Research project MO/32/014 (Research action MO)
There is no comprehensive guide covering the most important Ancien Régime public institutions in Hainault and Tournai-Tournaisis. In general, although specific studies are far from lacking, they are often dated and no longer allow an adequate assessment of available documentary resources on the subject, especially after the significant loss of archived materials as a result of the near-total destruction of the Mons and Tournai archives in 1940. The objective is thus twofold: to provide researchers with a succinct view of each institution (background, competences, organisation), and to describe the state of knowledge on the subject, not only from the bibliographical but especially the archival viewpoint.
Some fifty institutions were selected. A group of about thirty Belgian and French researchers, the best specialists in the field, will take part in the project. A guide, scheduled for publication at the end of 2008, will take its place alongside similar studies devoted to the institutions of the provinces of Flanders (1997), Brabant and Malines (2000) and Namur (ongoing).
