Recently, a colleague and I were examining a death record that was partially in Latvian and partially in Latin. Here is what we found and the Latin terms used in Lutheran church records.
In this post, I will focus solely on Lutheran records. Latin terms appear more frequently in older church books, particularly from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. However, some Latin words are also used in later records. Some examples can be found in my earlier post about marriage records.
Examples from Death Records
The specific case was a death record from the Lielvircava congregation in 1833. I will use as example different record from the same congregation:
First part is in Latvian and easy to understand: Grieta, widow from Lipša Jānis' home.
But what do these abbreviations mean?
70 an. = 70 years old (annus – year). Other entries show:
heb. = week (hebdomada)
dies = days
1 conj. 8 – 8 years in first marriage (conjuncti – marriage)
Inf. 3 = 3 children (infans – child)
Mortt. = indicates how many children have died (mort - dead)
2 conj. 33 an = 33 years in second marriage
Inf. 1 mort. = 1 child dead
Vid. 4 an. = widow for 4 years (vidua = widow)
pee bszas – abbreviation for Latvian "pie baznīcas" (by the church), indicating burial location.
Another example has both Latvian and Latin abbreviations:
Steppus, resident of Pīlēna Jānis [farm], poor, act 60 an. (60 years old)
1 laul. 18 gad = first marriage lasted 18 years (laul - in Latvian, abbreviation for laulība - marriage)
2 b. mort. = 2 children, none dead
2 laul. 15 an. = second marriage 15 years
3 inf. 1 mort. = 3 children, 1 dead
pee bszas Leel.Wirz. = buried by the church in Lielvircava
Example from Baptism Records
Baptism records mostly use only one Latin abbreviation:
nat. = born (natus/nata)
Example: Dāvs, son of Bierantu Indriķis' son-in-law Krišjānis and Anne, nat. 12 Dcbr. (December) in Kr. Wirz (Kroņvircava).
Dāvs, Bierantu Indriķa znota Krišjāņa un Annes dēls nat. (natus – dzimis) 12 Dcbr. (decembrī) Kr. Wirz. (Kroņvircavā)
Church Book Section Titles in Latin
Various sections in these books also have Latin titles:
Baptizati – baptized
Confirmati – confirmed
Copulati – married
Defuncti – deceased
Church Calendar Notations
Finally, dates and months in these books are often written in Latin following the church calendar. For instance:
Dom. XVII p. Trin. refers to the 17th Sunday after Trinity. To convert these dates, you can use a church calendar calculator. The page is in German, but the Latin names from the church calendar are also provided in parentheses.
For help deciphering Latin terms, you can also refer to this list of Latin words. It can assist in understanding and translating terms found in historical and genealogical documents.
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