Peggy Hinsman's Blog

Comment from Peggy HInsman
Time January 10, 2011 at 11:52 am

What does the word “Hussar” mean and in which language is it?

Comment from Peggy Hinsman
Time January 10, 2011 at 12:02 pm

The Hussars of Medieval Hungary (from Wikipedia)

A type of irregular light horsemen was already well established by the 15th century in medieval Hungary. Etymologists are divided over the derivation of the word ‘hussar’. Many scholars believe the word originated in Serbian[3] as ‘Husar’, derived from the Latin root ‘cursus’ meaning ‘raid’. According to Webster’s the word hussar stems from the Hungarian huszár, which in turn originates from the Serbian хусар (Husar, or гусар, Gusar) meaning pirate, from the Medieval Latin cursarius (cf. the English word corsair). A variant of this theory is offered by Byzantinist scholars, who argue the term originated in Roman military practice, and the cursarius–a group of fast moving horsemen used for scouting or raiding—came to be called tsanarioi in Greek or the Armenian Chosarioi. Through Byzantine Army operations in the Balkans in the 10th and 11th centuries when Chosarioi/Chonsarioi were recruited with especially Serbs, the word was subsequently reintroduced to Western European military practice after its original usage had been lost with the collapse of Rome in the west. According to another theory, the word is derived from the Hungarian word of húsz meaning twenty, suggesting that hussar regiments were originally composed of twenty men. Or the term huszár probably signified ‘one in twenty’ as selected for service by ballot.

The hussars reportedly originated in bands of mostly Serbian warriors crossing into southern Hungary after the Turkish invasion of Serbia at the end of the 14th century. The Governor of Hungary, Hunyadi János – John Hunyadi, created mounted units inspired by his enemy the Ottoman Turks. His son, Hunyadi Mátyás Matthias Corvinus, later king of Hungary, is unanimously accepted as the creator of these troops. Initially they fought in small bands, but were reorganised into larger, trained, formations during the reign of King Matthias I Corvinus of Hungary. So the first Hussar regiments were the light cavalry of the Black Army of Hungary. Under his command the hussars took part in the war against the Ottoman Empire in 1485 and proved successful against the Turkish Spahis as well as against Bohemians and Poles. After the king’s death in 1490, hussars remained the preferred form of cavalry in Hungary. The Habsburg emperors hired Hungarian hussars as mercenaries to serve against the Ottoman Empire and on various battlefields throughout Europe. The “father” of the US cavalry in 1777 was a Hungarian hussar named Kovács Mihály – Michael de Kovats.