Roman-Catholic Bishopric Oradea - ecclesiastic and economic documents

Collection

Holding institution:: National Archives of Romania, Bihor county directorate

Holding institution (official language):: Serviciul judeţean Bihor al Arhivelor Naţionale Române

Title:: Roman-Catholic Bishopric Oradea - ecclesiastic and economic documents

Title (official language):: Episcopia romano-catolică Oradea. Acte ecleziastice

Scope and content:: The fonds comprises the documents created by the Roman-Catholic Bishopric of Oradea from 1681 to 1945. It includes registers of the bishopric from 1696, official correspondence with administrative and ecclesiastic institutions, records of administration of estates and other properties of the bishopric and its abbacies, contracts of leasing, selling or purchase of properties and details of construction projects such as churches, schools and parsonages. The fonds also contains church registers of baptisms, marriages and deaths for Oradea and the local communities included in the bishopric. Material with Jewish reference includes economic records reflecting the business relations with Jewish leaseholders, firms and contractors, confessional relationships (conversions, mixed marriages) as well as information about baptising of Jewish individuals in the Holocaust period with the object of saving their lives.

Archival history:: The fonds was preserved by the Roman Catholic Bishopric and suffered heavy losses during the Second World War. It was partly saved and deposited in the building of the Roman-Catholic Cathedral and in the residential palace of the bishop until 1968 when it was transferred to the Bihor county directorate of the Romanian National Archives. Inventorying began in 1998 and is not yet completed, but the inventoried part is available to researchers.

Administrative/biographical history:: The Roman-Catholic Bishopric of Oradea was founded in 1010 by the Hungarian King Stephen I. Its initial residence was near Oradea in Biharea, being transferred to Oradea in 1091 by King Ladislau I. Its cathedral, built in the 18th century, is one of the most important baroque architectural monuments in Romania. The bishopric functioned in Oradea until the Turkish conquest in the 17th century and it was reconstituted after the Austro-Turkish war of 1686-1699. In the 18th and 19th century the bishopric of Oradea was subordinated to the Archbishopric of Kalocsa. After the First World War, under Romanian administration, it entered in 1927 under the authority of the Roman-Catholic Archbishopric of Bucharest. In 1930 it was merged with the Roman-Catholic bishopric of Satu Mare while in 1941, under the reconstituted Hungarian administration, the two bishoprics were separated again and between 1941 and 1948 the Roman-Catholic Bishopric of Oradea was under the direct authority of the Papacy. Since 1948 it is again under the authority of the Archbishopric of Bucharest.

Subject terms:: Conversion to Christianity; Holocaust; Interfaith marriage; Trade and commerce

System of arrangement:: The fonds is organised in thematic sections, within which the material is arranged in chronological order. In the registers of baptisms, marriages and deaths of every locality under the authority of the bishopric the vital events are registered chronologically. The registers of the bishopric include alphabetical indexes of the persons which appear in the records registered.

Finding aids:: Inventories no. 134, 246 and 248, held by the Bihor county directorate of the Romanian National Archives.

Yerusha Network member:: Romanian Institute for the Research of National Minorities

Author of the description:: Anton Dörner, emeritus researcher of the Institute of History of the Romanian Academy from Cluj-Napoca - 2018; Ladislau Gyémánt, emeritus professor - 2018.