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A Brief History of the perlaki Perlaky Family

By Perlaki Róbert

Preface
The following has been abridged from my book entitled “A perlaki Perlaky
család történeti és irodalmi hagyatéka” (Historical and Literary Accounts
of the perlaki Perlaky family). The text can also be found in Hungarian on
the family’s website (www.perlakycsalad.hu). This synopsis is intended for
those descendants who do not speak Hungarian but who are interested in
the family’s history. Quoted passages are shown in italics. For reasons of
space, detailed references have been omitted but can be found in the
book and on the website.

When referring to ancestors, we have used the Hungarian or “Eastern

Name Order” where the family (surname) precedes the given
(first/Christian) name. The English equivalent of the Hungarian Christian
name is shown in brackets. Dates are given in Western European format,
i.e. Day/Month/Year.

The original Hungarian text has been translated into English and edited
with explanatory notes by Joe de Perlaky, to whom I owe my thanks.

Introduction
Except for some of the aristocracy, research into a family’s history cannot
generally uncover the distant past. To appreciate the reasons for this, it is
necessary to have a basic understanding of the records held by archives.
These represent the main source of information.
Genealogical research is a lengthy, complicated and exhausting process.
Results are often ambiguous because in addition to specialist knowledge,
experience and dedication one also needs luck. In the main, people start
such research as a hobby, for pleasure or simply out of curiosity. In the
vast majority of cases there are no complete family histories, let alone
family trees. Extensive genealogies and family trees are available only for
a tiny minority of cases.
Oral accounts are one of the main sources of family history. However,
their reliability usually only extends as far back as grandparents. In the
past people were better acquainted with their family’s extended relations.
Nevertheless, due to the unreliability of anecdotes, one has also to
depend on written sources. These can sometimes be found in family
heirlooms such as old books, bibles, prayer books and other documents
and records.
Printed obituaries became popular in the second half of the 19th Century.
Relatives outside the immediate family circle were often mentioned in
such notices. Other written sources will include school registers, personal
histories (CV’s), diaries and private memoirs.
Public records are the most reliable source for all types of research into
family history. The Hungarian National Archives contain microfilmed
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records of pre-October 1, 1895 parish registers within Hungary’s present

borders. This huge and unique collection was actually assembled for the
Mormon Church. The Hungarian state established national registers in
1894 and this came into force on 1st October 1895. After this date public
records have been held by local authorities. However, these are generally
inaccessible for family historians and genealogists.

Origin of the name

According to anecdotes, the Perlakys all stem from the same root, Perlak.
In Sándor Payr’s work on the Transdanubian Lutheran Church, quoting
from Nagy Iván he reports:
„Perlak, the historic rural town, is the ancient seat of the Perlaky family.
Tradition has it that in 1475 one of its members, Perlaky Dávid (David)
was the Serjeant at Arms (personal attendant/guard) of King Matthias
(Mátyás). Allegedly the town itself was the property of the family. Later,
during a plague it was occupied by the forebears of the Zrinyi clan, who
drove the family to abandon their ancient lands.”
Nowadays Perlak can be found in Croatia, formerly part of Zala County,
not far from the Hungarian border. Called Prelog in Croatian, it is about
20km from Letenye about 5km off Highway 7 (E71). The first written
mention of Prelog was in the charter of Lord Roland Ratold in 1264. In the
13th century settlers began to arrive in the region now called Muraköz in
Hungarian (located between the Drava and Mura rivers) by Royal
command. Their task was to populate the area and develop trade.
These colonists, who were mainly Germanic, settled in the 1260’s on the
lands of Count Lankret known then as Subotica (Hungarian: Szabadka, not
to be confused with the Vajdaság [Vojvodina - Serbia] town of the same
name) which included Prelog amongst other localities. The name Prelog
(Prelak literally “too light”, Perlak, Perlok) stems from the Croatian vlak
(train) and lecsiti, vlecsi, vlacsiti (pull) and prelavcsiti (cancel) from the
Kajkavian dialect. This is based on the fact that here there has always
been a transport hub, namely a crossing of the river Drava.
In the September of 1480 Matthias Corvinus, the king of Hungary and
Croatia resided in Prelog with his entire army. This provides evidence that
in those times Prelog was a well resourced area.

Note: In early medieval times Hungarians used the patronymic as

surname. This is still the tradition in Iceland and some Scandinavian
countries. As the middle ages progressed, surnames developed into 3
main types, one of these being derived from the locality where the person
originated. In Hungarian this is achieved by adding “i” to the end of the
place name, hence Perlaki means “from” or “of” (as in the French “de”)
perlak.
The added “i” does not necessarily signify nobility as this derivation could
be coupled with the surname derived from the person’s occupation {i.e.
Kovács meaning Smith}, or from a personal attribute, to differentiate it
from similar surnames from other localities. As part of their development
and that of the Hungarian language, some surnames eventually changed
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the “i” to “y”, often, but not always, to signify or assume nobility. Where
the ”y” ending became the surname, both the locality name derivation
and the surname could be used in the full family name, hence perlaki
Perlaky. (In Hungarian place names are written in lower case).

Ancestors

Written chronicles are rarely available about families. Fortunately this

does not apply to us. On the one hand our family archives have remained
largely intact, on the other they merited putting to paper due to the
dynastic nature of our Lutheran pastor forebears and their importance to
Church history.
Family tradition has it that Perlaky Dávid (David) was the first ancestor
about whom there is evidence. Allegedly in 1475 he was King Matthias’s
chief Serjeant at Arms. There are reliable indications that the Perlaky
family faithfully maintained their traditions, therefore this account is
thought authentic.
Apart from one ancestor, the first written reference to the name occurs in
the 16th Century. The first Perlakys about whom we have written records
show that the family were not only early adopters of the Protestant faith,
but many also held office in the Lutheran Church. Perlak was one of the
earliest settlements with a Lutheran parish.
In Lampe-Ember’s well known historical treatise, there is mention of a
Perlaky Márton (Martin) who in 1647 was the evangélikus (Lutheran)
archdeacon of Bars and the pastor for Léva. Another source dating back to
1612 also mentions an archdeacon named Perlaky Márton who was the
pastor in Lendvaszentgyörgyi. Perlaky Márk (Mark), also a cleric in the
Lutheran church as pastor for Balatonfőkajár, wrote a letter of complaint
on 12th March 1651 addressed to Paksi György (George), the bishop of
Dunamellék, during the Lutheran Synod in Veszprém.
There is also the Roman Catholic branch of the family which probably
originates from its pre-Reformation roots.
Nagy Iván’s (Ivan) work mentions Catholic members of the family from the
19th century. These include: Perlaki Perlaky István (Stephen), a jurist and
professor of law in Eger from 1806 to 1825. Perlaky Károly (Charles), the
manager of the royal estates at Csákova. He obtained his proof of nobility
on 20th Sept. 1842 from Temes County and published it on 7th January
1843 in Krassó County. Flórián (Florian) Perlaky was the Royal
Government Prosecutor for the Arad-Mutina region in 1844. Leó (Leo)
Perlaky: Franciscan monk and teacher in Szombathely in 1806. László
(Ladislas, Leslie) Perlaky: Piarist (an order educational of teacher in
Kanizsa – 1844. The Perlaky branch in Pecska proclaimed their nobility in
Békés County in 1828. The latest register of names and titles lists several
Perlakys amongst whom there are a number of Roman Catholics.

Catholics - Lutherans

Genealogical sources mention that the Perlaky name is divided into two
branches. One is the perlaki Perlaky line which follows to the Augsburg
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Lutheran tradition. The other appears in different forms: Perlaky, perlaki

Perlaky, Horváth alias perlaki Perlaky, Horváth-Perlaky.
Although there is no clear proof, most sources state that both branches
have the same root. We initially followed this course and believed that
they forked when the reformation spread in Hungary. This was indicated
by a number of factors mentioned above. However, examining
correspondence between the Perlaky family from Felcsút and the county
seat it becomes clear that references to the name change over time.
Horváth de Perlak, Perlaki Horváth, Perlaki alias Horváth, Perlaki, Perlaky
and after two generations the name Horváth is no longer mentioned.
To summarise, on the basis of documents we can establish that the
branch previously termed Catholic was originally called Horváth and also
originated from Perlak but over time the name underwent modification
and eventually only Perlaky remained. As the name Perlaky has been used
since the beginning of the 18th Century, we shall follow the current
division between Catholic and Lutheran sections of the family.

Family Crests

One of the most impressive manifestations of titled nobility is the family

crest. Their study is a distinct discipline, known as heraldry. Genealogists
will usually study articles and books on family crests and we have also
researched the most relevant of these.
The Perlaky family crest, or rather crests, can be found in most of the
important heraldic treatises. Taking these in order (in the case of German,
Latin and English texts one has to rely on my rough translations since in
many cases current dictionaries do not contain archaic words)

Fig. 1 Perlaki crest (Bárczay)

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Fig. 1 above illustrates the Perlaki coat of arms found in the handbook on
heraldry by Bárczay. One of the characteristic emblems shown is the
bridle.

Fig. 2 Perlaki crest (Siebmacher)

Fig. 2 shows the crest with the same emblems in another version
illustrated in the work on crests by Siebmacher, but still with the Perlaki
name.

Fig. 3 Perlaky crest (Siebmacher)

Judging from the format, a much later version is included in the same
book, but this time under the Perlaky name. (See Fig. 3) Here the bridle is
replaced by a clad arm. Making its appearance is the pelican feeding its
young with its own blood, a characteristic Lutheran symbol. The same
basic crest can be found in the family records section of the National
Lutheran Archives, originally the property of Géza Perlaky. (See Fig. 4)
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Fig. 4 Perlaky crest (family archive)

I have found other references to the Pelican symbol in different contexts.

There is a second Perlaky crest. The seal shown in Fig. 5 was received
from Thomas Perlaky (Sao Paulo, Brazil) together with a drawing of the
crest and the following text in English:
Minister of Home Affairs
According to the documents available to me, I hereby state that the
above crest is that of Major perlaki Perlaky Mihály-Gábor-Imre, resident of
Pécs, who was born in the free city of Arad on Sept. 2 1897, and also of
his son perlaki Perlaky László-Mihály-Imre-Pngrác, who was born in
Budapest, the capital Dec 15, 1919.
Budapest, June 1, 1938

Fig 5. Perlaky seal

The description of the crest shown in the seal also occurs in the letter of
ennoblement issued in 1613 by King Matthias II to Kristóf (Christopher),
István (Stephen) and Erzsébet (Elizabeth), the children of Perlaky-Horváth
István and his wife Margit (Margaret). (See Fig. 6)
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Fig. 6 Perlaky crest

Since I do not have adequate knowledge of the subject, I do not want to

get into heraldic interpretation; nevertheless we can state the following:
The crest shown in Fig. 1 is of simple composition and dates from 1480.
According to Siebmacher, a famous and respected compiler of German
and Austro-Hungarian heraldry, this crest is that of Georgius de Perlak
(Perlaky György), the Royal Serjeant at Arms. The crest is also shown in
Fig. 2, where the shape of the shield has been changed. This is probably
due to developments in heraldry at that time as well as the result of the
rapid rise in the granting of titles of nobility.
In the absence of a written title of ennoblement, we can refer to
Siebmacher’s description of the blazon (see Fig. 3) which shows a clad
and bent arm holding a drawn sword in the shield’s blue field with a half
moon and a star shining above it. A pelican feeding its young with its own
blood nests above the helm and crown. Perlaky Dávid I, preacher from
Gömör, was ennobled in 1701 using the same crest. These records
indicate that (Perlaky) László and István also used this crest in 1529 and
1547 respectively. Perlaky Károly (Charles) used the crest to obtain his
certificate of nobility on 20th September 1842 from Temes Country and
proclaimed it in Krassó County on 7th January 1843. Heraldic and
genealogical sources credit this crest as being the Coat of Arms of the
Perlaky family and it cannot be linked exclusively to the Lutheran branch
since Károly was a Catholic.
However, it should be noted that as heraldry evolved elements were often
interchangeable and, as with all works of man, could have included
mistakes and errors. Pursuing the idea of the family’s common identity,
my interpretation is that each branch has its own and separate Coat of
Arms as is common in very many instances and in accordance with
heraldic tradition.