HUNGARIAN NATIONAL ARCHIVES - HUNGARICANA - URBARARIUM 1767 (MARIA THERESA CENSUS) Link Updated Dec 2023
I'll be posting on the usefulness of this database which is free and from the National Archives of Hungary over the next couple months so follow along with me if you like.
Background: Queen Maria Theresa, ruler of the Austrian Empire of which Hungary was a part at the time, ordered a special census to take stock of the peasantry in feudal times. Who was the landowner? (Usually a wealthy noble or baron.) How many tools did each person listed own? (A tool would include a hoe.) How many buildings? How many people paid to farm their land or rented a dwelling? How big is the plot of land? How is it divided?
It's been raining often and hard here in Southern California, and so I spent several days reading, not the entire census, but the front pages of the books that have been archived. As I post this, I have completed several counties, including Abauj, Zemplen, Torna, Pest-Pilis-Zolt, Gomor, and others. The database will bring up the names of the owners of the properties, or the name of the person who is administrating that property. Within the database is the option to have the Hungarian indexes translated into English.
You will see a list of people who are considered "perpetual," residents, others who are tenants renting land or buildings or space for a business. You'll see lists of people who are serfs, thus providing some of their output to the landowner in exchange for living there. There may also be a listing of slaves. (Serfs were not considered to be slaves - more on slaves another time.)
For genealogy and family history purposes, let's say you are trying to go back past 1800, past 1767. You can find the village on the Urbarium that your people lived in when they were baptized or where you found family in the 1800 era and see if you also find the surname in the same place. Or you might go from the Urbarium forward to the baptismal records.
Go to the NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF HUNGARY site, the link in yellow above. You'll see images of books from the census. They are very old, very aged inside, with browned ink. The covers seem to be designed in a fashion that reminds me of someone using their finger or another implement to drag some pigment around in interesting patterns. Some seem to have a more Italianate method of design.
I don't usually recommend that you collect all the information you can find on a surname unless it is an unusual surname. However, in my case, the surname that I've been following is unusual because I believe from scanning Hungaricana that there are records of the name from the 1200's and 1300's, but I believe that it's currently almost extinct.
What I see on the URBARIUM 1767 is that people with noble or unusual surnames on this census seem to have property in MANY counties. Not all are noble, but I'll post on that another time.
If you know a little about the history of Hungary, you know that there were some vast estates or properties and you probably know the names of some of the families that owned these properties. What you may not know is that some of the families owned properties well beyond the place you might think of as their origin or stead. That's something I've been reminded of as I see the same names in so many locations. (An easy example is the common surname Liptak. Liptaks are everywhere, not just the county of Lipto! The name, by the way, is supposed to translate to Phillip, like Phillip in the Bible.)
How could this be so?
There are a number of reasons which include inheritance, marriage, death, distribution of lands to heirs and for dowries, as well as diversifying investments! Or the property was given to the person through the grace and favor of a King or other person in charge, such as a land Baron. Repeatedly I have found places that have names exactly or close to the surname without finding anyone with that surname living there in 1767. (Due to the extensive travel needed to do this census and nature of this census, note that some portions were recorded years past 1767. I have also heard that there are some parts written on in 1848 but have not personally seen those yet.)
So, go to any county and any town you have an ancestor from, not necessarily looking for them, but just to get there on this database. Then take a look at the cover art and start clicking on the images of handwritten notes that detail the information under each surname or property owner/administrator, and see what's there.
I'm suggesting that you look in the URBARIUM 1767 at the listing for town BUSOC in county of SZEPES because the handwriting is so beautifully clear as a first experience.
It's thrilling!
Please note that the handwritten portions are most often in Latin and/or Hungarian and there is also a PRESS PRINTED section that is consistent for each page.
Thank you National Archives of Hungary
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This post is part of a series. To print up all posts, click on the tag Pro tips: 1767 Hungaricana Urbarium
