A Historical and Archival Guide to Székesfehérvár (Székesfehérvár, 2003)
THE HISTORY OF SZÉKESFEHÉRVÁR TOWN ARCHIVES
r he archives of Székesfehérvár do not report on the former coronation town. Not only were the archives of the royal free town destroyed, but also the documents of several church institutes and the loca credibilia documents of the Virgin Mary basilica's chapter. The town magistrate attempted to rescue the archives before the fall of Székesfehérvár on 3 September 1543. According to sources the documents were to be placed in safety in the western part of the country. The letter of István Szamosközy written on 3 February 1604 confirms this; he informed the aristocracy of Transylvania that before the Turkish invasion the archives were taken to Nagyszombat from Buda, Pécs, Székesfehérvár and Esztergom. In spite of these attempts the valuable archives got lost. The search for it started in the 1690s, however, it ended without success in the town archives of the western parts of the country, too. In 1698 the town of Sopron answered the request of Fehérvár: " We have looked over our letters, but we have not found any belonging to your town". 1 The archives of the Johannite convent and the loca credibilia that functioned in the town with country wide competence survived destruction. * The first data on the reorganised town administration following the retreat of the Turks mention the post of the registrator in 1 703, who performed his duties in Fekete Sas (Black Eagle) Inn during the
