Metadata: Judicial Records of the Civil Court 1725-1850
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.6.c
- Title:
- Judicial Records of the Civil Court 1725-1850
- Title (official language):
- A polgári törvényszék törvényszéki jegyzőkönyvei 1725-1850
- Creator/accumulator:
- Bihar county
- Date(s):
- 1725/1850
- Language:
- Latin
- Hungarian
- Extent:
- 3.37 linear metres (28 volumes)
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection ‘Judicial Records of the Civil Court 1725-1850’ comprises civil court records from Bihar county. The collection is part of the extensive collection of ‘Documents of Bihar County Tribunal (1699-1848 (-1865))’.
The creation of the document collection is closely related to the decree of the Royal Council of Governor-General of 1769, which ordered the division of the county court into three parts: punitive, criminal, and civil lawsuits.
The collection includes the records of the civil court in the period of 1725-1850. Proposals related to the legal proceedings, the minutes of interrogations, annexed copies, original documents, official certificates, and judgements were copied in the records or attached to them. Most frequently, the lawsuits were about estate or property ownership, debts, individuals, rents, or duties. The language of records was Latin until 1806, in accordance with the official language in the county, but the language of witness interrogation documents and other documents was already Hungarian at that time.
Jewish-related documents can also be found among the record entries. The number of Jewish-related case files is 1841. The first relevant court case in the collection is from 1761 and discusses the case of the Oradea Jewish community (04. 12. 1861 pag. 183.). (The indication of the year of the first case file is only related to the materials of this collection, as the congregation records themselves cover entries and documents belonging to civil court cases.)
The numbering of record entries is continuous from the 1760s and shows a substantial growth from the 19th century. The lawsuits mostly focus on cases of economic issues: debts, property ownership, contracts, and businesses. There are examples of in-court settlement of cases both between Jews and between Jews and non-Jews. The legal proceedings are almost always related to private individuals. The parties in specific lawsuits are mostly men, e.g. disputed economic cases of József Mata and Jacob Veinberger (11. 03. 1822 No 258.) The entries are particularly valuable as they also include internal sources of Jews (petitions, witness statements). Changes in the record-keeping formula also had an effect on the material of Bihar County. From the 1820s, the descriptions included in the records became shorter. These sources primarily relate to Jews in Oradea, Váradvelence and Váradolaszi. The documents were written 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 categorisation of the collection started during the reign of Maria Theresa.
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.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The date of the establishment of the tribunal in Bihar County is unknown. ‘Sedria’, the law enforcement organisation, became influential in the 18th century as a result of long development. In Bihar County, pursuant to the resolution of the congregation in 1721, sedrie had to be held annually, and even the permanent starting dates were set in 1745 (2 February, 14 March, 21 August, 14 November). Initially, criminal and civil lawsuit hearings were held together. Later, the trials took place separately for each type. Civil cases were usually discussed on one occasion, and then criminal cases came next. In 1786, the administrative reforms by Joseph II also affected judicial justice, as it abolished the autonomous jurisdiction of the counties. Nevertheless, the county returned to its original practice in 1790. Since 1769, the Council of Governor-General ordered that the material of criminal and civil proceedings be recorded separately. Lipót Viser developed the principle of classification and provided the volume number (Tomus) for each legal suit and part (Pars).
- Access points: locations:
- Bihar county
- Oradea
- Access points: persons/families:
- Mata, József
- Veinberger, Jacob
- System of arrangement:
- The 28 volumes of the judicial records are characterised by the formation of ensembles spanning several years. The numbering does not differentiate between documents for one year but takes into account year groups within the volumes. Numbering starts from the first page and ends on the last. In each volume, the numbering is restarted. It is based on the system, i.e. the volume (Tomus) and part (Pars), developed by Lipót Viser.
- Finding aids:
- There is no separate handbook for the material. However, the index book available in collection IV.a.6.a can also be used for the records.
- Yerusha Network member:
- University of Szeged
- Author of the description:
- Dr. Tibor Almási and Dr. Erzsébet Mislovics, University of Szeged, 2020
