Black Army of Hungary

Timeline

1. 1458–1470Buda · BudaAfter Matthias acceded in 1458, he expanded the core of professional soldiers from his father Hunyadi's era into a year-round salaried mercenary force, recruiting Bohemian, German, Polish, and Balkan warriors, binding service and pay by contract, enabling the Hungarian crown to break free from complete reliance on ad hoc levies of the nobility.
2. 1479–1485Vienna · ViennaIn 1479 the Black Army defeated the Ottomans at Kenyérmező; subsequently, in wars against Bohemia and Austria it occupied Moravia, Silesia, and other regions, entering Vienna in 1485, which Matthias used as his center of western rule until his death, and the Black Army became one of Central Europe's most powerful professional forces.
3. 1490–1494Kingdom of Hungary · HungaryAfter Matthias died in 1490, the new king Ulászló II could not maintain the high military pay, and the Black Army plundered the Hungarian and Austrian countryside. From roughly 1492 to 1494 the royal army and a coalition of nobles suppressed the mutinous troops; remnants were incorporated into border defense or executed, ending this standing mercenary force's organization.