PolishOrigins(TM) Forum

Re: Property inventories as sources for genealogical research

Zenon — Tue Jun 29, 2021 4:51 am

Author: Zenon

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2021 4:51 am

The last part of the article on property inventories and their usefulness for genealogy research of peasant and burgher families is published: https://polishorigins.com/blog/where-to-find-inventories/ .

In this part, Piotr gives you some hints about the scope and possible locations where you can search for the inventories from your ancestors’ villages and towns.

In this place I want give special thanks to Dave Nowicki who did the proofreading of the whole Property Inventories article and shared his so valuable hints about how to structure the topic to be most useful for readers. Those of you who use our Forum know Dave very well for his extensive and deep knowledge of Latin language and history of Poland. Some time ago we even prepared special blog post presenting a few extracts of Dave posts which we entitled “Not all priests are saint“ . You can find the article here: https://polishorigins.com/blog/what-i-have-learned-from-latin-records-translations/

Re: Property inventories as sources for genealogical research

Zenon — Mon Jun 21, 2021 1:51 am

Author: Zenon

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 1:51 am

Part 4 of the Property Inventories series is published: https://polishorigins.com/blog/property-inventories-p-4-assessment-of-the-source/

Below is in excerpt:

"The peasants tried their best to avoid the obligations of serfdom. In each village, there were so-called voids ‘pustki’, i.e. uninhabited and not cultivated plots. However, people were usually not interested in taking over these plots/voids for one’s own, because that would lead to an increase in the number of days of feudal service and other obligations. Local peasants could lease them for a relatively small amount of a rent. Hence, it was better to pay a relatively low fee every year and sow ‘nobody’s’ voids instead of taking them over and settling on them.

‘Komorniks’ (a landless peasants), who did not have their own houses or fields and thus theoretically belonged to the poorest class of the population, and did the lowest level of feudal service, in practice could have been at a much higher level of material position. Having a sufficient number of draft animals or hiring them and paying a relatively small rent, they cultivated empty plots (‘voids’), which brought them good profit, whereas their burden of feudal service and other taxes did not increase because these were not their own plots of land. It must also be remembered that inventories often did not present the real state of affairs, but the state of affairs which was to be introduced as a result of reforms."

The last part "Where to Find the Inventories" will be published next week.

Re: Property inventories as sources for genealogical research

Zenon — Wed Jun 16, 2021 6:03 am

Author: Zenon

Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2021 6:03 am

The third part:
What the Property Inventories Contain.

https://polishorigins.com/blog/property-inventories-p-3-what-the-property-inventories-contain/

"The third part of the document, i.e. the normative portion, was divided into two parts. The first part contained a register of population along with the property of individual families as well as their feudal obligations. The second part provided detailed instructions and regulations in regard to the relations between peasants and the landlord as well as rules of the village’s internal system.

The register of population usually was presented in tabular form(...)"

Full article: https://polishorigins.com/blog/property-inventories-p-3-what-the-property-inventories-contain/

Re: Property inventories as sources for genealogical research

Zenon — Mon Jun 07, 2021 4:23 am

Author: Zenon

Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2021 4:23 am

The second part of the article about property inventories from the pre-partition Poland is published: https://polishorigins.com/blog/property-inventories-p-2-what-were-the-property-inventories-and-why-they-were-created/

Title of the part: What Were The Property Inventories and Why They Were Created.

Below is an excerpt:

“Property inventories may present a more or less accurate picture of particular lands, villages and towns. They may contain descriptions of buildings, lands and crops. They may contain registers of feudal obligations which list inhabitants of particular villages and cities along with information concerning their property status and obligations towards the landlord. Eventually, they may contain a detailed description of the system of feudal duties of the particular village being described”

Read the whole part (with pictures) here: https://polishorigins.com/blog/property-inventories-p-2-what-were-the-property-inventories-and-why-they-were-created/

Property inventories as sources for genealogical research

Zenon — Wed May 26, 2021 5:54 am

Author: Zenon

Posted: Wed May 26, 2021 5:54 am

Piotr Zelny, with proofreading help and worthwhile suggestions from Dave Nowicki, has written another article for you entitled: Property Inventories.

This is not just another article about genealogy and history. This is a comprehensive explanation of one of the little-known history source for genealogical research of peasant families from the pre-partition time.

Here is the first part of a five-part article that introduces and describes the feudal system in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.