The National Archives of Hungary (Budapest, 2006)

NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL ARCHIVES OF NATIONAL COLLECTION - Hungarian National Archives by Géza Érszegi and István G. Vass

The Transylvanian High Commissioner's Office and the Auditing Department were two different offices but came under the jurisdiction of the Gubernium. The directors of both institutions were also at the same time the councillors of the Gubernium. The High Commissioner's Office sat in the settlement of Nagyszeben together with the military headquarters because it seemed to be reasonable from the point of view of supplying the army. But the Auditing Department came under the office of Gubernium. A separate office called Royal Treasury was at the head of the Transylvanian treasury affairs. The president of the Treasury was the treasurer, who functioned as one of the councillors of Gubernium at the same time. The Gubernium dealt partly with the general cameralistic administrative affairs and it arranged the affairs of salt, customs, treasury property rents and so on with the help of its subordinated bodies. It also arranged the affairs of minting and mines with the help of subordinated organizations (mining office, court of mines, minting, changing gold, management of foundry, board of woods and forests and domanial management). The archives that was set up upon the order of Transylvanian Fiscal Archives and the Court Chambers in the settlement of Nagyszeben in 1767 and was later placed in the Hungarian National Archives had the same function in Transylvania as the Archives of the Court Chamber in Hungary. It was responsible for the following: the interests of the treasury by collecting special documents relating to its possession, possessions of extinct families and families brought before the court in cases dealing with corruption or to possessions that treasury required for some other reason. Some material goes back to the times before Hapsburg reign, only rarely does it go back to the Middle Ages but very often goes back to the 17

th century. In addition it contains, the documents of lower treasury organizations and many records of the archives of Apafi family. It also has records regarding the household of Mihály Apafi I., the financial affairs of Mihály Apafi II and documents of the Bethlen family because of his wife, Kata Bethlen. Other documents refer to possessions of different families that the treasury acquired because of cases of death or treason. There are also different possessive, purchases, inheritance documents and registered possessions, their inventories, and ones that ensure rights. These documents have the most significant document values. They are mainly from the end of the 17

th century to the second half of the 18

th century. Its material is usually quite diversified. It provides data in connection with treasury mines and about treasury officials in special situations, on affairs of towns, guilds and noblemen and ecclesiastical affairs. The archives of Thököly and Rákóczi War of Independence, (1648 - 174 G section), includes the documents of the revolt led by Thököly, (1678 - 1685) and the war of independence led by Ferenc Rákóczi II, (1703 -1711). It is mainly a collection