NO LONGER NOBLE BUT STILL : MEANINGS OF WORDS IN CHURCH RECORDS : USING FAMILY SEARCH FOR HUNGARIAN GENEALOGY RESEARCH - STRATEGY #6

NO LONGER NOBLE BUT STILL :  MEANINGS OF WORDS IN CHURCH RECORDS : USING FAMILY SEARCH FOR HUNGARIAN GENEALOGY RESEARCH - STRATEGY #6

In previous posts I mentioned it's exciting for the family historian or genealogist to find out there is nobility in the blood line, not because you want to Put On The Ritz, but because it means you may keep going further back in your research. (After all, becoming American Citizens your noble immigrant ancestor gave up their titles.) You may be able to link to census, patents of nobility, information in the Urbarium or in the archives of the National Archives of Hungary! 

It's exciting to think that your ancestors were contemporaries of George Washington, our first President of the United States. I always wonder how much news they received in Hungarian villages, how much they knew about revolutions in other countries such as the United States or France.

One thing I've become sensitive to is that pre-1848 the BAPTISMAL records are recording professions and status, and you'll see notations of nobility.

The word IGNOBLE means "not a noble." 

N.  No. or Nos. is an abbreviation for Noble/ Nobilis. 

NEMES means NOBLE but NEMET simply means German.

B.  abbreviation for BARON. Though Barons usually own land and are nobles, a person can be a Baron and not be noble.

D. in Latin DOMINUS is related to the English word dominating or in charge - the boss - be that Noble or Baron. Sometimes a government official.  

You may also see notes that the person is a TISZT meaning Officer in Hungarian - meaning in the Military or a Governmental person.  Other resources may confirm their rank or roles.  

In Latin a PLEBE is someone who is a Commoner. 

In Latin an OPIFEX is a person who has a Trade or Business. (This word does not mean "Officer" as in the military.)

In Latin a JUDEX is not a Jewish Person.  They are a Judge.  (Or in some way working within legal professions or legalities.) If a person is Jewish, they will likely be noted as "Moses" / Mos. or "Izraelite" / Izr.

IPAROS in Hungarian translates to Industrialist - currently. Pre the Industrial revolution though I believe it simply relates to being a craftsman or manufacturer, perhaps someone who is a "maker." IPARI TANULO (but you'll see IPARI) is a craftsman's apprentice.  Crafts include a wide variety of professions, some within the arts today. Look for more information on what they did for a living.

A "BAN" suggests a person in possession of a castle, or local ruler. BANYASZ is a miner. (Banya means mine.) A Ban may or may not also be a Baron.

A "FAMILIARES" is usually a lesser noble (or a broke one) who works for a higher noble.  Careful! This word does not mean the person is FAMILY.

A "Burger Noble,"  is an English term but based on the German word "burger" is an Urban  - City or Town - Noble, who may also have country or agricultural possessions locally or in many counties but indicates a choice of city life. City life is sometimes associated with higher education.  (Since "towns" had far less population in previous centuries than they do today, you might still find this person in what we consider to be a "village.") 

In Hungarian the term "UJMAGYAR" meaning New Magyar - or New Hungarian - means gypsy.  When progressive Queen Marie Theresa (of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire) decided that the gypsies would be accepted as Hungarians she decreed them UJMAGYAR. They were the outsiders unlike the various ethnic groups settled and mixing.

Nobility was abolished after 1848 in Hungary. So in some cases you may note that the same couple having more children after 1848,  who with previous children were listed as nobilis on church and other records, no longer are so listed. That goes for the Godparents too.

By building the family as previously suggested, you will likely find the same couple pre 1848 mentioned as nobles which, as stated before, can lead you to records further back. Sometimes the priest will write in something that translates to "This man is a Big Shot."  (Gubas Mester) which can be a clue. I understand that basically the slang refer to the Big Coat worn by men. Think Big Man on Campus/ in Village.  (Like the man pictured on the background of this blog! Updated 202, here's the picture:)

When the Godparents are nobles or one of the parents is listed as a noble but the children are not mentioned as such what's going on? Often employment. The man or women may come from a family of Familiares. The employee asks the wealthy boss or high status person to honor him and his wife by being Godparents to the child or children. Such a man who asks his employer to be a Godparent was likely a "Major Domo" or Estate or Business Manager to the Noble. It's also possible that because the Wife/Mother was noble but married someone who was not, the nobility is not transferred to her children. If it's a remarriage for her, her previous set of children with her first noble husband may still be nobles while the next set is not. Because of this tradition, a woman probably felt great pressure to maintain status by not marrying "beneath" her but I think women preferred marrying a commoner with money than a broke noble.

Other records to check include Land Ownership, Wills, Charters (which often explain how land is being given, taken away, because of death, military victory or failure, etc.)  Definitely check the HUNGARICANA site, associated with THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF HUNGARY, for CHARTERS.  Run the name of the village, town, or family surnames and see what comes up.

HUNGARICANA  link here.  A great resource!

Personally, I have a line that I'm trying to link to that is quite represented in what is now Slovakia on the Urbarium. I may have to sell my soul for a translation from Latin in really terrible handwriting though. By running the name in the Hungaricana website database, the surname is mentioned in the 1300 - 1400 era! 

One more thing: Unlike the Craftsman Apprentice -  IPARI TANULO - who generally married at about age 20 while working under a boss to learn a trade and married a village girl about 18 - wealthy nobles didn't have to work for a living and often married YOUNGER. It was assumed that the husband would provide the income and support of a wife and children, in the 19th century and earlier financially capable teenagers married. There goes your math.

Should you notice your immigrant ancestor (usually a woman) married at 14 or 16, very likely her father - or her parent(s), considered that she was marrying a man who could afford to take care of her (financially and otherwise) and any children they would have. Forget our present-day notions of "teenage" years because you were either a child or an adult back in the day. It's not for nothing that both Jewish people and Christians marked the age of 13 as adulthood with ceremonies such as Bar Mitzvah's and Confirmation. Gypsies also considered 13 old enough to be adult.

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Please credit me when using this information. It's hard won for me and good karma for you!

Note: This post has been edited slightly and recolored as the first and second tries were not holding!  I hope it's more readable now!  August 18, 2019  Additional information added August 27, 2019 and August 29, 2019. Edited for clarity February 1, 2025.

This post is part of a series.

To bring up all posts in the series, click on the tag GenTips: Hungarian- FamilySearch  

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HUNGARICANA URBARIUM 1767 : USE GOOGLE SEARCH AND TRANSLATE TO LEARN HUNGARIAN RELIGIOUS HISTORY - THE TURKS : GENEALOGY PRO TIP #13

HUNGARICANA URBARIUM 1767 : USE GOOGLE SEARCH AND TRANSLATE TO LEARN HUNGARIAN RELIGIOUS HISTORY - THE TURKS :TIP #13

Besides using the Hungaricana (a site belonging to the National Archives of Hungary) to search for the information on the Urbarium 1767, the census ordered by Queen Marie Theresa at a time when Hungary was part of the Austrian Empire, you'll want to search the site for information held in it's archives and special collections about the time, place, and people of a region. This other. often incredibly important information, can be read in English, using the Google Search engine and the opportunity to translate.  To clarify, the translator will not work on the archived images of the Urbarium, but it will work to translate excerpts from books.

On the Urbarium, as previously mentioned, you will encounter places that seem to be wholly owned by a church or religious entities, an "Ecclesiastica" entity, or where there are monasteries, nunneries, bible colleges, priest education centers, pilgrimage sites, and so on.  

Using the search HUNGARICANA URBARIUM GONC, for instance (Gonc being the town previously mentioned, the name translating to "Hustle Bustle," perfect for a town that was integral in the marketing and shipping as part of the agricultural and vineyards economy as well as the coopering of the "Gonc wine barrel) I not only pull up information about the town but this:  

TRANSLATE GOOGLE : ESZTERGROM ECCLESIASTICAL BOOK from 18th century - PROPERTIES - TURKS

This book is about a time and place in which the Hungarians and the Churches, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, had suffered the devastation of the occupying Turks. TWO THIRDS of the HUNGARIAN POPULATION WAS SLAUGHTERED BY THE MUSLIM TURKS.  Because of this devastation, people were invited in to settle and populate the country from other countries and ultimately this provided in country ethnic diversity. This is when Germans in particular started coming into the country by sailing down the Danube or traveling in the equivalent of the Wagon Trains we're familiar with in America. (And to this day the Constitution of Hungary states this is a Christian country which ties in with current attitudes about immigrants.) 

The book selected to link to as an example of the NATIONAL ARCHIVES of HUNGARY archives is from the 18th century but it has information collected in the 1500's!  It's about the properties by county and place owned by the church. It mentions places destroyed during the Turk's invasion and occupation. Gonc itself is only mentioned once. 

But there's a lists of properties including that which HERMITS had taken over from them in the mid 1500's. 

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Click on the tag Gen Tips: 1767 Hungaricana Urbarium to bring up all posts in this series.

NEGLECTING THE HUNGARIAN LINEAGE ? CLAIMING TO BE GERMAN?

As someone who is actively interested in genealogy, I could not fail to research my Hungarian line.  But I've met some people who neglect their Hungarian lineage when they are researching because they are ashamed to admit to being even part Hungarian.  To be fair, this isn't limited to Hungarian-Americans. 

I've met people who dismiss their Polish line or their Slovak line.

One ex-friend of mine told me her children were "Germans," which is what she told her co-workers and employers, oh and all those people she met when she joined Young Republicans. But in fact, her children were mostly German from contributions from her side and her husband's side on their families.  She was actually from German, Hungarian, and French heritage.  Her husband was German and Swedish.

Now if you go back a ways, you are probably going to run into some Germans who went to other countries.  Germany LET PEOPLE OUT OF GERMANY without requiring that they give up being Germans.  Those who left did so because they were not in line to inherit the family farm, economic reasons, work.  They settled in other countries, such as Hungary, and over generations kept to German culture.  Some of them went back when Romania in recent history was not receptive to their stay.

The best reason I've ever heard for not doing your Hungarian line genealogy is that you fear it will be difficult because of the language.  I'm not going to say that it isn't challenging at times, but many documents are not in Hungarian but are in Latin, or German, or another language.  Avoiding genealogy because what you want isn't in English?  You can get research help from experts in the United States or in Hungary.  You can certainly use on-line translators...

I've met people who dismiss their Polish line or their Slovak line.

If you just want to monkey around before you commit to doing  your Hungarian-American research, check out the Hungarian National Archives on line!  Look through postcards, art, documents that were originally written hundreds of years ago!

POLISH, CZECH and SLOVAK GENEALOGY by LIZA A. ALZO

POLISH CZECH and SLOVAK GENEALOGY
 by  Lisa A. Alzo



Since so many Hungarians have united in marriage with people from Polish, Czech, and/or Slovak heritage, both in Europe and in the United States, I wanted to read this book, which is very informative and has loads of information, some of which even the very experienced genealogy researcher might find helpful.


For instance,  On pages 134-135  we learn that there was such a thing as PARISH CENSUS and POPULATION REGISTERS.  


A parish census is different than the usual birth, marriage, and death records because it is a census of all the people in the parish, even if maybe that year they had no sacramental going on. 


A population register is different because in some European countries a person was required to register their PLACE OF RESIDENCE, and these records can give you the person's name, birthdate, and birthplace, as well as family relationship, parents' name and marital status.


There are extensive website and publication lists in the back of the book.  There are also lists of commonly encountered words in Polish, Czech, or Slovak when you're trying to read typical genealogy records.  There's an example of a Polish CIVIL Marriage record which was brimming with detail (once translated) from 1863; It mentioned  the age and occupations of the witnesses as well as their marital status, that the marriage was religious, and that the newly-weds stated that there was NO PRENUPTUAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THEM!


Although the author finds forums valuable, I never have.  I've wasted a lot of time on them reading pleas from people who expect to find relatives, not through genealogy, but because they are social networking, and these people rarely give the kind of details that would convince the researcher that there's a connection.  They think their surname, which may be difficult to spell or pronounce is so unusual or that there is a village in common is all someone needs to know.  I also wonder at the personal information being given to the world that is and should be private in this pursuit.  Finally, once or twice I read something on a forum that triggered some interest, but by the time I had my research to the point where I was more convinced of a connection, that person's contact link or e-mail was no longer good, or I never heard back from them anyway. Sometimes I think forums are just full of inexpert or lazy people.


All in all, this is book worthwhile your time!


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