Classifications or Titles
In the Roman Catholic records of Siemianówka, Galicia, Austria (now part of Ukraine) written in Latin in the late 1700s and early 1800s, I frequently find the words laboriosi, honesti, or nobili written before the given name of the individuals listed in the record. It appears to represent a classification of people either by their professions, or economic status. What do the words mean/refer to and why were they used? Thank you.
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I've encountered honestus/honesta frequently in marriage records. It's translated as "honest, honorable, respectable", but I don't know what it's actually meant to tell us: what does it contrast with? If it were ever missing from a groom or bride, what (if anything) would that mean about that person?
Nobilis "noble" is somewhat easier: its presence (or absence) simply tells us the social status of the person. (By the 1800s in most of Europe, on a practical level, "noble" basically meant "tax exempt". In fact, I've seen church registers where the "status" column said either "noble" or "taxpayer".)
I have not encountered laborius used as a title, and only rarely as an occupation ("laborer"); I don't think I've ever seen laboriosus "laborius, painstaking".
I noticed that you used -i endings on all three words. In many Latin nouns and adjectives (such as honestus and laboriosus), that can indicate either a genitive singular or a nominative plural. That is, honesti would be the form the word would take if it applied to someone's father: Georgius filius honesti Johanni "George son of the respectable John", or if it applied to more than one person: patrini sunt honesti Johannes et Georgius "godparents are the respectable John and George".
Nobilis is in a different group, however; the masculine noun only takes an -i ending in the dative singular, which basically means "to" and is rarely used in church registers. Nobilis is both the nominative and genitive singular; the nominative plural is nobiles.
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Thank you very much Julia. That was very helpful. I wish I understood Latin as well as you. I have thought in my own mind that these titles might be social statuses, i.e.: nobilius - upper class, educated, wealthy; honestus - middle class, maybe merchants or professionals; laborius - lower class, common folk, farmers, etc.
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18th-19th century church registers really only record two classes of people: "extra respect" and "everyone else". The source of the respect could be title, position, wealth, or education, and the degree of extra respect varied from a simple nob. entered in a "status" column to stacked titles like egregius et perillustris dominus "distinguished and most illustrious lord". Others you may encounter: ARD = Admodum Reverendus Dominus "very reverend lord" (i.e., the minister), circumspectus et providus or prudens et circumspectus "circumspect and provident/prudent" (usually for high-status non-nobles), excellentissimus "right honorable" (roughly; I've only seen it for high clerics).
While looking for some good examples, I encountered a baptism in Pozsony where the godparents are Archduke Nicolaus and Empress Alexandra of Russia: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRQ1-NHC?i=13&cc=1554443. (Last entry on page.) It gives positions (such as comes "Count" for the father and Archi-Dux for the godfather) rather than titles, probably for space reasons.
But here's one that didn't let space considerations get in the way, using abbreviations instead: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GBTW-PP?i=11 (first entry). Illmus. D. = Illustrissimus Dominus "worshipful lord", Illma. D. = Illustrissima Domina "worshipful lady".
And here's a page of Lutherans where everyone's either nobilis or honestus, except for the 1835 groom, who's vir "man", for some unknown-to-me reason: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939F-YX9V-7D?i=4&cc=1554443.
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In the Lutheran church records of Vrbovce in Slovakia, there was a very educated minister, Reverend Georgius Schulek, from a famously learned family, who added extra words to wedding records. Some spouses were rated as "minus honestus" or "pros tituta". I can't say that I fully understand the social significance of what he was conveying. It feels like the intent was morality policing, however.
Here is a transcription of one:
"Joannes Marecek, minus honestus Juvenis Werbocenzis; cum pros tituta a se ipso Virgine, Suzanna Bobcik Werbocz. Presentib. Martino Kowarcik et Joanne Hornak. d. Oct. 31, 1796"
(Edited because the site is putting asterisks on the judgmental word included in the actual records. And because I tried to get the link to work. It's valid but will have to be copy-pasted.)
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The honestus/honesta refers to being respectable, meaning that they have been morally appropriate before the wedding (i.e. did not sleep with each other). Of course, this was difficult to check, at least for men, so this is mostly about reputation.
Romi: your example is great, I have not seen that before. It is most likely that those two slept together before the wedding and very likely that the bride became pregnant, which must have been visible by the wedding. Also, it must have been clear for the community that the groom is the father, and that's why he became "minus".
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