Arhivski vjesnik, Vol. 61 No. 1, 2018.
Original scientific paper
An ‘Ideal’ Archivist? On the Desirable Characteristics of the Early Modern Archivist Using the Example of the Germanic Lands and France
Ivan Filipović
; Croatian State Archives, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The early modern proto-archival discipline dates from the period between the 16th century and the revolutions of 1789-1848, creating interesting material for the research of an ‘ideal archivist’. The article analyses the desirable characteristics and training profile of an early modern archivist, based on some twenty early modern writings on archives published between 1571-1805 in the Germanic lands,as well as a few biographies of the early-modern French archivists. For centuries, early-modern archives collected documents which presented important foundations of the entire political, economic and social order. For that reason, keepers of records, at least in theory, were considered as important civil servants and had to be chosen carefully. In 1571, the first archival theoretician Jakob von Ramingen stressed the importance of the archivist’s origins: he had to be a legitimate son of honourable parents, a free man and independent. Archival theoreticians also indicated the importance of the archivist’s moral characteristics including: honesty, integrity,exemplary behaviour, humbleness, modesty and conscientiousness. An early modern archivist had to guard his master’s secrets with great care. An archivist was expected to be discreet, introverted and taciturn, with a gentle and silent nature, avoiding the company of curious people. Besides, an archivist had to be completely loyal to his master, with some biographies pointing out examples of God-fearing men. Another important characteristic was diligence, which in 1801 Bachmann defined not as the quantity of time needed for doing a job, but as job well done in as little time as possible. Love of order and seclusion as well as attachment to working with ancient documents were also considered important. However, love of history should not become an archivist’s passion, as Eckartshausen said in 1786. Regarding the archivist’s education and training, almost every archival theoretician from that period had high expectations from the candidates. An early modern archivist took care of centuries-old documents, primarily juridical titles and proof of rights. Therefore, an early modern archivist also had to be a jurist as well as a scholar, with a broad education in numerous fields. He had to be able to read and understand all documents, old and new ones. He had to possess knowledge of auxiliary sciences of history, above all of diplomatics and palaeography. As well as excellent knowledge of Latin, from the 18th century, French became compulsory. Additionally, he had to be an expert in general and specific juridical issues, often depending on the specific archives in which he worked. An ‘ideal’ archivist possessed a broad education: history, with all of its auxiliary sciences, politics, administration, geography and economics meant that he had to be a truly erudite person. At the beginning of the 19th century it became clear that an archivist should not be a jurist at the same time (Oegg in 1804),while only one author considered that an archivist should not be a scholar at all (Assenbaum in 1799).
Keywords
archivists; archival profession; history of archival science; early modern period; 16th-19th century
Hrčak ID:
216934
URI
Publication date:
14.9.2018.
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