Szakály Ferenc: Ami Tolna vármegye középkori okleveleiből megmaradt 1314-1525 (Wosinsky Mór Múzeum, Szekszárd, 1998)

Idegen nyelvű összefoglalók

iudiciaria) held sessions frequently, normally fortnightly on a given day of the week - in Tolna county on Mondays. The office - holders, however, were working constantly in the meantime, often even on the feast days. For a long time the noble country had served primarily as the forum to settle conflicts within the local nobility. The central government could also make use of it, when it asked the county administration to investigate in charges presented to the royal curia. The result of such an investigation-within a relatively short time - was sent back to the royal court in form of a report (relatio). Usually the order for starting such a proceeding, the mandátum was included in the relatio as well. From the diplomatics point of view, the relatio is a closed letter. In the cases initiated within the country an open letter (patent) was issued. From amongst the officials initially the naming of the vicomes, then for a while the vicecomes and the four deputy sheriffs, later again only the vicecomes was one of the indispensable criteria for the validity of a document. The other criterion was the seal, which enclosed the patent (it was called open because it was addressed to all); in the case of Tolna county the documents were normally aurised by five seals (that of the vicecomes+four deputy sheriffs). In this period the country as such did not have its own authentic seal. The relatio usually contained the inquiries, prohibitions, authentic testimonies that were carried out on the spot, or at the sedes iudiciaria in the 16th century. The patents on the other hand usually give evidence in cases that were started at the local lawcourt - but were generally not settled there. The charges presented at the local lawcourt often resulted in local investigations, which were sometimes just as long as those initiated by supreme order. The sphere of the county administration often overlapped the competence of the so called loca credibilia, that is ecclesiastical bodies entrusted with notarial functions (Benedictine, Premonstratensian, Teutonic, etc. convents, cathedral and communiai (?) chapters). Consequently, it happened that a locus credibilis issued a document in a county case, or that an inquiry was carried out by both authorities (sometimes even involving a third party, one more locus credibilis). It can be supposed rather than proven that the noble country had a separate archive. Some counties undoubtedly held their records together already in the 15th century. On the other hand it can be often read in 17th century sources, that the documents - including the minutes of the general county meetings (which were very rare in this period) had been kept by officials who had left their posts.