An insight on the medieval municipal archive of Elvas

(with the complete transcription of the municipal account book from 1432-33)

Abstract

This article examines an inventory of documents of the municipal archive of Elvas (Portugal) made in 1432 and that was included in the sole surviving medieval account book of the town. It also provides, in Appendix, the full transcription of this account book. The study starts by discussing the circumstances of production of this inventory and its objectives, followed by an analysis of the description of the documents, namely its subjects. Finally, this inventory is confronted with a contemporary inventory of the municipal archive, in an attempt to identify some of the documents referred to in the medieval inventory and to determine the “survival rate” of the medieval documents.