THE 1828 HUNGARIAN PROPERTY TAX CENSUS : DECODE and READ : GENEALOGY TIP #2
HOW TO READ THE INFORMATION ON
THE 1828 PROPERTY TAX CENSUS
by Magyar-American BlogSpot
I'm providing more detailed translations than I can find elsewhere.
The press printed headings on this census are consistent, though you may find yourself wondering what the words mean, as they are in LATIN. There are fourteen CATEGORIES of Questions with subcategories in each. Remember LATIN was something of a common language in Europe, a unifying language, but should you encounter this census with headings in Hungarian or German, well, follow the columns below in any case.
1) THE NAME OF THE HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD, first and last. NOMINA CONTRIBUENTIUM. The women listed are almost all V - Vidua - Widows. The name listed will be the woman's given and surname at birth even if she is widowed. That is unless you see ne as a suffix to the surname. Then that would be her dead husband's surname. Example V Maria Lukacs - her maiden name. V Maria Lukacsne - her husband's surname was Lukacs. Women with property in their own name were considered very good to marry. Look for the death record of the husband and go forward to see if and when she remarries.
2) THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE LIVING IN THE HOUSEHOLD ages 18 - 60 who are productive. EX HIS SUNT. This is tricky. Teenagers and children are not counted. Neither are those thought to be too old to work. Therefore, if you see 1, that means one productive adult. 2 likely means a productive adult couple. But 2 does not necessarily mean these are married people. It could be a father and son or a mother and daughter or two brothers. What's tricky about it is that at the time children started to work young and most teenagers were also working around the house and farm, especially in the summers. Consider the count would be the number of people who are CONTRIBUTING to the FINANCES OF THE HOUSEHOLD. So, an Old Mother (over 60) could be living there but not be considered as contributing even if she's out back with the hoe every day and feeding the pigs. Clearly by 60 in 1828 you are considered very old - out to pasture! Death records prove very few live to be that age. I once saw a woman who was 96 at death. The priest mentioned "Extreme Unction."
3) The status / class of the contributing adults. We're still in feudal mentality in 1828. ONLY OWNERS OF PROPERTY ARE ON THIS CENSUS, not serfs or slaves. You might think of it as an emerging middle-class census. But a PROPERTY OWNER and potential taxpayer may just have a house and garden or even less. You may want to find these same people on the URBARIUM 1767 and see if anyone went up or down the status / class ladder!
HONORATES - Honored People (May see if this correlates with the Perpetual People on the URBARIUM 1767.) Some interpretations are that this means Honored Professionals such as Doctor and Lawyer/ Judge/ Politician. A person of achievement (or their ancestors were considered to be so) or simply that the person is educated. Another interpretation has been that the person is NOBLE status. However, noble status includes an exceptionally large population of people, many who are poor, so I go with the notion that the person is on this census due to their wealth first.
CIVES - Citizens (This must mean Not Foreigners) It seems to me that this column is rarely checked. Perhaps I haven't encountered a place in 1828 were the person, with means (money), has just come in from a foreign country.
COLONI - Farmers - people settled on the land. (In some Church Records you'll see some people's addresses as Coloni, meaning on the farm outside of the town, rather than a house number. It is usually people living in "commune" that you see in church records - generally on farms. (Not communes in the 1960's sense where people who are not family pull their resources or live off the land.) On some church records you'll see the word "sub." (an abbreviation after the settlement name indicating the family is Subquilini.
INQUILINI - Literally, My Guests (I'm letting these people stay.) As Tenants (Yea, if they pay their rent!)
SUBQUILINI - Literally My Guest's Guests (More people I'm letting stay.) Someone who has a sub tenant lease which they could be paying to the Inquilini or the Coloni. Remember that a Land Baron owns the acres. These questions were meant to get a feeling for what he's worth. He has people on his property who pay him rent or goods or services in exchange for living there. They are not Guests invited as we think of it now. Think "By my Grace." Such as "Luckily I let them live here and pay me with 52 days labor a year."
FRATRES - Literally Brothers - Actually sons / males
FILFA - Literally Daughters - Actually daughters / females REMEMBER THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT INCLUDED IN column two, so they are not "productive." Too bad there are no stats on their ages.
SERVI - servants
ANCILLAE - slaves (yes, slaves)
At this time and far into the future there is not so much difference between a live-in servant and a slave. Children are the property of their Fathers. Women are property of their Husbands. Servants can't say no when told to do something, any more than slaves can, though they may have more "freedom." (Slaves sometimes raised their rank after a period of time in Europe. In Early America, as an example, people sometimes worked without payment for the family that paid their ticket to sail over the Atlantic by working for free for seven or more years. They were called "indentured servants." Who were the slaves in 1828: they were in some, not all parts of Hungary, the Rom - the gypsies.)
OPIFES - Literally Helping (People who are working part time or seasonally such as migrant workers or farm laborers who do a little this and that. For instance, you might have opifes to help you to pick a seasonal crop or can goods. Be careful not to confuse this word with OPIFEX, which means "industrialist" and indicates a tradesman.)
MERCATORES - Merchants who have product to sell. Traders who take commissions for their part in the selling process. Let's say the head of household has extra grain to sell. This person is hired to sell it. An agricultural broker.
QUAESTORES - For the purposes of this census, think Financial Advisory, Money Man, CFO, Tax accountant; some expert who does the math and helps the property owner. (Important since they might also negotiate the tax.)
4) How many houses do the people in column one own? DOMUS A QUIBUS CENSUS SOLVITUR Home which this census focuses on. This means at this location. I've found the same people owning houses in various places. It's location-based question, not a question of a person's entire net worth. At the time there must have been an understanding of what a typical house was worth based on size, condition, and location, just as there is now.
NRO. These moneys.
RII - ??
V. - ?? (I believe these three estimations are used in a mathematical formula for estimating the value / taxes.)
5) There might be other dwellings on the property other than the house. So the entire property - let's say a house, a shed, a small barn, a garden, etc, is called a HOMESTEAD. FUNDI INTRAVILLANI - the Estate. (Try not to think of Beverly Hills real estate when you hear the word Estate. Even today in the U.S. a person can die and leave an "estate" of $1.)
What is the value of all this land and the dwellings on it?
ORGYARAM CONSVETUM PRETIUM - This is not a literal translation (I'm still working on it) but I believe it's something like Overall Consensus of Price or Value or Premium (Highest) Value.
6) Hungary is mostly agricultural, so most people farm or at least have a home garden plot. The government wants to know how much GRAIN is being produced on that land which is sold or traded so it's beyond the home garden. Again that is at this location. The grain may be considered "cereal" which people eat, or grain for animals to feed on. TRANSLATIONS TO FOLLOW.
7) How many MEADOWS does the person own? Meadow brings visions of broad vista of property with a stream flowing through and blooming with wild flowers but in this case think GRAZING LAND. You set your horse, cattle, sheep, goats, to graze. Certain crops do well grown in meadows. Usually this is grasses / wheat. So what was the amount harvested and what was the profit from the meadow?
8) WINE! Very Important! What Hungarian doesn't own a vineyard? Again, the harvest, profit, and how many people work to pick the grapes is of interest to the government. Wine is Big Business.
Many Hungarians grew only enough grapes to make wine for home use. As in most of Europe, common wine was drunk with meals instead of water, or mixed with water, as the alcohol made it was safer to drink. If you see that a person owns 1/4 or 1/2 a vineyard at that location, it's probably that other family members - in particular brothers or relatives with families - are sharing a vineyard. (Are there other land owners in this location with the same surname? Do they also share a vineyard? Could they be related?)
9) ORCHARDS! Again what is the harvest and the profit?
For Hungarians apricots and apples and peaches and cherries are prime crops.
10) PEROCRA : BULLS, COWS, and HORSES : LARGE DOMESTICATED, WORKING ANIMALS. ( I think the horse is most needed. It's like asking if you have transportation or are on foot. Oxen did farm labor of pulling machinery.) Think WORKING ANIMALS though a cow can be milked.
Details:
-BOVES juggles - COWS - Boys - in other words BULLS
-Vaccaue foetau - Pregnant Cows - COWS
-Vacae Sterile - Cows who are not pregnant /sterile. STEERS
-Juvenci and Juvenca - juvenile cows - male and female annos superante
3 years old - HEIFERS
-Juvenci and Juvenca - juvenile cows - male and female
- annos superante 2 annose superante - 2 years old or older
-EQUI curriferi - HORSES wild and of the herd -
males and females (horses) over the age of 3
males and females (horses) over the age of 2
(Female bovines born as twins to a male bovine are usually sterile. Some male bovines are castrated. The concern here is what breeding stock the farmer has.)
11) PECUTES : SHEEP, PIGS, and GOATS are considered to be SMALL DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. (But have you ever seen a 400 pound pig?!) Goats were needed for milk. They were as always famous for not being picky eaters and good for clearing weeds. Think SMALL ANIMALS FOR FOOD.
Details: unum annem complentes : how many in the last year?
OVES - SHEEP
SETIGERI - HOGS
CAPRAE - GOATS
12) SYLVAE : FORESTED land. Woods: Trees for nuts and lumber. Almonds and Hazelnuts are prime tree crops. The questions is not about a small amount taken for personal use by the family but where there is a large amount to be weighed.
13) MISCELLANEOUS. (Could be interesting...) A place for the census taker to observe that there are buildings on the property that are not the family home or for family use specifically. For instance, he might list that there is a ruined castle on the property or that there is a chapel or a blacksmith shop. The census taker has an eye for what is income producing or is evidence of wealth.
14) NOTES of the census taker. (His observations of you and what you own could have impact. Be nice to him. Don't offer up too much information. Offer him a meal or a glass or wine, probably not a bribe!)
At the end of each location book, there are also handwritten notes. These are important to look at as well. They are about the various people who were listed and what they own. While the person listed was probably there when that accounting took place, these notes may have been added later as a report to the government.
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