Pest-Budai hivatali utasítások a XVIII. században - Budapest Főváros Levéltára forráskiadványai 6.(Budapest, 1974)

Eighteenth Century Official Instructions from Pest-Buda

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY OFFICIAL INSTRUCTIONS FROM PEST-BUDA RESUME I. The official instruction, containing the precise outlines of the activity of a body, an office, or an official, appears in a regular form during the early period of absolutism. In Hungary it struck root soon after the accession of the Hapsburg dynasty to the throne, its first example being the instruction of the first Hungarian corporative body, the Pozsony Treasury, dating from 1528. This example was later followed by many, even the Hungarian towns

—such as Sopron or Körmöcbánya—issued official directions. The directions or instructions are now the primary sources of the history of administration, showing how the offices should have worked but not the way they actually worked. The old archives of Buda and Pest also treasures a number of instructions. The town councils collected and preserved them in order to hand them down to their successors, with some modifications in some cases. Buda had them copied out in a separate volume, Pest reserved a special bundle for them. Considering their documentary value, the Budapest City Archives has decided to publish the instructions up to the times of Joseph II, and thinks of publishing the later ones in another volume as well. The majority of these instructions have not been published so far, and the aim of the present publication is to promote historical research in the field of 18th century municipal management of administration. Thus we have to introduce every important official, especially those, around whose post a separate office developed in the course of time. To publish all the documents seems unnecessary. The selection concentrated on the early instructions of Buda, and on the first full versions in Pest, where several subsequent versions survive. The other existant but unpublished instructions are referred to in the editorial notes after the texts. The published material can be divided into two distinct parts. One of them contains the instructions of the commissioners of the supreme authorities, i.e. the Treasury administration of Buda and the king (or the Vienna Treasury). These are addressed directly to the city authorities and the citizens. The other part contains instructions issued by the city authorities themselves, addressed to the officials and the various subordinates. An instruction of this kind was usually drawn up at the appointment of an official and was read out to the appointed person, who had to take an oath on it. It was deemed beneath the dignity of the leading personalities of the towns

—like the mayor, the judge, and the aldermen

—to give instructions to them, so their duties were laid down in oaths which should be taken in a solemn form after their election. The oaths were, however, never so concrete as the instructions. 171