Metadata: Congregation Records (Protocolla)
Collection
- Country:
- Hungary
- Holding institution:
- National Archives of Hungary, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County Archives, Nyíregyháza
- Holding institution (official language):
- Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg Megyei Levéltára, Nyíregyháza
- Postal address:
- 4400 Nyíregyháza, Széchenyi u. 4
- Phone number:
- +36 42 414 313
- Web address:
- http://www.szabarchiv.hu/drupal/elerhetosegunk
- Email:
- szszbml@mnl.gov.hu
- Reference number:
- IV.A.1.a
- Title:
- Congregation Records (Protocolla)
- Title (official language):
- Közgyűlési Jegyzőkönyvek (Protocolla)
- Creator/accumulator:
- Szabolcs county
- Date(s):
- 1550/1848
- Language:
- Latin
- Hungarian
- German
- Extent:
- 11.1 linear metres (95 volumes)
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection ‘Congregation Records (Protocolla) 1550-1848’ comprises the documents of congregations of nobilities in Szabolcs County. The collection is part of the extensive collection of ‘Documents of the Congregation of Nobilities in Szabolcs County 1550-1848’ maintained in the Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County Archives of the Hungarian National Archives, Nyíregyháza.
The collection is complete. Nevertheless, the dates indicated in the title should be corrected. As a result of administrative reforms by Joseph II., the so-called administration records from 1787-1790 were separated in a particular collection (under heading IV.4. a). The collection includes 95 volumes, bound together from the records of general assembly issues (categorised by the locations of the sessions). The congregations of nobilities constituted the intermediate level of public administration towards the end of the feudal administration system, and they fulfilled the roles of both public administration and jurisdiction. The collection is rich and includes 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 and traffic-related information. The topics presented by the documents represent the concerned era faithfully: 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 the right of ownership, nobility issues, obligations of feudal tenants, religious issues, cemetery, books and printings. The documents were written mainly in Latin and Hungarian.
The collection does not exclusively contain Jewish-related documents. This means that the relevant records are scattered in the 95 volumes of the archival collection. They number about 6700. The first entry in the period is from the year 1699 and refers to Jewish migration from Poland (1699. p. 362.). The number of records showed continuous growth in the 18th century and then there was a surge in the 19th century. This is due to the fact that the county paid great attention to the Jewish community, monitoring their situation at both county and national level. These entries are similar to 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 records are very diverse: information on migration, petitions for settlement, warrants of caption for escapees, search for foreign escapees, 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. Geographically speaking, the records can be considered extensive right from the beginning, as they cover almost all counties in the country, including Jewish inhabitants in numerous settlements in the county: Napkor, Kisvárda, Nagykálló, Csenger, Nagykároly, (Nyír)Bátor, Kemecse, Kállósemjén, Oros, Balkány and Buj.
Besides the large number of records, the collection is particularly valuable as source material: although the majority of the entries mentioned individuals, the number of data concerning communities was increasing over the examined period. Example records include the theft case of Samuel Simon from Nagykálló (1775. 6. 12.), debts of Simon Samuel from Napkor (1786. No 2551.), marriage contract of Farkas Sye (1832. 326. 1915), Salamon Maisel plot owner (1845. No 2948.), community cemeteries in Nagykálló (1829. 196. 417., 1830. 26. 88.), in Buj (1829. 417. 275.) and in Keresztúr ( 1829. 428. 112.). The history of specific families is sometimes also traceable for years or decades, such as in the case of the Zichermann family (1809. 195. 15., 1811. 177. 23., 1826. 506. 377., 1828. 218. 349., 1830. 45. 198.) In several cases, the collection comprises Jewish-related source materials as a conscription (1747. fol. 103.). The documents were written mainly in Latin and Hungarian.
- Archival history:
- From the 14th-15th centuries the notary was tasked with recording judicial issues in the county. Initially, he worked on an ad-hoc basis, moving to a permanent position from the 16th century. The documents were maintained by sub-prefects and notaries also held dossiers in the 17th century. On expiry of their term of office, officials were expected to hand over the materials to their successors. Once the county archives were established, the documents were transported to the castle of Kisvárda. After the chief town of the country was appointed in the 1760s, the archives were transferred to the county office building of Nagykálló. 1893 saw the transfer of the document collection of Szabolcs County to Nyíregyháza. In 1950 the counties pf Szabolcs, Szatmár and Bereg were united, and the Nyíregyháza archives became responsible for collating materials for the three counties.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The collection of record documents was the task of sub-prefects and county notaries until the 17-18th centuries. Following the establishment of the archives, the materials were not filed and this fact was registered after an investigation in 1725. Notaries were tasked with the filing, but the situation remained unchanged until 1767. At that time, Ferenc Schemberger was commissioned with the systematisation of the dossier that is still usable today. The collection was classified on the basis of Ferenc Schemberger’s principle until 1848.
- Access points: persons/families:
- Maisel, Salamon
- Samuel, Simon
- Simon, Samuel
- Sye, Farkas
- Zichermann
- System of arrangement:
- The archival collection consists of 95 volumes. Initially, a volume covered the materials of several years, and later that of single years from 1800. The material was bound annually according to the sequence of the sessions.
- Finding aids:
-
Schemberger’s index books facilitate for the records from 1550 to 1767. There are six handbooks (in Latin) which contain indices and family inventories that provide guidance about locations, civil and criminal cases and general proceedings:
- Elenchus nominalis sive vocalis (3 volumes: I. volume 1530-1723; II. volume 1724-1767 A-J; 3. volume: 1724-1767 L-Z);
- Elenchus rerum Judicialium (I-X. volumes: 1335-1767);
- Elenchus criminalium (I. volume: 1554-1767);
- Elenchus personalis (I. volume: 1567-1767);
- Elenchus locorum (I. volume: 1335-1767 A-K; II. volume: 1335-1767 L-Z);
- Cathalogus familiarum (I. volume: A-J; II. volume L-Z).
1790-1824 are covered by Elenchus politicus No.I-X. and Elenchus generalis, and there is a subject list for 1830-1849.
- Yerusha Network member:
- University of Szeged
- Author of the description:
- Dr. Tibor Almási and Dr. Erzsébet Mislovics, University of Szeged, 2019