Page 191 - Conflitti Militari e Popolazioni Civili - Tomo I

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To put an end to the various disputes, King Ferdinand issued the first settler privilege – for
the Uskoks living around Sichelburg – in 1535, in which the rights and duties of the frontier
men were strictly regulated. It was followed by another privilege in 1538 for the Slavonian
9
territory. In the 1540s two military settlement areas developed which were clearly separated
from each other – the Croatian and the Slavonian Frontiers whose inhabitants became the so-
called frontier men. Hans Ungnad, provincial governor of Styria, became the first supreme
10
commander-in-the-field of the Habsburg troops in the Slavonian and Croatian Frontiers.
After Ottoman raids in 1575 the Inner-Austrian estates (Styria, Carinthia and Carniola)
requested among other things that Archduke Charles of Inner Austria was to take over the
border defence. In September 1577 Emperor Rudolph II finally entrusted his uncle Charles
with the administration of the Croatian and Slavonian borders, and on 25 February 1578 he
appointed him to the office of a Frontier administrator, which was confirmed by the establish-
ment of the Inner-Austrian War Council in Graz. As a consequence, the Council took over
the main administrative tasks of the Military Frontier. And in 1580 two Frontier districts,
11
each administered by a colonel, were established: the Croatian Frontier with its stronghold,
the newly built fortress of Carlstadt, and the Slavonian Frontier with Varazdin. On the lowest
administration level the main strongholds under the command of a captain developed into
so-called “Hauptmannschaften” (captaincies).
12
The controversy about the Military Frontier and the status of its population continued,
however, and despite many reforms the Military Frontier administration proved inadequate.
In order to improve the critical situation, the Austrian authorities gradually repelled the influ-
ence of the traditional civil-administration authorities, which considered the existence of a
zone with a military administration on their territory as an intrusion into their rights. There-
fore, a definite regulation by the emperor in his function as king of Hungary-Croatia-Slavonia
became more and more urgent. Because of the many rebellions in Hungary and Transylvania
the emperor was, however, not able to dispense with the Military Frontier system and above
all with the Frontier troops, which had been mobilized to turn down the rebellions; and,
moreover, because of the Thirty Years War he urgently needed the Frontier men to reinforce
the imperial regiments.

9 The main point of this privilege was self-administration: The settlers were entitled to choose a knez, a chief,
who carried out this function for one year and was responsible for low jurisdiction. They also chose a mi-
litary leader, who served as voivod (captain) and was only subject to the Austrian military authorities. Fur-
thermore, the settlers were given land as hereditary feuds and they were granted exemption from all duties
and taxes for 20 years. Afterwards, they only had to pay a certain amount of rent to the sovereign. Therewith
they were completely independent from every landlord and were only subject to the Austrian military com-
manders. Schindler, Militärgrenzverwaltung, 16.
10 Alphons Wrede, Geschichte der K. u. K. Wehrmacht, Vienna 1903, vol. V, 198f.
11 Schindler, Militärgrenzverwaltung, 17. The War Council in Graz is to be seen as an institution mainly do-
minated by the estates, as they had to pay for the maintenance of the equipment of the Frontier troops. In
its directives of 11 March 1578 it laid down the following tasks: fortification of the territory, supervision
and replenishment of the Frontier artillery as well as the ammunition and supply depots, and food and am-
munition supply for the frontier men. Ibid., 18, and Winfried Schulze, Landesdefension und Staatsbildung.
Studien zum Kriegswesen des innerösterreichischen Territorialstaates (1564 – 1619) (= Veröffentlichungen
der Kommission für Neuere Geschichte Österreichs, vol. 60, Vienna – Cologne – Graz 1973), 101, 103.
12 For more detailed information on the captaincies see Kaser, Freier Bauer und Soldat, 55 – 59.