Tactics Heavy cavalry At the height of the century, heavy cavalry was already at its peak, although it showed signs of declining tendencies. The striking power and the ability to charge without backup made it capable of forcing a decisive outcome in most battles. Although it was rarely deployed on their own, if it was, it would take square formations. Such turning points occurred at the
Battle of Breadfield (1479). Usually, it made up one-sixth of the army and, with mercenary knights, was in the majority. Its armament was well prepared and of high quality except for the noble banners. This stands for proprietary arms, not the ones provided by the king.
Weaponry •
Lances: the lance was the principal assault weapon of the tilting heavy cavalry. They were up to four metres long, ranging from the classical lance type with a lengthened spearhead (often decorated with animal tails, flags or other ornaments) to the short conical spearheaded, one designed for piercing heavy armour. A
buckler-like vamplate protected the hand and arm. Its stability was increased with a fastening hook () on the side of the horseman's cuirass. •
Swords: the most common swords of the era originated from southern Europe. They assembled from the , a significant number of them , the
Moldavians and
Transylvanians with the first having serfs with lesser accoutrement and the latter generally regarded as good horse archers. They were divided into groups of 25 () led by a captain (). Their field of operation was scouting, securing, prowling, cutting enemy supply lines, and disarraying them in battle. They also served as an additional maneuverable flank (for swooping advance attacks) to strong centers of heavy cavalry. The medieval Hungarian written sources spoke disparagingly and contemptuously of the light cavalry and the hussars in general, and during battles the texts praised only the virtues, endurance, courage, training and achievements of the knights. During the Middle Ages, Hungarian soldiers of noble origin served exclusively as heavy armoured cavalry.
Weaponry Helmet, mail shirt, sabre, targe, spear and, in some cases, axes (including throwing axes). •
Sabres (): one type followed the tradition of southern European longswords (S-shaped crossguard), while gradually transforming into an Eastern-style blended (Turkish) sabre. The other type was the so-called (hussarsabre), a 40 mm wide multi-layered sabre stuck with 3–6 rivets. •
Bows: the traditional Magyar composite bow and, due to heavy Eastern influence, the more powerful Turkish-Tatar bow came into play. •
Axes: throwing axes could also have had some role in light cavalry tactics. It was made from one piece of metal, with a short engraved haft. If the arc of the blade is almost flat or slightly curved, it is called the "Hungarian-type axe". A subsidiary to the aforementioned beaked pickaxe was also favoured: it had a beak-like, protruding edge, resulting in a stronger piercing effect. Infantry was less important but formed a stable basis in the integrity of an army. They were organized from mixed ethnicities and were composed of heavy infantry, shielded soldiers, light infantry and fusiliers. Their characteristics include the combination of plate and mail armour and the use of the pavises (these painted willow-wood large shields were often ornamented and covered with leather and linen). The latter served multiple purposes: to hold off enemy attacks, to cover ranged infantry shooting from behind (fusiliers engage first, the archers fire constantly), and moveable hussite-style (with a restricted deployment of
war wagons in number). The infantry contained
Swiss pikemen, who were held in high regard by the king. The heavily armoured infantry of the Black Army consisted of heavy pikemen, heavy halberdiers and heavy swordsmen. In 1481, the Black Army's infantry was described as follows:
Weaponry Various long-range weapons including bows, crossbows, and arquebuses; all sorts of melee weapons, halberds, pikes, and awl-pikes; hussite/peasant weapons such as slings and flails; hand weapons such as
morning stars and war hammers; and classical swords and sabres. • Melee weapons:
Corseques,
glaives,
partisans,
Friulian spears, and
halberds were all adapted depending on the social class and nationality of the infantrymen. The 15th-century type of halberd was a transition that mixed an axe blade with an awl-pike, sometimes affixed with a "beak" that was used to pull a knight off his horse and to increase its piercing impact. They were covered with metal langlets on the side to prevent being cut in two. • Archery: The most valuable archers were the crossbowmen. Their number in Matthias' service reached 4,000 in the 1470s. They used sabres as a secondary weapon (which was unusual for infantry in those ages). Their primary advantage was the ability to shoot heavy armour, while the disadvantages were that they required defense to protect them while moving slowly in a standing position. • Arquebusiers: These gunpowder troops charged in the early stages of battle. Their aiming ability, price and the danger of primitive hand cannons (self-exploding) prevented them from being highly effective, especially against smaller groups of people or hand-to-hand combat. A distinctive Hungarian feature was that they did not use a fork to stabilize their guns but put it on top of the pavese instead (or in some cases, on the parapet of a wagon). Two types were simultaneously brought to practice, the (handgun) in the beginning, and later the (not to be confused with cannons). Three classes of handguns were distinguished: the "bearded" light guns; forked guns; the first primitive muskets (iron tube compounded with wooden grip to be pushed against the shoulder). Their calibers varied from 16 to 24 mm. File:Corsèque 23.jpg|
Corseque File:Maces.jpg|
Flanged maces File:Dreschflegel.jpg|
Peasant flail File:Ussita pavese shield Prag Museum 1429.jpg|
Pavise shield File:Bastardschwert.jpg|
Bastard sword File:Musee-de-lArmee-IMG 1099.jpg|Blended crossguarded sword File:Exibition area in the Galerija-Muzej Lendava, Lendava Castle, 2013-08-11-2.jpg|Pavise and halberds File:Crossbow Photo.jpg|Crossbow and accessories == Mutinies ==