Following the army’s poor showing at the Battle of Nicopolis, a Diet (assembly) of 1397 ordained that in future those of the so-called lesser nobility who were unfit for service were to be exempted. Instead each baron and noble was to provide and equip an archer, probably mounted, from each 20 jobagiones or ‘serf-lots’ that he owned. However, this attempt at reform proved unsuccessful, and new attempts at reorganisation were instigated by Sigismund (1387-1437) in 1432-35. The better-off members of the lesser nobility were still required to serve in person, but the poorer of them were exempted. In the event of a general campaign those with lands (lay and ecclesiastic landowners alike) were now required to field 3 mounted men per 100 serf-lots, i. e. one man per 33 (amended to one man per 10 in Transylvania in 1435), armed with at least a bow by the decree of 1432 or with bow, quiver, sword and lance by that of 1435; these constituted the militia portalis (the serf-lots probably being the same as portae, which were units of tax-assessment). Those with less than 33 serf-lots were grouped together to jointly supply the appropriate contribution of men, each county being expected to provide a specific quantity under its comes. The 15-day time limit was abolished and service could now be called upon for as long as required. The principal restriction on its use was that the militia portalis could only be mustered in wartime. Sigismund anticipated being able to raise some 12,000 men by this means. In 1454 a new decree actually called for 4 mounted archers and 2 infantrymen per 100 portae, the text of the decree admitting to the ‘extraordinary’ nature of this doubled demand, promising to revert to ‘ancient custom’ thereafter. By this time serfs owing fealty to a lord or prelate were allowed to be incorporated into their banderia on campaign.
The service of one man per 20 jobagiones reappeared briefly in 1432 while an army was being raised against the Hussites, and this proportion of service was again called for in 1459, the militia in addition being expected to serve outside of the kingdom when led by the king in person, though its obligatory duration of service was now reduced to 3 months. This service was required of Wallachians, Ruthenians and Slavs in addition to Hungarians, but not of the much-privileged Saxons or the Szeklers, Cumans, Jazyges and Tartars, who performed military service under their own leaders as they always had. (Szekler service as set out in 1473, when it was in decline, was divided into those who served with 3 other mounted men; those who served alone on horseback; and those who served as lightly-armed infantry. The Szeklers and Saxons together provided 4,000 men in 1430.17) A decree of 1463 increased the militia obligations so that nobles with 10 serfs or less had to serve in person, and for every additional 10 serfs had to field a mounted archer. However, this increased requirement was shortlived, probably lasting only a few years at most before reverting to the 1:33 ratio originally introduced by Sigismund. Yet another decree, this time dating to 1492, revised the obligation to 1:20 again (armed with bow, shield, lance, and if possible a mail corselet), amended in 1498 to 1:36, or 1:24 in the southern border counties which fielded hussars while the rest fielded heavy cavalry. It has actually been suggested that the word ‘hussar’ itself was derived in the mid-15th century from the frequent practice of calling upon one man in each 20 {husz) to serve in the militia portalis.
World History
