Inventories and rent-rolls of parishes and other ecclesiastical benefices under the patronage of a territorial prince constitute a special type of early modern archival records. Characteristically, they have a specific, more or less uniform structure, the reason for their creation – looking at it from a broader perspective – being to a large extent the determination of (Inner)Austrian territorial princes to hold control over the church property. In parishes and benefices under the patronage of a territorial prince, the compilation of inventories and rent-rolls was apparently one of the most effective ways of carrying out such control. Usually in the form of a book, inventories and rent-rolls were most commonly titled Inventarium und Urbarium (less often Inventarium et Urbarium). In Carniola, the group of princely parishes included quite a few of larger parishes, such as Bloke, Dobrepolje, (Zgornje) Gorje, Ihan, Jelšane, Kostel, Košana, Kranjska Gora, Leskovec near Krško, Moravče, Mošnje, Radovljica, Ribnica, Spodnja Idrija, Stari trg pri Ložu, Tomaj, and Trnovo near Ilirska Bistrica. As patron, prince retained an important right to appoint parish priests (ius praesentationis). The title »inventory and rent-roll« was sometimes applied to other (parish) books as well, even if these lacked some of the parts one would typically find in inventories and rent-rolls compiled in princely parishes. One such case is the Inventory and Rent-Roll of the Parish of Cerknica of 1614 (SI AS 1, box 72, I/41, Lit. Z-II, 6), which contains lists of liturgical objects and of Dominikalgrundstücke and a (separate) rent-roll. Although the parish priests and vicars in Cerknica were appointed by the territorial prince for a number of decades during the 16th and the 17th centuries, the parish itself was not independent but had been incorporated into the Bistra Charterhouse ever since the late 14th century. In regard to patronage, another interesting example is the Inventory and Rent-Roll of the Parish of Kamnik (SI AS 1074, 78u) of 1628. This was the year when the territorial prince, Archduke and Emperor Ferdinand II, assigned the patronage over the Kamnik parish to the bishops in Ljubljana.

So far, archivists at the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia have identified and described 98 inventories and rent-rolls of territorial princely parishes and 24 inventories and rent-rolls of other territorial princely benefices. Among the benefices – offices tied to a certain altar in a church – special emphasis goes to the benefice of Our Beloved Lady in Vipava and to its eleven inventories and rent-rolls. Similar records are rent-rolls and inventories, but they are much fewer. Inventories come after rent-rolls in such books, as can clearly be seen in the case of the inventory of the benefice of St. Michael in Vače from the years 1590 and 1600 (SI AS 1, box 70, I/40, Lit. W-IV, 5; SI AS 7, box 271, Eccl., Lit. W-1). As far as the content of inventories and rent-rolls is concerned, they usually consist of the following chapters, introduced, for the most part, during the reign of the territorial prince and Emperor Ferdinand III (1637-1657), who instructed the compilation of such inventories and rent-rolls: short introduction, transcription of a charter authorizing princely appointment of a new parish priest (Pfarrer) or a benefice holder (Benefiziat), transcription of a princely decree on such priest's installation, transcription of the Revers (pledge) signed by a new Pfarrer or Benefiziat, inventory of immovable and (partly) movable property belonging to a parish or a benefice holder, rent-roll, and a concluding note signed and sealed by a commissioner and a new parish priest or benefice holder. Inventories and rent-rolls were thus compiled whenever priests took their new posts as territorial princely parish priests or benefices. This month's archivalia – Inventory and Rent-Roll of the Territorial Princely Parish of Moravče – takes us back to a time 260 years ago.

The introductory note in this book of more than 150 pages notifies the reader that the Inventarium und Urbarium was »on this day«, i. e. on January 20, 1762, handed over to Henrik Ferdinand von Werth, a newly appointed priest of the Moravče parish. The introduction is followed by a transcript of the Resolution of Maria Theresia of March 28, 1761 and by a transcript of her investiture decree of January 16, 1762. By means of this resolution, the territorial princess appointed Werth the parish priest in Moravče, after Baron Ferdinand Erberg had resigned from the post. With her investiture decree, Maria Theresia instructed Repräsentanz und Kammer in Carniola – and especially the district governor in Upper Carniola Andrej Nepomuk Taufferer, councillor of Repräsentanz und Kammer – to carry out investiture decree in temporalibus. The Latin expression temporalia denoted material and other secular, non-spiritual matters in the parish, which were symbolically taken over by the new priest by receiving the keys to the parish house. In order to do that he needed to sign the pledge (Revers). In this Revers, which in the book comes after the investiture decree, the new parish priest among other things promises to perform his duties in accordance with the teachings, order and customs of the »true, holy Catholic-Christian Church and our Catholic faith«. He promises not to »change, alienate, pawn or withdraw« any of the possessions and income of the Moravče parish or of the benefice of Our Beloved Lady in Drtija. He will maintain the facilities and before each announced church visitation, he will ask the Empress for consent. To his Imperial-Royal Apostolic Majesty, his Vogt- und Lehens-Frau, Werth vows to remain loyal, obedient and available for any spiritual or secular matter involved in managing the parish, which has been entrusted to him.

The first part of the inventory contains a description of the parish house, a list of its outbuildings and a list of Dominikalgrundstücke. The parish house is described as being made of stone and almost newly constructed. It had two floors and consisted of »various rooms«. Outbuildings included a horse stable, cowshed, threshing floor and hay shed. As the text continues we learn that the parish house and its outbuildings suffered extensive damage during the fire on June 28, 1761. A more detailed section of the inventory lists the following parish Dominikalgrundstücke: a large piece (Stuck) of pasture and fields called Nagobavize (field-name for a part of the area between Moravče and Kokošnje), where one could mow about 50 cartloads (Fuder) of hay and sow grain in four days; pasture in »some other place, where years ago there was a small farm (Hofstatt)«, which could be mowed in one day and which gave one cartload (Fuder) of hay and one cartload of aftermath (Grummet); pasture at hayrack, which one could mow in a day and a half; field zu Rosenbach, which could be cultivated in two days; field »Za vrtom« (Sa Vertam), where one could sow three bushels (Merling) of grain; an orchard and an ice pit. The second part of the inventory, placed between the rent-roll of the parish and that of the benefice of Drtija, refers to some of the more important documents that were kept at the parish house, and to some movable property. Among the more interesting documents are some older inventories and rent-rolls, various princely decrees and a charter of 1500, by means of which Felicijan Pečaher (Petschacher) donated his farm (Hube) to the Moravče parish. A short list of inventorized movables includes a large dismantled table with a carpet in the dining-room, leather covered small table (in the same room?), a table in Maier's room, five good leather chairs, completely new bed frame made of solid wood in the room next to the library, and a supply of shingle (Vorrath von Schindeln). The estimation of the value of furniture is missing. The reason that this list of movables is so short and does not include the mentioning of pictures, books, liturgical garments and other objects which are in more or less detail listed in most of the other parish inventories and rent-rolls, can largely be attributed to the aforementioned fire. In this context, the fire is referred to also in a note to the list of immovables included in the 1783 Inventory and Rent-Roll of the Moravče parish.

Lilijana Žnidaršič Golec