infantryman (a Hajdú soldier) in the 17th century

In the regulation of Bocskai István, we can see a great severity and the requirement of iron discipline. Punishable by death were all those who arbitrarily abandoned their flags, that is, those who “deserted their troops .” The same fate awaited those who raised themselves to the rank of lieutenant and captain – presumably a rejection of the ancient Hungarian custom among the hajdus, namely that the military community (as a military democracy) raised and appointed its officers themselves. Here, the military leadership of the prince went against this custom, and only those who they appointed and placed at the head of the troops could be lieutenants or captains.

It was also a capital offense to plunder and pillage food supplies (the war food) and to disturb the postal service. He specifically stressed “Those who break virgins by force, rape women, will pay them with their heads.”

Bocskai gave this flag to his Hajdú soldiers in 1604

The military regulations also paid close attention to the religious life of “Bocskai’s angels”, and the mostly Roman Catholic – i.e. belonging to the Protestant denomination of Calvin – an army of the Hajdús had a regulated sermon order. For “God may grant us good fortune in our armies, and that the captains may always strive to increase the glory of God among them day by day, preaching shall be preached in every army, and the captains shall forbid foul language and cursing among the soldiers, and if any man sin or act against the prohibition, the captain shall punish him and give him a good example”.

Three Hungarian infantrymen (Hajdú) from 1591

The Regulation of Esterházy Pál in 1672

On the 4th of October in 1672 a military decree was issued by Esterházy Pál, the chief captain of the mining district of the Kingdom of Hungary.

In 1672, with the help of Prince Apafi Mihály, the dismissed exiles, fugitive Protestants, and nobles who had fled to Transylvania, the so-called Fugitives, launched their first attack against the Kingdom of Hungary. In the autumn of 1672, Esterházy Pál mobilized the Fülek garrison against the Kuruc troops. On October 4, the chief captain of the mining district issued a general instruction for the conduct of soldiers and officers, based on which Koháry István had to prepare an edict for his own army.

In the first lines of the document, Koháry made it clear that obedience had to be maintained since both the soldiers under contract and the soldiers who were free to make a contract (the so-called ” free lads “) had been paid their wages, and as long as they were in camp, their food, lodging, and horse supplies would be provided, so there was no reason for the soldiers to rebel or to live in the villages.

– The first point strictly forbids any swearing, cursing, or blasphemy, as such behavior would bring the wrath of God upon the army and could jeopardize the success of the campaign. Those caught the first time will be flogged, but those caught red-handed the second time will be court-martialed.

– The second point mandates obedience to the leaders. Anyone who disobeys his superior will be whipped, and anyone who attacks his superior will be executed. Anyone who fails his superior in battle will also be punished by death. Koháry István appointed Oláh János and Komáromi István as his lieutenants so that the troops owe their obedience to these two officers in case of trouble. The captain-general also said that every corporal would be responsible for his own 10 men and would be accountable for them.

– The third point emphasizes the need to pay attention to the bugle signals and to the behavior in the column. The soldier should not lag behind his own unit, because the troop leader will beat him and will also be punished.

– The fourth point forbade the harassment of the civilian population and the plundering of the peasantry and punished the offender with caning in the first instance and court martial in the second. To reduce the number of acts of violence against the population, the order also provided for the punishment of the soldier who did not report the offense. Any soldier who wanted something should not take it by force but should report it to his superior officer, who would see that the wish was fulfilled as far as possible.

– According to the fifth point, quarrels and fights in the camp were strictly forbidden and punishable by caning. The same point also provided for duels: as in the castle, here too, whether in the camp or on the march, a man was severely punished, the first time with 300 strokes of the cane, “…and if he does not learn by this and is found doing so in the future, half his hand shall be cut off…”.

– The sixth point of the regulation related to conduct during the battle alarm. Once the order of battle had been established, no one should leave his troop, gallop around, and stay close to his leader to protect him. Anyone who fled out of cowardice would lose honor in the eyes of his troops and even receive the death penalty.

– As a seventh point, Koháry listed the “monstrous offenses for which immediate death was the punishment: plundering churches, raping women, attacking men and wagons delivering food to the camp, taking their cattle and cargo.”

Source: Szibler Gábor

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Military regulations

The regulation issued by Prince Bocskai István of Transylvania (before 1606)

The Regulation of Esterházy Pál in 1672

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