Metadata: Documents of Congregations
Collection
- Country:
- Hungary
- Holding institution:
- National Archives of Hungary, Hajdú-Bihar County Archives, Hajdúböszörmény
- Holding institution (official language):
- Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár Hajdú-Bihar Megyei Levéltára, Hajdúböszörmény
- Postal address:
- 4220 Hajdúböszörmény, Dorogi u. 5
- Phone number:
- +36 30 636 7974
- Web address:
- http://mnl.gov.hu/hajduboszormenyi_fiokleveltar
- Email:
- hajduboszormeny@mnl.gov.hu
- Reference number:
- IV.A.502.b
- Title:
- Documents of Congregations
- Title (official language):
- Közgyűlési iratok
- Creator/accumulator:
- Hajdú District
- Date(s):
- 1605/1848
- Date note:
- 1605/1713/1848
- Language:
- Latin
- Hungarian
- Extent:
- 38.25 linear metres ( 572 boxes. 24 volumes)
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection of the 'Congregation documents' of the Hajdú District (1605) comprises documents from 1713-1848. The collection is part of the extensive collection of 'Documents of the congregation of the Hajdú District'.
The main difference from the collections of congregation documents in other county archives is that the congregation records of the Hajdú district do not merely include the documents of the congregations of nobilities, but those of a general assembly responsible for performing representation and administrative tasks in a privileged district. The district itself was an independent legislative authority and had the same power of representation as other counties.
The collection can be divided into two units: the records of congregations and the index books. Although the subject matter of the collection of congregation documents is closely connected to the content of congregation records, concerning their duration, the sources were dated much earlier. The insufficiency of the source materials may be the result of obligatory disposal in 1849 and/or transport after World War II. The collection is rich and covers varied documents: petitions submitted to the congregations, examinations, notifications, reports, orders of emissaries, lists of tax assessments, correspondence with other counties, regulations issued by the Royal Council of Governor-General and the Chancellery, reports on the operation of guilds, instructions, traffic-related information. The subjects of the documents include commercial issues, bankruptcy proceedings, 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, 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 and books. The documents were written mainly in Latin and Hungarian.
The collection does not exclusively comprise Jewish-related documents. The records are scattered in the 572 boxes of the archival collection under the heading 2021 (naturally, they do not cover only a single document, but rather an extensive file). The first entry is from 1735. The number of records showed continuous growth from the second decade of the 19th century. All the above are linked to the fact that due to their privilege, the settlements of the Hajdú district applied the “de non tolerandis Judaeis” right of free royal boroughs. Jewish citizens had to fight for a long time to be able to settle in the district. However, in the 18th century, they could build active economic relationships with the local population supported by landlords.
The Jewish-related documents are similar to the others in the collection: they comprise instructions and ordinances by the Council of Governor-General and the Chancellery, notifications, information, other reports from the county and petitions submitted by Jewish citizens (generally indirectly and sometimes in their original form). The remaining documents are very diverse: information on migration, 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 and issues of conversion. The various subject groups highlight that both the issues of public administration and jurisdiction are available in the collection. Despite the wide range of entries, most of the documents are related to individuals, cases of settlement and economic issues. The presence of Yiddish contracts among business documents makes them interesting. The collection has particular value as source material as it often monitors the activities of particular individuals for several years: E.g. business activities by Fischbein Illés in Hajdúszoboszló, Fried family in Hajdúnánás and Hartstein family in Hajdúdorog. So-called internal sources, including petitions by individuals and their witness statements, have also survived. As for their geographical distribution, the source material can be assigned to two groups: Jewish-related records concerning nationally important cases and local affairs in Hajdúnánás, Hajdúdorog, Hajdúböszörmény, Hajdúszoboszló and Vámospércs. The documents were written in Latin, Hungarian and German.
The second unit of the collection comprises the index books. They are written in Hungarian and Latin.
- Archival history:
-
Hajdú District - Districtus Haidonicalis - was established at the end of the 17th century and was responsible for the representation and administration of the area. The archives in the district has maintained certificates and legal documents since 1605. The first records mentioning the archives date back to 1688, when the documents were kept in a small room in Hajdúböszörmény. The privileges of hajduk and the related records are kept in a box in the castle of Kálló. Other relevant documents were maintained by the captain of the district and the county notary. In 1776 the Council of Governor-General ordered the construction of the archives. In 1808 the collection was transferred to the district hall. In 1876 the archives of Hajdú-Bihar County was established (pursuant to Article XXXIII). The events of World War II posed a threat to the collection of documents, therefore the collection was hidden in the Trans-Danubian region at the end of the war. Consequently, part of the documents was destroyed and/or mixed. The administrative unification of Bihar and Hajdú counties affected the history of the archives. In 1950 the Bihar County archives was transferred to Debrecen and included in the archival documents of Hajdú County. It has developed into the Hajdú-Bihar County Archives, and Debrecen became the centre. In 1968, following the period of the “state history” the documents were returned to the relevant counties. In case of documents from the feudal era in Hajdú District it meant that the collection was maintained in the Hajdú-Bihar County Archives of Debrecen. However, a branch archive was established in Hajdúböszörmény in 1981, and it became the place where the historical documents of the Hajdú District were kept.
The subject of the collection of congregation documents from the Hajdú District is closely connected to the content of congregation documents. Its cataloguing started in 1777. A catalogue has been compiled of documents drafted since 1713. However, in 1849 a small part of the documents was destroyed as 8q 5 pound of scrap paper was taken out of the archives. Nevertheless, it may be considered that the Jewish-related documents survived relatively unharmed. The categorisation of the collection followed the Bihar County pattern, and separate fasciculi were compiled on the basis of Lipót Viser’s structuring principle. In 1965 the archivist Zoltán Újlaky gave the collection its present structure and form.
- Access points: locations:
- Hajdú District
- Hajdúböszörmény
- Hajdúdorog
- Hajdúhadház
- Hajdúnánás
- Hajdúszoboszló
- Access points: persons/families:
- Fischbein, Illés
- Hartstein
- System of arrangement:
-
The structure is varied over the given period: a) 1713-1765; b) 1766-1776; c) 1777-1782; d) 1783-1784; e) 1785-1789; f) 1790-1792.
Fasciculi were developed on the basis of subject-based classification within the resulting year cycles. It means that certain fasciculi may cover the materials of several years within particular groups.
From 1793, subject-based classification was performed annually. That is, the numbering of fasciculi was restarted each year. For example, fasciculi I-X. existed in 1793 and numbering restarted within each one.
It is important that documents related to materials from the second half of 1848 and 1849 were included under heading IV.B.602.
- Finding aids:
-
Handbooks for the collection are available at the archive in hardcopy. They are written in Latin and in Hungarian. Volumes No. 573-595 in the collection indicate the alphabetical catalogues of subjects, names and administrative documents. The index book for the year of 1848-1849 can be found under heading IV.B.602.
The titles of the handbooks are as follows:
IV.A.502/b:
573-576. v.: Elenchus et index actorum inc. Distr. Hajdunicalium
577-592. v.: Index Actorum desstrictus Hajdunicalis
593. v.: Alphabetical catalogue for administrative documents in the Hajdú District 1846-1847
594. v.: Regestrum actorum politicorum 1729-1770
595. v.: Elenchus Actorum politicorum opp. Hajd. 1742-1769.
- Yerusha Network member:
- University of Szeged
- Author of the description:
- Dr. Tibor Almási and Dr. Erzsébet Mislovics, University of Szeged, 2019
