A Voice from the Campaign: The Holy Roman Empire’s Military Operations against the Ottomans in 1688 and the Conquest of Belgrade as seen through the Eyes of a Franconian Soldier
A Voice from the Campaign: The Holy Roman Empire’s Military Operations against the Ottomans in 1688 and the Conquest of Belgrade as seen through the Eyes of a Franconian Soldier

Summary/Abstract: Military campaigns and battles, especially grand and successful ones, have long captured popular attention. The 17th Century is no exception in this regard, with its great battles being commemorated with medals, publications, pamphlets, books, engravings, and other printed material, to say nothing of the celebrations organised by and for the court and nobility, or for commoners under the guise of various Dankfests. Despite such remembrances, however, first-hand written accounts or memoirs from “regular” participants in war during this epoch are rare. Few soldiers were able to present their lived experiences in an authentic manner, unfiltered through the prism of heroic or victorious narratives and propaganda. Perhaps “Le Jouvencel” by Jean de Bueil could be considered as the first such work in the early Modern era. Although imagined as an instructive treatise on the matters of war and written as a chivalric narrative, it nonetheless paints a very realistic portrayal of war. In this paper, the diary of an anonymous Franconian soldier who fought in the Great Turkish War (1683–1699), during the military operations which ended with the conquest of Belgrade in 1688, will be analysed. This manuscript provides an intimate glimpse into campaign life and enables us to examine those aspects of war that are not usually presented in a historiographic manner. The author’s experiences on the march will be contrasted with standing regulations of the Holy Roman Empire, i.e., to which extent they were applied or adhered to. Besides purely military matters, this diary also provides valuable information on the geography and population of Hungary, the lower Danube, and Belgrade.

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