From our work
Names erased hundreds of years ago have become visible again
2 min readTripont Heritage editorial team
Scratched-out names? Deprivation of rights? Staff of Tripont Cultural Heritage Solutions have made visible previously hidden details of a 363-year-old deed of gift dated 1658.
The digitisation specialists carried out multispectral analysis of the deed of gift with the Phase One camera system. As a result, the scratched-out names became visible – for example that of Ladislaus Haragos, whose name was presumably removed in order to strip him of his privileges.
The grant of nobility was issued by George II Rákóczi to László, an elite “green-musket” bodyguard. In Phase One multispectral analysis, 7 different images are taken of the document in question, in the visible, UV and infrared ranges, narrowing the light range with different filters. With this new technology, specialists make the invisible visible to the human eye. The procedure is suitable for authenticity examinations and for uncovering scratched-off or flaked-off text sources, and offers favourable opportunities for researchers and even for the police.
As part of a joint pilot project, staff of the National Archives of Hungary and Tripont digitised close to 46 Hungarian charters and deeds of gift and carried out multispectral analyses on them. Some of the charters come from the Diplomatic Archive (Diplomatikai Levéltár), that is, the pre-Mohács collection (before the Battle of Mohács in 1526), while the others are early modern deeds of gift.
As part of the project, the oldest surviving Hungarian charter was also digitised: the now 912-year-old foundation charter of the Veszprémvölgy nunnery, dated 1109. The deed of gift was originally written in Greek and dates from the time of St Stephen. It is our only undoubtedly authentic charter text from Stephen’s era, as it contains no trace of interpolation. The charter survives only in a copy from the time of Coloman the Learned.
Besides the highlighted documents, other special items were also digitised, which anyone interested can view on the Heritage digital archive service platform.
People involved in the project:
Dr György Rácz, National Archives of Hungary (MNL), Deputy Scientific Director
Anton Avar, Chief Archivist, MNL OL, Department of Private Archives and Collections
Ágnes L. Nemes, Chief Conservator, Head of Department, MNL SZKI Collection Preservation Department
Zsuzsanna Lantos, archival photographer, MNL NKEUPI Digital Content Development Department
Dániel Bedő: Tripont, digitisation expert
Fanni André: Tripont, digitisation staff member
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