Black Army of Hungary - Development of A Modern Well-organized Drafting

Development of A Modern Well-organized Drafting

In the first years of Matthias' rule, the structure of enlisting troops was built on the legacy of his ancestor Sigismund of Luxembourg. The majority of his army consisted of noble banners and the soldiers provided and regulated by the Militia Portalis (manor militia), which outlined that for every twenty serf-lots (portae), a noble was ordered to raise and lend one archer to the king. Later, that obligation was reconsidered, and the limit was shifted to one archer per 33 manors and three mounted archers per 100 manors. Those who did not have serfs but owned manors as a noble had to join a regional count in state of war. No significant number of mercenaries were present in the Hungarian army during Matthias' early years. (In the 1463 Janus Pannonius' report of the siege of Jajce Castle, there is no mention of them.)

In case of emergency, a last chance existed for the actual king in power to mobilize the population suddenly. Every noble, no matter his social class, had to participate in person with his weaponry and all of his personal guards made available. These were the estate armies. Whenever they were called upon, they were not allowed to fight for over 15 days, and their field of operations was restricted within the borders of Hungary. The so-called insurrectio (noble insurrection) was nothing more than an obsolete form of drafting, but it was valid until the Battle of Raab in 1809, mainly because it relieved the participating nobles of paying their taxes; but generally, these enlisted armada played a minor role in the Black Army, since Matthias decreased their participation gradually and called them in in large numbers early in his reign.

In the laws of 1459 of Szeged, he restored the basis of 20 serfs to induct an archer (this time it was based on the number of persons). The barons' militia portalis no longer counted in the local noble's banner but into the army of the country (led by a captain appointed by the king) and could have been sent abroad as well. He also lifted the insurrectio's time of service from 15 days to three months.