Dr. Péter Balázs: Guide to the archives of Hungary (Budapest, 1976)

Magyar Piarista Levéltár (Hungarian Piarist Archives)

MAGYAR PIARISTA LEVÉLTÁR (HUNGARIAN PIARIST ARCHIVES) 1088 BUDAPEST, Mikszáth Kálmán tér 1. Tel. 330-701. Archivist :Dr. Ferenc SÓCZÓ The Hungarian Piarist Archives are the product of the central government of the Piarist Order (Ordo Scholarum Piarum), active in Hungary from the middle of the seventeenth century. Owing to the livelier research of the province in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries also the most important records of the single houses (foundation charters, the histories of the houses) were incorporated in the central archives. The papers of the deceased members of the order are preserved here as well. The economic papers of the Mernye estate of the order are preserved by the Somogy County Archives. * The archival material totals 100 running metres. The oldest piece dates from 1517. The records of the provincial contain the journals of the provincial and local chapters (assemblies), the journals of the visitations of the single houses, the circulars of the head of the order, the reports on the situation of the schools and the accounts and tables on the economic status from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries. Among the records of the religious houses and institutions (seventeenth to twentieth centuries) a special value is attached to the históriáé domus, illustrating besides the events in the Order also the general, cultural and educational history. The records of the general institutions of recruiting (noviciate, Kalazantinum) are important sources of the history of the Order. Much material may be found in the personal and literary bequests of the members of the Order. The seventeenth to nineteenth century papers contain a rich correspondence, a singular co'lection of manuscript textbooks, the manuscripts of Piarist school dramas, etc. No comprehensive survey has yet been published, some parts of the archives (e.g. school dramas) are, however, available in print. Research is possible on previous application. A part of the archives is available on microfilm in the Hungarian National Archives. Dr. Ferenc SÓCZÓ