Metadata: Documents of general and partial congregations 1790-1848
Collection
- Country:
- Hungary
- Holding institution:
- National Archives of Hungary, Csongrád County Archives, Szentes
- Holding institution (official language):
- Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár Csongrád Megyei Levéltára, Szentes
- Postal address:
- 6600 Szentes, Kossuth tér 1
- Phone number:
- +36 63 562 425
- Web address:
- https://mnl.gov.hu/mnl/csml/mnl_csml_szentes
- Email:
- szentes.csml@mnl.gov.hu
- Reference number:
- IV.A.3.b
- Title:
- Documents of general and partial congregations 1790-1848
- Title (official language):
- Közgyűlési és kisgyűlési iratok 1790-1848
- Creator/accumulator:
- Csongrád County
- Date(s):
- 1790/1848
- Language:
- Latin
- Hungarian
- German
- Extent:
- 32.28 linear metres (269 boxes)
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The ‘Documents of general and partial congregations 1790-1848’ include records and documents from 1790-1794 and congregation documents from 1795. The collection is part of the extensive collection of ‘Documents 1790-1848 of the congregation of nobilities in Csongrád county’.
After the restoration of the autonomy of Csongrád County, the congregation convened for the first time on 2 April 1790, and for the last time on 13 March 1848. The county exercised control over all matters that were within the jurisdiction of law and custom. The documents include notes 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. In terms of their subject matter, the documents are very diverse, as the county exercised its earlier control over legislation and jurisdiction. It established statutes for the county and its inhabitants and ruled in criminal and civil cases. The administrative task included tax registration, assessment, collection, recruitment, a 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, the 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 printing. The language of the documents is mixed, and they were written in Latin, Hungarian and German.
Jewish-related issues are scattered throughout the 267 boxes. Jewish-related documents were also classified in the general collection on the basis of congregation sessions. Theoretically there are documents under about 3,239 headings, the earliest is from 25 May 1790 (No 94). Its subject is the fraud case of Samuel Hajman. A study of the documents made it clear that the collection was incomplete. For example, for 1845 there are 71 out of 200 items missing. Some of them were moved to another title. Consequently, there are documents under 2625 headings. There are orphans and extensive files under the headings.
In terms of their types, the documents are similar to the general ones 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 documents are very diverse: petitions for settlement, warrants of caption for escapees, search for foreign escapees, farming 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, issues 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. The documents from this period tend to highlight the activities of specific individuals: Salamon Kohn creditor (08 06 1812 No 731.), Mózes Perlfaszter from Csongrád (29 03 1841 No 341., 21 06 1841 No 737.), Rozália Böhm midwife from Csongrád (13 09 1841 No 1269.) This collection also includes community cases: Szentes Jewish community: obligation for the recruitment of soldiers (29 08 1814 No. 809.), tolerance tax (18 06 1832 No. 701.), payment of duties (30 11 1840 No 1551.).
The surnames of Hungarian Jewry become permanent in this perios. At the same time, the research is complicated by the fact that the Hungarianisation of names and the use of Hungarian names began in the county, for example, in the case of Lőrinc Sváb. (In his case, the handbooks do not mention for years that he is a member of the Jewish community. His economic activities are supported by extensive files.) In terms of geography, the majority of the material focuses on the settlements of Hódmezővásárhely, Szentes, Csongrád, Szegvár, although cases of Szeged urban Jewry also appear (20 02 1799 No 3., 48.; 14 12 1825 No 1409.). At the same time, county and national economic and cultural relations can be tracked (Vodianer family: 06 03 1815 No 214., 10 04 1819 No 382., 05 10 1829 No 1298., 31 08 1840 No 1131., Boskovitz family: 06 03 1815 No 95., 21 10 1843 No 1805., 15 02 1845 No 156.). The congregation documents of the Csongrád county collection are particularly valuable as source material: in several cases, the sources and applications of Jewish citizens survived. The documents were written in Latin, Hungarian and German.
- Archival history:
- The historical archives of Csongrád county were destroyed during the siege of Fülek Castle (1682). In 1723 the county archives were reorganised. Subsequently, for half a century, the documents produced in the meantime were kept in the county house rented in Szeged. From there, the documents necessary for the administration were transferred to the officials and/or remained with them. In addition, documents were transported in boxes to congregation meetings and court trials. In 1767 Szegvár became the new seat of Csongrád county; therefore the archives moved here. In 1786 Szegvár also became the seat of Békés-Csanád-Csongrád counties. In 1790, following the restoration of autonomy in the three counties, the papers were sorted by the scope of jurisdiction. In 1794 the archivist in Csongrád county began the categorisation of documents. In 1858 the archives of Csongrád county were retransferred to Szeged. However, in April 1861, the material was returned to Szegvár. In 1878 Szentes became the seat of Csongrád county. In 1884, the location of the records was designated in the Szentes county hall. In 1950, after the nationalisation of the archives, two archives were established in Csongrád county, with headquarters in Szeged and Szentes. After 1968, county councils became responsible for supervising the archives. In 1973, the Szeged Archives of the Executive Committee of Csongrád County Council became the main archive in the county. Szentes became the place where the documents belonging to its collection circle were kept in the branch archive. To this day the archival records of Csongrád county material are maintained by the Csongrád County Archives, Szentes in the county hall.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- After 1790 Csongrád county regained its autonomy and until 13 March 1848, the congregation of nobilities met continuously. The congregation of nobilities exercised its legislative, judicial and legal functions. The volumes were bound chronologically on a yearly basis.
- Access points: locations:
- Csongrád County
- Hódmezővásárhely
- Szeged
- Szentes
- Access points: persons/families:
- Böhm, Rozália
- Hajman, Samuel
- Kohn, Salamon
- Perlfaster, Mózes
- Vodianer
- System of arrangement:
- The copies of records are placed before the documents included in fasciculi from 1790 to 1794. From 1795, only the documents and annexes are in the boxes, and the material was re-numbered every year. During the operation of the county congregation, it was common for the documents to be collated and forwarded to the Council of Governor-General or the Tribunal; otherwise, they were attached to relevant matters in the file. Therefore, documents removed from their original location can only be found with luck if they are attached to the material. If the documents were removed, they were lost or might have been mixed up and ended up in other collections. In 1983, documents found later were repositioned to their original location.
- Finding aids:
- The volumes of Elenchus 57-88. in collection IV.A.3.a. can serve as an aid for studying the collection. The handbooks are available at the archive in hardcopy. They were written in Latin and Hungarian.
- Yerusha Network member:
- University of Szeged
- Author of the description:
- Dr. Tibor Almási and Dr. Erzsébet Mislovics, University of Szeged, 2020
