World’s First Hussar Museum Opens

The opening ceremony took place inside Musée Massey at the county seat Tarbes in Southern France. This museum houses the hussar memorabilia of France and a number of other European nations, as the armies of the continent widely adopted this Hungarian military “invention" in a relatively short time. The quick and effective light cavalry proved to be an excellent branch of service, and consequently it did not take long for this mobile formation to gain international currency alongside its name.

We come across the first mention of the word “hussar" in a deed written in Latin which dates from 1403 and refers to a hussar captain. Another record makes reference to an individual named Imre Huszár, and subsequently a Hungarian hussar gets a mention in a document dating from 1449. Finally, the word “hussar" becomes widely known with the issuing of Matthias Corvinus’ decree of 1481.

The decree ordered the nobility to stand out a light cavalryman by every 20 socage, and to name him “hussar", which practically meant the development of the already existing institution of militia portalis. These cavalrymen wore clothes made of tanned skin, rode their tiny swift horses and were armed with long halberds, sabers and lances. Initially the hussar units comprised mainly Croatian troops, but later they came to include Székelys, Jazygians, Cumans and other nationalities.

It was the Hungarians who initiated the spread of hussars on an international scale, since Hungarian–Polish Prince István Báthory recruited a hussar unit in Poland, and Count Gergely Bethlen formed another one in Italy. After 1711, László Bercsényi, the bodyguard captain of Prince Rákóczi raised his hussar regiment in France, while he himself was awarded the title “Marshall of France". His unit, its designation and marching song have been alive in the French armed forces until the present day. The Hungarian hussars were unrivaled in other parts of the world as well. Many of them brought glory to the name “hussar" and the hussar virtues during the Napoleonic Wars, the struggle for Italian unification and the First World War. For example, we consider Oberst József Simonyi of Debrecen and András Hadik as famous hussars.

Today the various military heritage hussar associations flourish in Hungary and beyond our borders around the Carpathian Basin. Their umbrella organization, the Hungarian Hussar and Military Heritage Federation (HHMHF) has more than 100 associations, 2000-plus members, and is a member of the Union of European Military Historical Groups.

The HHMHF celebrates the 20th anniversary of its foundation in the marble hall of the MoD Military History Institute and Museum on Saturday, March 10.

Photo: Archive