Metadata : Feudal Court of Viru- and Järvamaa
Collection
- Country:
- Estonia
- Holding institution:
- Historical Archives of Estonia
- Holding institution (official language):
- Eesti Ajalooarhiiv
- Postal address:
- Tartu, Nooruse 3, 50411
- Phone number:
- +372 738 7521
- Web address:
- www.ra.ee
- Email:
- tartu@ra.ee
- Country:
- Estonia
- Holding institution:
- Historical Archives of Estonia
- Holding institution (official language):
- Eesti Ajalooarhiiv
- Postal address:
- Tartu, Nooruse 3, 50411
- Phone number:
- +372 738 7521
- Web address:
- www.ra.ee
- Email:
- tartu@ra.ee
- Reference number:
- EAA.862
- Title:
- Feudal Court of Viru- and Järvamaa
- Title (official language):
- Viru-Järva meeskohus
- Creator/accumulator:
- Feudal Court of Viru- and Järvamaa
- Date(s):
- 1517/1889
- Language:
- German
- Extent:
- 12,698 files
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection comprises several Jewish-related cases recorded by the Feudal Court of Virumaa and Järvamaa (counties in north-eastern Estonia). The court deals with civil and criminal cases of all non-noble persons. All the Jewish-related cases relate to the period when the court was under the jurisdiction of the Russian Empire. Though the recordings of the court start from the early 16th century, all Jewish-related cases are from the 19th century; the precise dates for each case (year, month and date) are available.
The records include five Jewish-related civil cases regarding debts and other civil claims (the earliest case dated 1821, the rest from 1870-1880s).
More Jewish-related recordings are contained in the section of Criminal proceedings (total number of cases – 50), dated from 1830 to 1889.
Many cases relate to Jews arrested for living without lawful permit (mostly the cases after 1830), in one case (1837-1838) a reward for apprehension of Jews without permits was also mentioned. Another case was a complaint against a Jew for swearing (German: “Verbalinjurien” which literally means “verbal abuse”), dated 1870. The collection also includes a few cases concerning Jews and offences related to military service, for example a Jew who attempted to avoid compulsory military service (dated 1887-1889) and Jews who were accused of hiding a military deserter (1845).
A large number of cases from the mid-19th century relate to Jews engaged in bribery and counterfeiting; in three cases maltreatment and violent behaviour are also mentioned. Some of the records also mention Jews accused of thefts or robberies (some early cases dated 1835 and 1845 concern horse thefts). Although in the majority of cases Jews are accused of crimes, in one of the cases (dated 1852) two peasants are accused of robbing a Jew.
Most of the Jewish-related records deal with illegal trade and smuggling. In four of these cases itinerant pedlars (“Hausierer”) are mentioned. There are also a few cases dating from 1848 to 1854 dealing with goods confiscated from Jewish merchants who had fled.
Additional examples of Jewish-related files: Criminal case against the Jews Hirsch Blumberg and Simon Feldhuhn because of their passportlessness and illegal trade, 1848 (inventory 1, file 5392); Criminal case against the Jew Gerschun (Herschuri) for alleged offenses of bribing the customs border guards, 1862/1864 (inventory 1, file 6527); Claims by the merchant's widow H. Grinkin and the Jew M. Friedländer against the Jew Baruchsohn, 1870 (inventory 1, file 862).
- Archival history:
- No information
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The Feudal Court of of Virumaa and Järvamaa served as the lowest court in the north-east part of the Governorate of Estonia. The court system (Estonian: Meeskohus; German: Manngericht) was formed in the mid-17th century and maintained by the Russian Empire till the end of the 19th century (except for temporary dissolution in 1783-1797); all proceedings were recorded in High German.
- System of arrangement:
- The collection is divided into several large sections: the Jewish-related cases are found in the section “Legal Proceedings” and in subsections “Civil Court Records” and “Criminal Court Records”. Within these subsections, there is no additional thematic division, all the records are arranged in chronological order.
- Finding aids:
- General data on the collection is available on the web page of the Historical Archives of Estonia. The collection is also described briefly in: Baltic Connections: Archival Guide to the Maritime Relations of the Countries around the Baltic Sea. Leiden, Boston, 2017. Vol. 1. P. 153-4.
- Yerusha Network member:
- Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People
- Author of the description:
- Antonina Martynenko
- Reference number:
- EAA.862
- Title:
- Feudal Court of Viru- and Järvamaa
- Title (official language):
- Viru-Järva meeskohus
- Creator/accumulator:
- Feudal Court of Viru- and Järvamaa
- Date(s):
- 1517/1889
- Language:
- German
- Extent:
- 12,698 files
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection comprises several Jewish-related cases recorded by the Feudal Court of Virumaa and Järvamaa (counties in north-eastern Estonia). The court deals with civil and criminal cases of all non-noble persons. All the Jewish-related cases relate to the period when the court was under the jurisdiction of the Russian Empire. Though the recordings of the court start from the early 16th century, all Jewish-related cases are from the 19th century; the precise dates for each case (year, month and date) are available.
The records include five Jewish-related civil cases regarding debts and other civil claims (the earliest case dated 1821, the rest from 1870-1880s).
More Jewish-related recordings are contained in the section of Criminal proceedings (total number of cases – 50), dated from 1830 to 1889.
Many cases relate to Jews arrested for living without lawful permit (mostly the cases after 1830), in one case (1837-1838) a reward for apprehension of Jews without permits was also mentioned. Another case was a complaint against a Jew for swearing (German: “Verbalinjurien” which literally means “verbal abuse”), dated 1870. The collection also includes a few cases concerning Jews and offences related to military service, for example a Jew who attempted to avoid compulsory military service (dated 1887-1889) and Jews who were accused of hiding a military deserter (1845).
A large number of cases from the mid-19th century relate to Jews engaged in bribery and counterfeiting; in three cases maltreatment and violent behaviour are also mentioned. Some of the records also mention Jews accused of thefts or robberies (some early cases dated 1835 and 1845 concern horse thefts). Although in the majority of cases Jews are accused of crimes, in one of the cases (dated 1852) two peasants are accused of robbing a Jew.
Most of the Jewish-related records deal with illegal trade and smuggling. In four of these cases itinerant pedlars (“Hausierer”) are mentioned. There are also a few cases dating from 1848 to 1854 dealing with goods confiscated from Jewish merchants who had fled.
Additional examples of Jewish-related files: Criminal case against the Jews Hirsch Blumberg and Simon Feldhuhn because of their passportlessness and illegal trade, 1848 (inventory 1, file 5392); Criminal case against the Jew Gerschun (Herschuri) for alleged offenses of bribing the customs border guards, 1862/1864 (inventory 1, file 6527); Claims by the merchant's widow H. Grinkin and the Jew M. Friedländer against the Jew Baruchsohn, 1870 (inventory 1, file 862).
- Archival history:
- No information
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The Feudal Court of of Virumaa and Järvamaa served as the lowest court in the north-east part of the Governorate of Estonia. The court system (Estonian: Meeskohus; German: Manngericht) was formed in the mid-17th century and maintained by the Russian Empire till the end of the 19th century (except for temporary dissolution in 1783-1797); all proceedings were recorded in High German.
- System of arrangement:
- The collection is divided into several large sections: the Jewish-related cases are found in the section “Legal Proceedings” and in subsections “Civil Court Records” and “Criminal Court Records”. Within these subsections, there is no additional thematic division, all the records are arranged in chronological order.
- Finding aids:
- General data on the collection is available on the web page of the Historical Archives of Estonia. The collection is also described briefly in: Baltic Connections: Archival Guide to the Maritime Relations of the Countries around the Baltic Sea. Leiden, Boston, 2017. Vol. 1. P. 153-4.
- Yerusha Network member:
- Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People
- Author of the description:
- Antonina Martynenko
