Project Hungarian Update: Szekely
Szekely
The precise origins of the Szekely are unknown and subject to a long running scholarly debate. What is known is that they were a separate ethnic group from the Magyars and they believed they were direct descendants from the Huns. By the 13th century the Szekely formed the largest Hungarian speaking group in Transylvania. Their lands covered some 12,000 kilometres and were divided into seven districts called szek (seats). The name Szekely does not apparently originate from this. Six of these districts, comprising the vast majority of the Szekely were in one block in the South of Transylvania, the seventh formed a small enclave near the town of Tuda. The Szekely lands were outside of traditional Hungarian law, even the Voivode of Transylvania had no authority within their borders. Instead the administration of law fell to the Count of the Szekely. The Count was appointed by the King and was usually a Hungarian Lord, often but not always the Voivode of Transylvania as well. From 1462 the two offices were combined on a permanent basis. Through out this period the Szekely remained a semi-nomadic people who made their living from horse and cattle breeding. As such they were regarded as some of the finest light horsemen available to the Kings of Hungary. This in some way goes to explain why the Szekely were able to retain their unique life style while other ethic groups like the Cumans (see below) became absorbed into Hungarian society. The only obligation the Szekely had to the Hungarian Crown was supplying troops for military service. The Szekely were divided into six tribes, each subdivided into four branches. These divisions were purely political and military in origin and spread over the entire Szekely lands. Each branch was obligated to provide the Hungarian Crown with 100 horsemen for military service. This gives an obligated total of 2400 horsemen. This appears to have been further supplemented by a militia only obligated to serve for 30 days. In 1473 the Szekely militia is recorded as being made up of three distinct groups, those that serve with three other mounted men, individual horsemen and finally infantry. It is probably no coincidence that this mirrors the last two 'ranks' of the Szekely Social structure. There were three orders of rank, the Primores, the Primipili and the community. The Primores were equivalent to Nobles, though Chieftains would probably be more accurate. They provided the military leadership. The Primipili have been described as a sub-officer class probably responsible for their own local militia. The community were the bulk of the Szekely Nation and would have provided the mounted common soldiers and an infantry militia. Though there is almost certainly no connection the officer and three mounted men mirrors the early Ottoman arrangement for Spahis recruitment. So the Crown could rely on 2400 Szekely cavalry when they were needed and a militia for local defence as well. Janos Hunyadi certainly used a large number of Szekely and 'Saxon' troops at the battle of Vasaq in 1442. The Venetian Baduario reports that Matthius' army in the 1470's had some 16,000 Szekely horsemen. When compared to a figure of 4,000 from 1430, which is the combined totals of available Saxon and Szekely troops this appears to be a massive rise. This is however not necessarily an unbelievable figure. Matthius relied on mercenaries for his army and it is more than likely given the preference for competent horsemen that the Szekely would have been prime candidates for recruitment. The figure of 1430 also matches quite closely to the numbers the Saxon and Szekely communities had to provide to the Crown so probably should not be taken as indicative of the number of soldiers potentially available. The Szekely appear to have fulfilled a similar role to the Serbian Hussars providing Light Horse. Baduario describes the Szekely as armed with lance, Shield and bow. Given their background of semi-nomadic herders its seems more than likely that this was indeed their primary military function. There are however several anomalies with Szekely troops. At Vasaq in 1442 a group of Szekely are described as elite and assigned to a bodyguard role. At Varna Szekely are described as forming up with the heavy cavalry. It is possible that some Szekely were more Hungarian in their weapons and battlefield role. In both cases above they were Janos Hunyadi's troops so may have represented a bodyguard element associated with him as Count of the Szekely.
