Metadata: Congregation Records (Prototocolla congregationum generalium) 1688-1848(-1871)
Collection
- Country:
- Hungary
- Holding institution:
- National Archives of Hungary, Hajdú-Bihar County Archives, Debrecen
- Holding institution (official language):
- Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár Hajdú-Bihar Megyei Levéltára, Debrecen
- Postal address:
- 4024 Debrecen, Vármegyeháza u. 1/B
- Phone number:
- +36 52 503 296
- Web address:
- https://mnl.gov.hu/hbml
- Email:
- hbml@mnl.gov.hu
- Reference number:
- IV.A.1.a
- Title:
- Congregation Records (Prototocolla congregationum generalium) 1688-1848(-1871)
- Title (official language):
- Közgyűlési jegyzőkönyvek (Prototocolla congregationum generalium) 1688-1848(-1871)
- Creator/accumulator:
- Bihar county
- Date(s):
- 1688/1871
- Date note:
- 1688/1848/1871
- Language:
- Latin
- Hungarian
- Extent:
- 20.21 linear metres (265 volumes)
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection of the 'Congregation Records (Protocolla congregationum generalium) 1688-1848(-1871)' comprises the documents of congregations of nobilities in Bihar county. This collection is part of the extensive collection of ‘Documents of Bihar county noble congregations 1622-1848 (-1871)’. Protocolla have been available since 1688, and records from 1704-1711 and related to 1765 are missing. They were either destroyed before 1772, or were transferred to the Oradea chapter.
The collection can be divided into four units: 182 volumes and index books of congregation records, and the book of the bill of exchange petitions in Bihar county with its index book. A separate description of the latter is available.
The formation of the congregations of nobilities is the result of a long process in the county, and it started in the 13-14th centuries. In modern times, following the liberation from Turkish reign, the first congregation was held on 30 August 1688. The records of the period, although deficient, survived (the years 1703-1711, and the whole of 1765 are missing; just like the records of sessions from subsequent years.) The county exercised control over all matters that were within the jurisdiction of law and custom. Therefore, the records include entries concerning both administrative issues and court cases. The collection is rich and covers a wide range of topics, including documents sent by government bodies, other municipalities, their county administrative bodies or private individuals: transcripts, transliterations, drafts, proposals or their modifications, referrals, commands from emissaries, lists of tax assessments, correspondence with other counties, orders or prohibitions. The content of the documents is very diverse, as the county exercised its earlier control over legislation and jurisdiction. It established statutes for the territory of the county and its inhabitants and ruled in criminal and civil cases. The administrative tasks included tax registration, assessment, collection, recruitment, supply of soldiers, organisation of noble uprisings, supervision of cities, settlements and estates, safeguarding public security, health care, schooling, study of population growth, control of the movement of animals, fire and water protection, commercial transactions, imposition of duties, control over tenants, commercial transactions, bankruptcies, farming leases, auctions, taverns, quarantine implemented by the judge, disrespect, emigration and immigration, runaways, their descriptions, meat sales, school, matters of horses, the military, recruits, felonies, beatings, manslaughter, swearing, tax arrears, thieves, factories, guilds, naturalisation, agriculture, invalidation of debts, wildfire, wood sales, military uniforms, travel documents, Jewish-related matters, re-acquisition of the right of ownership, nobility issues, obligations of feudal tenants, religious issues, cemetery, books and press. The documents were written mainly in Latin and Hungarian.
Jewish-related entries are scattered throughout the 182 volumes. There are references to Jewish-related cases in about 7,531 records; the earliest is from 1725. Its subject is to ban foreign and wandering Jews from the territory of the country (1725. VII. 15. No 1.). These entries are similar to the others in the material: they comprise the petitions, reports, transcripts, transliterations, orders and prohibitions of national government bodies (Council of Governor-General, Chancellery, county administration) and private individuals. The remaining records are very diverse: petitions for settlement, warrants of the caption for escapees, search for foreign escapees, leases contracted with landlords and lawsuits related to them, contracts, debt certificates, business relationships with the members of the local community and also with the county, commercial activities (peddling, small and wholesale trading), handicraft trade, cowhide purchase, conflicts with guilds, schedules for debt payment or collection, crimes where victims could also be the perpetrators, horse theft, murders, use of fake money, taxes imposed on Jewish citizens, rate of tolerance tax, the volume and recovery of arrears, obligation for the recruitment of soldiers, issues of inheritance, religious affairs, community cases, matters of conversion, press, the Jewish language and census. The various subject groups highlight that both the issues of public administration and jurisdiction are available in the collection. Although a significant part of the records includes warrants, which contain decrees of national validity, we can also find a considerable number of documents relating to the Jews living in the area of the county from 1770.
The entries from this period tend to highlight the activities of specific individuals: Leopold Brüll’s economic activities (1842. No 4000.; 1843. No 1253.; 1846. No 3629.; 1847 No 1070.), Marcus Kohn from Váradvelence (1792. No 529.; 1793. No 2182.). Moreover, the amount of information about the Jewish communities of Váradvelence and Váradolaszi is considerable. Original source materials can also be found in the county records: thus, the entire census of a settlement can be found on the pages of the records during the 18th century. Later, the descriptions became generalised and did not include such detailed entries. Geographically, the records focus mainly on the Jews living in Bihar county. The descriptions in the records are generally concise at all times, with some exceptions in the 18th century. The documents were written mainly in Latin and Hungarian.
- Archival history:
-
The foundations of the Archives of Bihar County can be traced back to the 14th century when the conscious preservation of legal documents and property policy documents by sub-prefect and notaries began. Due to the low level of literacy and the fact that the county records were not maintained in a safe place, the notary took the materials and placed them in the county mailbox. Article LXXIII. 1723 regulated the development of archives, and the documents were transferred to the conservatory of the Oradea chapter in Bihar county in 1726. The old documents were placed here from 1729, and the new ones in the town hall building. In 1738, the county purchased a new building for archival purposes.
The principles of classifying and editing protocols in the initial period are unknown. Their planned binding became widespread in the 18th century. Maria Theresa, the ruler, issued an ordinance to systematise them in 1752. Yet the first arrangement of the archives took place only between 1772 and 1776, under the supervision of János Thurzó and then Benedek Bata. Lipót Viser continued the work in 1777. He developed a new selection principle: the separation of staff and equipment issues, administrative, judicial and economic documents. After 1829 Mihály Jakab applied a new method and developed 26 subject areas. After 1845, the organisers abolished the grouping of subjects.
From 1760, the records were placed in congregation shelves. In 1771 a new building was constructed for the archival documents. After the First World War, only a part of Bihar County remained within the borders of Hungary. Part of the Bihar County documents was transferred to Romania under the Treaty of Trianon, according to the territorial jurisdiction, which affected the documents from the feudal era to a lesser extent. The archival material remaining in Hungary was moved to the county hall in Berettyóújfalu. In 1950, according to the decree of the Ministry of the Interior, the source material was transferred to Debrecen, the archives of Hajdú county. Also as part of the new archival decree, the name of the archive became Hajdú-Bihar County Archives. In 1968, following the “state history” period, the documents came under the jurisdiction of the county. In the case of the Bihar county material this meant that they remained in Debrecen in the Hajdú-Bihar County Archives.
- Access points: locations:
- Bihar county
- Érsemlyén
- Mihályfalva
- Oradea
- Access points: persons/families:
- Brüll, Leopold
- Kohn, Marcus
- System of arrangement:
-
The records were bound and marked with a unique serial number. The first volume is available under the heading 1688-1711. In the period of 1720-1771, each agenda item of the general congregations was numbered individually. In 1772-1786, numbering took place annually. From 1790 numbering remained similar.
The records were marked with a continuous Roman numeral until 1765, until XVIII. The volume of 1766 was marked with an individual number. 1767 saw the onset of the separation of the judicial and congregation tribunals. Each year, the agenda items were numbered, and then documents with two cases were separated. Therefore, the two record types show a shortage of numbering, but it is only apparent as a result of the above.
- Finding aids:
- The following indexes and handbooks are available: Volumes 184-193: Actorum congregationalium; Volume 194: Index supplementalis; Volumes 195-197: Actorum congregationalium; Volumes 238-257: Index for congregation records in Bihar county.
- Yerusha Network member:
- University of Szeged
- Author of the description:
- Dr. Tibor Almási and Dr. Erzsébet Mislovics, University of Szeged, 2020