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

A Dunamelléki Református Egyházkerület Levéltára (Archives of the Danubian Reformed Church District)

which, apart from their importance for church history, represent valuable sources of universal Hungarian history. * The archival material totals 532 running metres, the most ancient record dates from 1204. The Archives possess 104 charters prior to Mohács. Beside the Danubian episcopal archives we preserve the entire archives of eight dioceses and the fragments of two, the fragmentary archives of nearly one hundred congregations, a considerable part of the records left by the Protestant agents, the papers of three major and five minor schools of the Danubian Church District, and the archives of more than one hundred families and individuals, covering the time span from the thirteenth century up to our day. Also the collection of manuscripts is in archival custody, comprising about 1200 volumes or bundles. The archival material is divided into three major groups: the records of ecclesiastical organizations and institutions, collections of records, and family and personal papers. The largest archival group both as to quantity and significance of the material of ecclesiastical provenance is that of the superintendent (bishop). The assembly journals, notes and protocols begin with 1626. There is a continuous series of economic records from the middle of the eighteenth century generally. This archival material is not only important for church history, but also from a general historical standpoint, primarily the records of the episcopal visitations (generális visitatio), furnishing important data to local history from the end of the eighteenth century, and also to social and cultural history. The series of the cashbooks of the church district, beginning with 1737 (from 1794 we possess also the quittances) may serve research in general economic history as well. The most valuable parts of the diocesan archives are the journals of the visitations of the archdeacon (canonica visitatio) with the usually carefully preserved accounts. A collection of outstanding significance is represented by the 110 folios of the agents' archives (Archívum Agentiale). From the 1710s up to 1867 the Protestant churches of Hungary and Transylvania kept standing agents alongside the bodies of government, with the task of representing the case of their church and their co-religionists. From the point of view of the churches their activity acquired a central significance by the 1730s and so it remained till the beginning of the nineteenth century. The superintendents, archdeacons, congregations and individuals forwarded their grievances and