Early Hungarian hussars
The hussars reportedly originated in bands of mostly Serbian warriors,[12] crossing into southern Hungary after the Ottoman conquest of Serbia at the end of the 14th century. Regent-Governor John Hunyadi created mounted units inspired by the Ottomans. His son, Matthias Corvinus, later king of Hungary, is unanimously accepted as the creator of these troops, commonly called Rac (Hungarian exonym for Serbs). Initially, they fought in small bands, but were reorganised into larger, trained formations during the reign of King Matthias Corvinus.[13][14]
The first hussar regiments comprised the light cavalry of the Black Army of Hungary. Under Corvinus' command, the hussars took part in the war against the Ottoman Empire in 1485 and proved successful against the sipahis (Ottoman cavalry) as well as against the Bohemians and Poles. After the king's death, in 1490, hussars remained the preferred form of cavalry in Hungary. The Habsburg emperors hired Hungarian hussars as mercenaries to serve against the Ottomans and on various battlefields throughout Western Europe.