Metadata: General Congregation Records 1732-1848
Collection
- Country:
- Hungary
- Holding institution:
- National Archives of Hungary, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County Archives, Szolnok
- Holding institution (official language):
- Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok Megyei Levéltára, Szolnok
- Postal address:
- 5000 Szolnok, Pozsonyi út 40-42
- Phone number:
- +36 56 421 404
- Web address:
- https://mnl.gov.hu/jnszml
- Email:
- jnszml@mnl.gov.hu
- Reference number:
- IV.A.1.
- Title:
- General Congregation Records 1732-1848
- Title (official language):
- Közgyűlési jegyzőkönyvek 1732-1848
- Creator/accumulator:
- Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county
- Date(s):
- 1732/1848
- Language:
- Latin
- Hungarian
- Extent:
- 5.6 linear metres (103 volumes)
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection ‘General Congregation Records 1732-1847' of the Jászkun District comprises the records of the general congregations in the Jászkun District. It is part of the extensive collection ‘Documents of the congregation of nobilities the Jászkun District 1413-1847’.
The document collection in the Jászkun district archives differs from the collections of other county archives. Due to the privilege of the local inhabitants, the Jazygians and the Cumans, the members of the General Assembly did not come from the ranks of the nobility but represented the wealthy landowners. However, the administrative and legislative powers of the district provided the same right to represent interests as in other counties.
The collection contains the records of the Jászkun districts from 1732 to 1847. The period of Joseph II-type administration, 1786-1790, is excepted from this. Similarly to the general assemblies of nobilities, the congregations constituted the intermediate level of public administration towards the end of the feudal administration system, and all information (often verdicts) related to cases in the district were recorded here. The collection is rich and covers various 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 cases heard by the members of congregations reflect the era: 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, factories, guilds, naturalisation, agriculture, invalidation of debts, wildfire, wood sales, military uniforms, travel documents, Jewish-related matters, re-acquisition of ownership rights, 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 entries. The relevant cases were are in 81 volumes of records in the order they were heard at the sessions. The number of Jewish-related entries is 2040. The first entry is from the year of 1732; it deals with Hirsch’s fraud case (1732. fol. 54.). Jewish-related entries are scattered from 1736 to 1787, as the second one was recorded in 1746 (recording royal transcript of the national census of the Jews), whereas the third is from 1753. All this is related to the enforcement of the privilege of the entitled territory, which provided an opportunity to prevent the establishment of the Jews. However, the number of entries increased notably after 1790 (although it remained moderate compared to other counties). These entries 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 also in their original form). The remaining documents are very diverse: information on migration, petitions for settlement, caption warrants 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, schedules for debt payment or collection, crimes where victims could also be the perpetrators, horse theft, murders, 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 cases of public administration and jurisdiction are available in the collection.
Despite the diversity, the vast majority of entries relate to individuals on a national list (arrest warrant, personal description, bankruptcy, debts): personal description of Mihály Dávidovits (1804 No 1672.), József Veiszberger (from Gyöngyös) (1835 No 693.), David Hollander’s settlement in Halas (1837 No 1018.), Moyses Deutsch’s leases in Fülöpszállás (1818 No 716). Although the peculiarity of the district material is that it highlights mainly the affairs of individuals, the records of one of the most significant communities, the Jewish communities in Halas and Dorozsma are also included in the collection: tax lists of Halas and Dorozsma (1816 No 537.), leases in Dorozsma (1795. No 1983) and in Halas (1837 No 1080.). Short, concise case descriptions in the records supplemented by a collection of general congregation records can give a more accurate picture of a certain cases. As for their geographical distribution, the source material can be assigned to two groups: Jewish-related records concerning nationally important cases and their affairs in the district (Halas, Dorozsma, Félegyháza, Fülöpszállás, Jászberény). The records were written mainly in Latin and Hungarian.
- Archival history:
-
Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county was founded in 1876 with its seat in Szolnok. The county includes the Jászkun District, and Külső-Szolnok part of Heves and Külső-Szolnok counties. The establishment of the county archives was ordered by Queen Maria Theresa. The legal predecessor of the archive was established in 1751 at the headquarters of the Jászkun District in Jászberény. The county records were collected here. The well-organised collection was transferred to the Szolnok county archives in 1878. The document collection was moved to the building of the Szolnok Financial Administration under the name Szolnok County Public Archives in 1950. Later the county court building was designated as the maintenance site for the archival materials in 1917. The construction of a new building was decided in 1952 and it was completed by 1980. The building - explicitly for the maintenance of archival materials - is located at 40-42 Pozsonyi Street.
The collection contains very few documents from the period before Mohács. However, it became extensive from the 18th century. (As a result of territorial reclassification in the Heves county archives, documents related to Szolnok county can also be found.) The composition of the documents maintained in Szolnok county is closely related to the changes in the administrative boundaries from period to period. Deaccessioning in 1914 and 1928 and ‘paper collection’ in 1946 and 1947 caused irreparable deficiencies in the case files.
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
No precise data are available on the date of the establishment of Jászkun District as an administrative authority. The collection of documents on the Jazygians and Cumans may have started as early as 1741 when the district received its seal from Queen Maria Theresa. The archive was first mentioned in 1751 when the Queen ordered the establishment of an archive. The material of the district was sorted in 1825, and the handbooks are still usable.
Destruction in 1914 affected the material from the district for the period 1850-1876. War damages caused irreparable deficiencies in the records.
- Access points: locations:
- Fülöpszállás
- Halas
- Jászberény
- Access points: persons/families:
- Dávidovits, Mihály
- Deutsch, Moyses
- Hirsch
- Hollander, David
- Veiszberger, József
- System of arrangement:
- The collection comprises the files of the congregation of nobilities up to 1847. The period of 1786-1790 is excepted, as due to the administrative reforms by Joseph II. the documents related to this area were placed in a separate collection. Administrative and judicial matters were included in the records of the collection in the chronological order of the counsels.
- Finding aids:
- Index books attached to the collection are available. 19 index books, 1 index on private law matters and a relevant volume of subject, name and place name indexes are also available to researchers. The index books also include the resolutions of the congregations and the number of the related documents.
- Yerusha Network member:
- University of Szeged
- Author of the description:
- Dr. Tibor Almási and Dr. Erzsébet Mislovics, University of Szeged, 2020