Hungarian consciousness and warfare in Ottoman Era Hungary

Abstract

This study, based on military-related sources, argues that by the end of the Ottoman Era, ethno-cultural national identity took precedence over the sense of belonging to a social or religious group. From the late Middle Ages onwards, the peasantry played an increasingly important role in the anti-Turkish struggles. According to contemporary letters, orders, songs and military treatises, the resistance and freedom struggle against both the Ottomans and the Habsburgs contributed significantly to the fact that commoners and nobles began to see each other as belonging to the same national community. In the analysis, special attention is given to the representative of 16th century Hungarian intelligentsia, Péter Pécsi Kis’ Exegeticon and 17th century aristocrate Miklós Zrínyi’s Áfium, both of which contain unique thoughts from the history of ideas’ point of view. A recurring motif in primary sources is the emphasis on a sense of belonging based on common descent and armed lifestyle, as the particular factors capable of forging unity between individuals belonging to diverse denominations and estates. The direct or indirect military involvement and armed lifestyle of a significant portion of society contributed decisively to the development and strengthening of Hungarian identity during the 16th–17th centuries.