Metadata: Administrative Documents 1787-1790
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.8.a
- Title:
- Administrative Documents 1787-1790
- Title (official language):
- Ügyviteli iratok 1787-1790
- Creator/accumulator:
- Bihar county
- Date(s):
- 1787/1790
- Language:
- Latin
- Hungarian
- Extent:
- 1.6 linear metres (9 fascicles (batches))
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection of ‘Administrative Documents 1787-1790’ includes documents created during the reign of Joseph II. in the period of his judicial reforms. The documents form part of the extensive collection of ‘Joseph II-type Tribunal (Iudicium Subalternum) in Bihar county’.
The collection includes the documents created during the operation of the so-called First Instance Courts (Judicium Subalternum). Due to the reforms, the courts started their work on 1 September 1787 and finished it on 28 January 1790 (although in fact it was delayed until 1 May due to the closure of pending cases). The aim of Joseph II. was to take the jurisdiction out of the hands of the nobility, but his efforts failed because the judges of the new courts came from among the noblemen, who applied the laws of the previous legal system. The document collection comprises both measures and inquiries. In terms of their subject matter, the classification of the judicial source material provides a relatively easy overview. Fons 1: presidential instruction, internal instruction, organisational issues; fons II: court legislation; fons III: petitions from individuals; fons IV: criminal cases; fons V- VII: recovery cases; fons VIII: correspondence; fons IX: supplement to correspondence; fons XIV: taxa; fons XVI: orphans court. (Fons XV is missing.)
Jewish-related documents are scattered in the fons according to their subject classification. In the period of 1787-1788, related documents can be found under about 44 headings in the collection. The first documents in this collection is from 1788 and deals with the debts of Mendel Israel and Aizik Davidovits (1788. No 1553. (Fons 3. Fasc. 2. No 58.). They are mostly civil lawsuits over debt payment and some damage lawsuits. The entries from this period tend to highlight the activities of certain individuals under several headings: entries on Abraham Fischer from Margitta can be found under six headings (17 01 1789 No 141., 15 01 1789 No 157., 30 01 1789 No 177., 26 01 1789 No 260., 16 06 1789 No 2060., 04 07 1789 2305.) His file reveals his activity as a leaser. He was forcibly removed from his leases in Terebes.
The files do not only relate the Jewish inhabitants in Bihar County; documents of the inhabitants of Veszprém, Arad, Bratislava, Nagykároly and Köbölkút can also be found. Their lawsuits are linked to their economic activities with Jewish and non-Jewish residents of Bihar County or acts committed against them. 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:
- As a result of the administrative reforms by Joseph II., new autonomous courts were established. The “Seven Persons Table” (Tabula Septemviralis) became their supreme court. In addition, he organised 38 courts of the first instance as Iudicium Subalternum (Lower courts). The Vámospércs lower court had jurisdiction over cases in Bihar county.
- Access points: locations:
- Bihar county
- Bratislava
- Hungary
- Köbölkút
- Oradea
- Terebes
- Access points: persons/families:
- Davidovits, Aizik
- Fischer, Abraham
- Israel, Mendel
- Subject terms:
- Financial matters--Debt
- Legal records
- System of arrangement:
- During the organisation of the three fascicles (batches) in the collection, independent fons, i,e. collections of documents with the same subject matter, came into focus. ‘Positio’ documents within each fons included documents with the same subject. The numbering of the fons is continuous. However, due to the separation of subjects, the lack of apparent numbers in some collections suggests that materials of different content are available in them: administrative documents can be found in fons 1-3, 7-8, 16.
- Finding aids:
- There are no finding aids.
- Yerusha Network member:
- University of Szeged
- Author of the description:
- Dr. Tibor Almási and Dr. Erzsébet Mislovics, University of Szeged, 2020