Defending and administering the frontier: The case of Ottoman Hungary (2024)

A definition of frontier in the Hungarian Kingdom during the 17th century. Kritische Zeiten 2012. 3-4. pp.50-55.

For a Different Catastrophe: A Fruitful Frontier on the Southern Edges of the Kingdom of Hungary after 1463. An Initial Inquiry

Initial. A Review of Medieval Studies, 2017

By reassessing the sources and the present-day dominant histo-riographical discourse pertaining to social and political reactions to the Ottoman conquest of Bosnia and subsequent clashes in the surrounding territories, the author proposes a more complex approach to such issues by applying a modified theory and methodological background stemming from the frontier thesis. The paper suggests a diversity of experiences of the frontier established by the ultimate Ottoman-Hungarian duality as opposed to current uniform interpretations based on the notions of defense, war, exclusive enmities, the demographic, economic and generally social catastrophes and similar phenomena. By focusing on the individuals and several examples related to policies of King Matthias Corvi-nus, it proposes that the reactions to the Ottoman presence should not be observed heterogeneously, but that, as the examples show, the downfall of the Bosnian pol-ity brought positive results for some members of society and, thus, a notion of variety of individual mechanisms, social practices, and political agendas should be considered when investigating the period. Ultimately, a similar theoretical framework could be applied regardless of the period or the territory in question.

The Process of Bordering at the Late Fifteenth-Century Hungarian-Ottoman Frontier

History in Flux: Journal of the Department of History, Faculty of Humanities, Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, 2019

Following the Ottoman conquest of the Despotate of Serbia in 1459 and the Kingdom of Bosnia in 1463, a new phase of Hungarian-Ottoman relations was introduced. With the disappearance of the Hungarian “buffer” towards the Ottoman-held areas, the territories of the two states became adjacent, and their mutual frontier had to be negotiated afresh. By looking into all available material, Latin, Slavonic, and Ottoman, this paper aims to trace negotiations between the two sides in the period of King Matthias Corvinus’ reign and discern their content and application with regard to borders. It tackles the demarcation of the border between the two sides, and highlights the mechanisms employed for its institutional maintenance.

The Origins and Development of the Border Defence System against the Ottoman Empire in Hungary (Up to the Early Eighteenth Century). In: Ottomans, Hungarians, and Habsburgs in Central Europe: The Military Confines... Ed. Géza Dávid–Pál Fodor. Leiden–Boston–Köln : Brill, 2000. p. 3–69.

The Impact of the Ottoman Rule on Hungary. In: Hungarian Studies Review [Toronto] Vol. XXVIII. (2001) Nr. 1–2. p. 109–132.

Guarding Sultan Murad IV’s Frontier: An Attempt at Contextualising the Hungarian Garrisons around 1630

Anadolu ve Balkan Araştırmaları Dergisi, 2022

Tangible evidence regarding Ottoman military entity in the early modern period is provided by the frontier garrisons. Therefore, studies of Ottoman military history in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries have started to focus on the garrisons on the Hungarian frontier. The present study undertakes a similar attempt but with a particular focus on the border garrisons stationed in the European provinces of the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Sultan Murad IV (r. 1623-1640). Both provincial (pay lists and treasury registers) and central registers (central treasury register in Istanbul) provide us with data that render it possible to have a rough idea regarding the garrisons troops. Thus, this study aims at a comparison of the Hungarian frontier troops with those of other Ottoman provinces in Europe. Furthermore, a similar comparison will be made by comparing Ottoman frontiers with the troops stationed across the border, i.e., the troops of the Ottoman rival states. As a result, the present study argues that the Ottoman administration placed the lion’s share of its military entity/garrison troops on the western frontier against the Habsburgs. ÖZET Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Yeniçağ askeri varlığına dair en somut delilleri, serhat garnizonları teşkil etmektedir. Bu sebepten ötürü olsa gerek ki, on altı ve on yedinci yüzyıla dair şimdiye kadar yapılan Osmanlı askeri tarihi çalışmaları özellikle Macaristan serhattindeki garnizonlara odaklanmıştır. Mevcut çalışma da benzer bir teşebbüste bulunmakta, ancak bunu hususi olarak Sultan IV. Murad (h. 1623-1640) döneminde Rumeli vilayetlerinin garnizonlarını mercek altına alarak yapmaktadır. Gerek taşra muhasebesinin (mevacip ve hazine) gerekse merkezi muhasebenin (hazine ruznamçeleri) sunmuş olduğu veriler, garnizon sayılarına dair bir fikir edinmeyi mümkün kılmaktadır. Böylece, Macar hududunu diğer eyalet garnizonlarıyla kıyaslamak hedeflenmektedir. Literatür el verdiği ölçüde hududun karşı tarafında yer alan (Osmanlı rakiplerinin barındırdığı) askeri kuvvetlere değinmek de benzer bir kıyaslamayı mümkün kılacaktır. Sonuç olarak mevcut çalışma, Osmanlı askeri varlığının en gözle görülür kısmının Habsburglara karşı batı serhattinde konuşlandırıldığını öne sürmektedir.

Hungary between East and West: The Ottoman Turkish Legacy

2013

“Habsburgs and Ottomans: Defense, Military Change and Shifts in Power”

The Meaning of Boundaries. The Making of Romano-Hungarian Frontier after the First World War

2019

Il senso dei confini. La frontiera romeno-ungherese dopo la prima guerra mondiale Il contesto del primo dopoguerra porto a una generale ridefinizione geopolitica dell'area dell'Europa centro-orientale, dove i territori degli Imperi plurinazionali furono divisi fra numerosi Stati nazionali. In molte regioni dovettero essere tracciati nuovi confini che non rispondevano pienamente a criteri etnici, storici, economici o geografici. Il lavoro delle commissioni di delimitazione che furono chiamate sul campo a definire tali frontiere, come nel caso romeno-ungherese, risulta pertanto di grande importanza per comprendere l'impatto che i nuovi confini ebbero sulla realta locale di molte regioni europee e sulle conseguenze per lo sviluppo futuro, tanto nei rapporti tra Stati quanto nelle relazioni sociali ed economiche fra gruppi etnici e comunita locali. Le significat des limites. La frontiere entre la Roumanie et l’Hongrie apres la premiere guerre mondiale Le contexte de la premi...

At the Periphery of the World of Islam: Ottoman Policy on the Western Frontier, 1463–1593

International Conference Nicholas Šubić Zrinski and Sigetvár 1566, Zagreb 19–21 October 2016, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, pp. 88-92, 2016