according to matthias bel, an 18th-century scholar, the word was first used in 1514 for the armed peasants led by györgy dózsa. bel supposed that the word "kuruc" is derived from the latin word "cruciatus" (crusader), ultimately from "crux" (cross); and dózsa's followers were called "crusaders" because the peasant rebellion started as an official crusade against the ottomans.