The Conservation of a 16th-Century Charter

Owing to the financial assistance of Apelso Trust Zrt, our Archives could have the set of written pleadings of 1568 repaired. The 11-metre-long roll of paper contains the pieces of evidence of 1562 related to Deáki, the Archabbey’s estate in Upper Hungary.

The landlords in the neighbourhood seized some parts of the Abbey’s estate in the period of the Turkish occupation of Hungary, therefore the Archabbot of the time appealed to the king. In the lawsuit hundreds were questioned: local people and ones living in the neighbouring settlement. They gave evidence where the confines actually were and how arbitrary measures were carried out. The document is highly important from the point of view of local history, because it informs us about the late mediaeval surroundings of the settlement in Upper Hungary, the land, the names and location of the rivers, the streams, the brooks, the forests, the borderlands, the local inhabitants (their names and their age). The case was ultimately won by the Archabbey. For that matter, Deáki was mentioned as the Abbey’s estate in the foundation deed from Saint Stephen as early as 1001. True enough that then it was still mentioned by the name of Vág (Wag).

The document’s condition deteriorated in the past centuries; therefore, its conservation was required, which was completed by Ars Alba Restaurátor Bt (conservation deposit partnership) in Szentendre. The conservation of the treasures of our collections and making them ready for exhibitions imposes a burden on the Archabbey. This requires assisting partners like Apelso Trust Zrt, which supported the conservation of the Deáki-charter.