Military Camp Descriptions in Miklós Zrínyi’s Works

Abstract

Observing contemporary events, it can be stated that a situation could arise any time when there is a need to find place for large crowds of people. The affected ones need care and accommodation for shorter or longer periods and it is appropriate to establish and operate camps for them. When accommodation and care is needed for masses of people urgently it seems to be evident that the most helpful knowledge, experience and procedures are related to the establishment of military camps and their operation. Today, the construction of military camps became static, while the layout of camps created for civilians is much more similar to the layout and structure of earlier military camps, applied several centuries ago. As earlier there was a great significance of military actions mobilizing large human power, it is reasonable to examine the development of military camps in historical perspective as well. The first Hungarian publisher of establishing military camps, Miklós Zrínyi, as a prominent military leader of his time, with his insights and descriptions of camp equipment, laid the foundation of the criteria for contemporary civil-purpose large camps as well. His works are also indispensable for modern camp builders.