Metadata: Curia of Vilnius Roman Catholic ecclesiastical province
Collection
- Country:
- Lithuania
- Holding institution:
- Lithuanian State Historical Archives
- Holding institution (official language):
- Lietuvos valstybės istorijos archyvas
- Postal address:
- Mindaugo g. 8, 03107 Vilnius
- Phone number:
- +370 5 219 5320
- Email:
- istorijos.archyvas@lvia.lt
- Reference number:
- 694
- Title:
- Curia of Vilnius Roman Catholic ecclesiastical province
- Title (official language):
- Vilniaus Romos katalikų metropolijos kurija
- Creator/accumulator:
- Curia of Vilnius Roman Catholic ecclesiastical province
- Date(s):
- 1463/1941
- Language:
- Russian
- Polish
- Latin
- Extent:
- 28,921 files
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection contains materials of the Curia of the Vilnius Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province, including documents on ecclesiastical work and the establishment of churches, correspondence, records on land acquisition and administration of property, statistics, papers of Catholic organisations, metrical records, etc. The collection includes important Jewish-related material on conversions from Judaism to Roman Catholicism, leasing of Church assets to Jews, and disputes regarding financial debts and property. These documents attest to the relationship between Jews and the Church. For example, there are documents from 1848-1852 relating to the conversion to Catholicism of Iankel Zelmanovich and the change of his name to Adam Dominsky (inventory 1, file 1855). A file from 1848 includes documents regarding Jews who were in the process of conversion (inventory 1, file 1854). Another file includes papers from 1846-1851 granting converts financial allowances and about Jews who reverted to Judaism (inventory 1, file 1853). A file from 1848-1849 contains papers about the failed conversion to Christianity of Iankel Kot (inventory 1, file 1866). A file from 1933-1934, when Vilnius was under Polish control, includes papers regarding permits that allowed Jews to convert (inventory 3, file 685).
Materials dealing with economic issues include testimonies of witnesses and other legal documents regarding a monetary and property dispute between Dominican monks and the Grodno kahal in the years 1777-1779 (inventory 1, file 4631). A file dated 1792-1799 includes a description of a lawsuit by Dominican monks regarding the collection of interest from the Grodno kahal (inventory 1, file 4633). A file from 1879-1881 discusses the lease of Church lands in the Borisov region not far from Minsk to Mordukh Zlatkin and Nison Rapoport (inventory 1, file 2421). A file from 1915 includes proposals for a lease contract for land belonging to the Church of St. Jacob in Vilna to Gurvich, a resident of Vilna for a period of 24 years (inventory 3, file 4). The collection also includes lawsuits by Jews against the Church and its priests. A file from 1931-1933 contains papers regarding monetary claims by the Perets Family against a church in Grodno (inventory 5, file 394) and a file from 1938-1939 includes a complaint by Isak Kagan against a priest for non-payment of a financial debt (inventory 5, file 715). A file from 1925-1927 includes a greeting from the Jewish community to the Bishop of Vilnius (inventory 3, file 358).
- Archival history:
- Information on the history of the collection is unavailable.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Vilnius was an ecclesiastical territory or Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Lithuania. It was established as the Diocese of Vilnius in the 14th century and was elevated to the rank of a metropolitan archdiocese by Pope Pius XI on 28 October 1925. The Curia of the Vilna Diocese was responsible for pastoral work, establishing new parishes, appointing clergy and managing ecclesiastical property.
- System of arrangement:
- The collection consists of 6 inventories that are arranged in thematic-chronological order.
- Finding aids:
- Detailed inventories are available on the website on the Lithuanian Chief Archivist Service.
- Yerusha Network member:
- Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People
- Author of the description:
- Ilya Vovshin; Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People; 2021