Hi Dora, Hier hast Du es; der Karel machte eigentlich nur einen "groben" Fehler; broom statt groom (: (und, statt "liability" gebrauchte ich "responsibility") Es gibt m.M. nach nur noch 2 fragliche Stellen - siehe im Text. Monika ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 14 Jul 1997 16:23:26 +0200 (MET DST) From: Dora Selig <dselig@sd.id.ethz.ch> To: webpages-l@genealogy.net Subject: Hilfe mit englisch Hallo Freunde, habe vom Author dieses Dokuments Bewilligung bekommen, es auf unserem Server (reg.research Sudetenland) anzubieten. Er kann nicht sehr gut englisch, ich auch nicht; waere jemand so nett, mir die grobsten Fehler mitzuteilen? VIelen Dank, Dora ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Development of Parochial Vital Registers in Bohemian Lands with Special Emphasis on the East Bohemian Areas (the Historical District of Chrudim) by Karel Kysilka In genealogical search, the parochial records in the Vital Registers referring to Births/Baptisms, Marriages and Deaths (in Czech: Matrika, matricni kniha, in German: Matrikeln, Kirchenbuecher) are the most used, though not the only available source. In the following article I would like to describe their development in the territory of Bohemia and Moravia, with special interest in the region of the former Chrudimsky kraj (Chrudimer Kreis - the District of Chrudim) that included the towns and cities of Chrudim, Policka, Litomysl, Lanskoun (Landskron), Pardubice and Vysoke Myto. West European countries have a richer and older history of the Vital Registers going back to the 13th century. The Lateran Council of 1137 and the Council of Paris in 1212 already provided the duty of recording the Vital Statistics of the Christians. Unfortunately duty and the reality were different things. Basic instructions for the keeping of vital records were set by the Trident Council in 1563. The duty of parishes, and parochial circuits (in Czech: farnost, fara, in German: Pfarrei, <-Kirchsprengel->) was to establish two - stimmt "Kirchsprengel" ? oder soll das "Kirchspiel" heissen? kinds of books where the most important data referring to the sacrament of baptism and the matrimonial state should be written. The duty of recording the information on deceased people came later. The Archdiocese of Prague set down this responsibility twice - in 1564 and 1605, resp. 1614 (records of deceased people). However, registers began before these dates. The first registers in Bohemia appeared in the 1530s; the alleged number of registers in 1564 was 22 and by 1600 there were an additional 15 - 20 books. The oldest register is the Register of Marriages (in Czech: Oddaci matrika, matrika oddanych, in German: Trauungsbuch) from the north west Bohemian town of Jachymov (St. Joachimsthal) - from 1531, and Abertamy (Abertham) - from 1534. The Parish of St. Jindrich in the New Town of Prague boasts of the Baptismal Register (Matrika narozenych, krestni matrika, in German: Taufbuch, Taufregister) from 1582. The oldest book in the District of Chrudim is the Baptismal, Marriage and Death Registry Book of the parish of the royal town of Vysoke Myto (Hohenmauth) of 1609. During the first years of the 17th century a huge number of registers appeared throughout Bohemia, though many of them were lost during the 30 year war. By 1650, the estimated number of registry books was about 1200. In the District of Chrudim in the time before the war or shortly thereafter, 7 books were started. Among them are the ones for the town of Litomysl (Leitomischl - 1622) and of the nearby parishes of Cerekvice (1618), Luze (1623) and Literbachy (Lauterbach, today Cista - 1629). In 1624 the first register was begun in the market town, Hlinsko, and in the following years (1625 and 1626) in the towns of Lanskroun (Landskron) and Usti nad Orlici. The district town, Chrudim, dates its first register from 1630 and in the largest city in the region today, Pardubice, since 1633. All these books contained births, marriages and deaths, and all were written in Czech except for the pure German town of Lanskroun. These registers reflect the complicated religious situation of that time and are even written in the spirit of Protestant reformation. Here is the complete list of registers in the district of Chrudim for the period 1600 - 1650: before 1620 2 Vysoke Myto (1609), Cerekvice (1618) 1621 - 1630 7 Litomysl (1622), Luze (1623), Hlinsko (1624), Lanskroun (1625) Usti n. Orlici (1626), Lauterbachy (Cista - 1629), Chrudim (1630) 1631 - 1640 7 Pardubice (1633), Roven (1635), Ceska Trebova (Boehmisch Truebau - 1635), Sezemice (1636), Nove Hrady (1638), Prelouc (1637), Jablonne (1636) 1641 - 1650 3 Brandys nad Orlici (1641), Holice (1642), Policka (1642) The contents of the records are very simple and brief: for instance, the names of the bride (nevesta) and the groom (zenich), names of the witnesses (svedek), and time and place of the marriage (oddavky). More comprehensive information, for example, the parents of both, and domicile is missing in most cases. The baptismal records contained the name of the child (dite), the baptismal date (not the date of birth !!) (den krestu), parents (rodice) as well as witnesses, and name of village. For a long period, records were written in one long sentence. The records were either in Czech or Latin in Czech speaking areas; later also in German. Two examples: Letha panie 1686, dne 15 mesice kvetna po trech ohlaskach ja, P. Antonius L., spravce tohoto farniho chramu, jsem pocestneho mladence XY a pocestnou pannu YZ v manzelstvi spojil. V pritomnosti svedku AB, BC. Translation: AD 1686, on the day 15th of the month May after three banns, I, P. Antonius L., the administrator of this parrochial cathedral, coupled the honorable lad XY and honorable virgin XY in matrimonial ties. In presence of witnesses AB, BC thereof.. Actum Augezd. Roku 1647 dne 12 Xbris ja, Antonin Hradek, farar tohoto kostela jsem krtil dite jmenem Dorotha, otce Josefa Dvoraka a matky Dorothy. Translation: Actum Augezd (name of village) AD 1647 date 12 Xbris (Decembris) I, Antonin Hradek, the priest of this church christened the child Dorotha, of father Josef Dvorak and mother Dorotha. Beginning in the 1760s the records were kept in columns and the repetitive words could thus be deleted - the columns were headed: village, date, groom, bride, parents, witnesses. Since 1770 the house number had to be recorded as well. The Patent of the Emperor Joseph II provided for the keeping of the vital records in triplicate, one copy of which was regularly given to the diocese. The registers became the public document. It was recommended that alphabetical indices to the books should be kept. At the beginning, one common register was kept for the whole parish; since 1784 separate registers were kept for every village of a parish. Until 1950 the books were stored at the rectories and kept by the priests. After this date all the older books (prior to 1950) had to be given up and were to be stored in the state regional archives. The present registers (after 1950) are kept by the state clerks in so called matricni urady (Vital register authorities), concentrated in the central communities (some 10-15 per district). Concentration of the registry books in the archives is a good idea which helps the researchers; as well, conditions for storage are more favorable for the books than if they were kept in separate parishes until today. Researchers may have difficulty finding some entries in registers for certain parishes, if these parishes came into being later, say during the second half of the 18th century. Therefore it is necessary to search in the nearby villages where the parish was established even before this date. For instance: Ceske Hermanice, today district Usti nad Orlici. The parish was formed in 1740, though the registers had already been kept since 1711 for the <-circle-> of - statt "circle" ??? the filial church. But this church existed already in 1641 and the respective parish in the 17th century was Brandys nad Orlici. Therefore the records for the period 1641 - 1711 will be in the registers of the parish of Brandys. I will list the parishes in the eastern Bohemian region (today's districts of CHRUDIM - CR, PARDUBICE - PA, SVITAVY - SY, USTI N. ORL. - UO) with the name of the parochial village/town in Czech (the German names may differ substantially); the abbreviated district name in parenthesis; the year the parish was established; the year since when the registers are kept; and remarks. BESTVINA (CR) 1726 parish, before HERMAN, Registers since 1700 BOHDANEC (PA) 1650 parish, registers since 1663. Older records could be in PARDUBICE. Missing records from 1685 - 1747. ... ZICHLINEK (UO) see Lanskroun for oldest time, own registers since 1784, parish 1859. ZUMBERK (CR) parish and registers since 1662. Though I can not guarantee 100% that the list is accurate and complete, I hope I have helped some of you with locating your villages and with instructions on how to start searching in the Czech Archives. The respective ARCHIVE for this region of EAST BOHEMIA is the State District Archive at Zamrsk near VYSOKE MYTO. National Route No. 35 from HRADEC KRALOVE to OLOMOUC. Zlin, July 10th, 1997. Karel Kysilka (The author, Karel Kysilka, lives in Zlin, Moravia, Czech Republic).