ENGLISH VOLUNTEERS AT THE SIEGE OF BUDA 1686: REASONS AND MOTIVES

Abstract

When the news and gossip about the newest campaign against the Turkish infidels in Hungary reached the ears of the people, the whole of Europe was exalted, no wonder that hundreds of gentlemen of different origins, wealth, ranks, and nationality rushed under the flags of the Christian army under the conduct of Charles V, Duke of Lorraine. The tale of the engagement of the English volunteers at the famous siege of Buda is an interesting one, even if they did not play a significant role in the battle due to their disadvantage in numbers and status in the besieging army. This paper is about them, as the subject is a quite poorly researched field of the siege and overall of the Great TurkishWar (1683–1699).

The paper aims to collect all the names of those English volunteers, who are authentically proven to have taken part in the siege. Furthermore, by analysing the historical biographies, the study tries to achieve the primary objective of the paper; it tries to answer the question of why the volunteers left their homeland, what their motives and reasons were to battle in Hungary, with an emphasis on contemporary relations and circumstances in both England, and Europe.

During the development of the paper, mainly contemporary sources were used, such as personal correspondences, British army commission registers, memoirs, diaries, newsletters, etc., and data has also been provided by using the most recent scientific literature in the English and the Hungarian languages.

Thanks to the research, the list of the English volunteers at the siege of Buda was expanded by more than half a dozen names, and it was found that, among others, the vast majority of the volunteers was driven by the will to receive wartime experience.