FUN WITH HUNGARICANA #7 : THE LIBRI REGII in HUNGARICANA : WHAT'S INSIDE?

This post continues on the exploration of the Hungariacana databases.

Please note that there are extensive collections that are not uploaded onto databases. ***

NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF HUNGARY - HUNGARICANA - DATABASES - LIBRII REGII

Let's start with what "Librii Regii" means. This are Latin for "Royal Books" just as Királyi Könyvek, is Hungarian for "Royal Books" as well. But they are casually referred to as King's Books.

The collection contains 67 volumes of official records from the Hungarian Chancellery, documenting important state documents issued by the Kings of Hungary and Austria-Hungary between years 1527 and 1867. (So that includes Queen Maria Theresa's time on the throne.) Patents of nobility are just part of this collection. There are also wills, the ownership and transfer of ownership of land (a principal aspect of wealth), as well as many other aspects of royal decrees (laws, policies, and rules). *** However, you may need to ask an archivist at the National Archives of Hungary for some help, unless you can make your way through the Latin handwriting.

When you go to the link you will see a number of images (start pages) and the numbers below them indicate the DATES that are covered.

There are some images that are PRESS PRINTED IN LATIN.

There are some images that are handwritten in LATIN.

And there are some of these in HUNGARIAN.

BECAUSE SOME IMPORTANCE WAS GIVEN TO THESE DOCUMENTS, many were made with an attention to readability and neatness - beauty.

I'm going to link to a book of heraldry - family crests - coat of arms.  These are for the TITLED NOBILITY OF AN ERA and this book has over ONE THOUSAND PAGES. THIS BOOK IS FOR THE YEARS 1901- 1909.

HUNGARICANA ARCHIVES : BOOK IMAGE 71.1 KIRALYI KONYVEK  This is the cover image but you can SEE the artistic representations of each coat of arms.  The very first one has a crow holding an envelope in its mouth.  

YOU WILL ALSO SEE THAT THREE GREEN HILLS ARE PRESENT IN MANY OF THESE COAT OF ARMS...

This motif is so common in Hungarian arms, and I've not found a definitive reason why.  I venture that these indicate the Carpathian mountains and the story of how the tribal people who were seeking a homeland followed a White Stag through. Without reading the information given, I cannot say that this also indicates that the original members of the family were part of that adventure.

You will also see arms with swords. These indicate that the person battled or persevered over the Ottoman Turks who were in control of Hungarian lands for centuries - depending on locations - 

LINK TO MAJOR ARPAD HUNGARICANA - ROYAL BOOK - MAJOR ARPAD image 0082

This particular book may be of interest also because there are a good number of GERMAN SURNAMES included, including some who are listed as Medicinae Doctor (M.D.): Literally "Teacher of Medicine".  However, just as we call PhD educated people "Doctor", the use of this term may be honorary.

Interested in learning more about these databases.  See my past posts.  They will all come up if you click on the label  Pro Tip Hungaricana Fun

LIBRI REGII - ROYAL BOOKS - HUNGARICANA - TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY IN ENGLISH

Contrary to popular notions that people who are into genealogy are snobs just trying to raise their status by proving royal or noble blood flows in their veins, there is another explanation for this fever.  Basically, ancestors who were wealthy, noble, or notable in history (not always the same!) have more documentation in general. So if you link to such a person you often can go further back in your research.  Populations were so much smaller then, there is a greater chance you can link to many others by correctly linking to one. Since nobles tended to marry nobles, linking to one correctly can open your research.

Searching in HUNGARICANA for surnames, I printed out the five pages of information that the translation option offered from Hungarian to English.  Reading it, my head started spinning.  It seemed so awkwardly worded and repetitive.

HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW, as edited and commented upon and enhanced with information by me!

C 2018 Magyar-American BlogSpot

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The LIBRI REGII (Latin for Books Royal, Royal Books, or the King's Books) that are currently in the custody of the Hungarian National Archives, were copied originally by The Royal Chancellery.  Recorded were the major documents issued by the King /in the name of the King.  They record the "grace" of the King, the favors or grants in which he gave permanent rights and privileges to a person or family. (They may also record the "grace" of the Queen, as Ruler.  And permanent was the intention though history proves otherwise.) The subject of each written "diploma" (think award certification) or official grant can be property, real estate, the titles - such as noble title and rank, the right to hold fairs (usually for the purpose of sales/marketing rather than entertainment), the right for a person to tax a village or town or expect duty to be paid to them by serfs / tenants / merchants, as well as privileges involving the trade guilds.  In some cases the document is a deprivation or withdraw, a reduction or loss of these things.

Included in the Books are a large number of documents for business such as licenses granted, industrial or commercial patents, Royal Declarations that required legal/civil actions such as real estate sales and purchases, gifts, endorsements, the adoption of children, as well as testimonials and decisions on parenting.  (This may seem to be too small and personal a subject for a King or Queen to be involved with.  Consider that diseases were equal opportunity and didn't just kill off peasants; there were orphans who were nobles and who raised them, just as who married them, could be considered the business of the King since it also influenced inheritance rights.)

THE PROBLEMS WITH THE COLLECTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

-The chronological order isn't strict.

-Pre 1526, the names may be mentioned but not much else.

-Not until 1718 historically were noble titles and inferred wealth recorded.  The collection includes information before 1718 but that information is considered less reliable generally.

- Before 1718 there were documents that went unrecorded in these volumes in the first place.

-It is not well known but in the 18th century it was expected that a person would pay for this information to be recorded in the books. (I am not sure if the amount was considered to be expensive or not.)

Which means that just because what you're looking for isn't in these books does not mean it doesn't exist elsewhere and you should considered county or city archives, for instance.

There are 67 (Sixty-Seven) volumes of ROYAL BOOKS that go from the year 1527 to the year 1848.  Three and a half centuries is a long time.  (1848 is the year nobility was abolished but you can be sure that you will find notations of some person's noble status past that on some census records and in some church records, for sure.)   These 67 volumes were originally kept by the Hungarian Court in VIENNA. Royal Books for the years 1670-1867 originating in the TRANSYLVANIAN Chancellery are included in the collection.

At the beginning of the 18th century, in order to make the books more usable, an ALPHABETICAL NAME INDEX was added as an edit by the Chancellery.  Later Coats of Arms / Shields were also added for certain entries.  (These are often in color and are of high quality.  One wonders if nobles paid extra!)

In 1872 the archived volumes for the VIENNA Chancellery were moved to BUDAPEST, HUNGARY.  However in Vienna the King's ministry kept some books and thus began a 22 year negotiation before they also became part of the HUNGARIAN NATIONAL ARCHIVES!  Finally, in 1895, a LIST OF NAMES as an INDEX, appeared in the Royal Books that included nobles and other titled persons.  (Hoping to add to the usability of these documents, the archives decided to make other thematic index/ list books as well.)

Of special interest when you search HUNGARICANA is The ILLESY COLLECTION.  It is named after Janos Illesy who worked in the Archives of the Hungarian Chancellery.  In it there are 70 (Seventy) different documents that are focused on nobility, privileged, and rank of families and how those were achieved.  But that's not all.  In particular, Illesy made about 10,000 (ten thousand) cards (by surname) based on the 18th -19th century noble census and these cards can also work as an index.  The cards by surname include much useful information for genealogists and historians.  

A PROBLEM may be that the SURNAME has a good number of spelling variations.  NOTE THAT THE CARD SURNAMES are not in alphabetical order.  THEY ARE IN PHONETIC HUNGARIAN, not phonetic English, German, or any other language.

If the name is common, and so many Hungarian surnames are, you will have to look for the county as well as the surname.

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HERE IS THAT LINK https://hungaricana.hu/hu/adatbazisok/kiralyi-konyvek/