Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.22586/ss.22.1.11
Ottoman Military Forces in Sanjaks of Sziget, Pécs, Požega and Pakrac Based on Habsburg Intelligence Reports from 1577
Nataša Štefanec
; Odsjek za povijest, Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Ivana Lučića 3, HR-10000 Zagreb
Abstract
In 1577, the Viennese Aulic War Council (Hofkriegsrat) organized an extensive counseling on the reorganization of the Military Border from the Adriatic until Transylvania. In order to prepare the meeting and provide councilors with data necessary for deliberation, commanders of all six major border units delivered extensive intelligence reports on Ottoman military potentials. This paper analyses two such intelligence reports, originally preserved in the Kriegsarchiv in Vienna, that cover the area from Balaton lake to Sava river (sanjaks of Sziget, Pécs, Požega and Pakrac). Using comparative and quantitative methods the paper provides a detailed comparison of collected data on Ottoman and Habsburg military potentials in the 1570s, demonstrates that Ottoman military in the region was more complex and numerous than their Habsburg counterpart and shows that this notion influenced Habsburg decisions on quantity and distribution of their military during the reform (1577/78). The paper also provides information on the status of Ottoman fortresses and defences and analyses collected data in the context of military history, comparing the complexity of military organization on both sides of the border, especially with regard to type and function of units. Finally, the paper provides transcripts of two detailed versions of intelligence reports and rectifies summarized version of reports published by Radoslav Lopašić.
Keywords
Slavonian Border; Slavonian Frontier; Ottoman military; 16th century; Sancak of Pecs; Sanjak of Pécs; Sanjak of Sziget; Sanjak of Požega; Sanjak of Cernik/Pakr; intelligence reports; Veit von Hallegg
Hrčak ID:
285864
URI
Publication date:
17.11.2022.
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