Infant mortality in Bremen in the 19th century

This article analyses the development of infant mortality in the port city of Bremen within a disaggregated framework, using the available material from civil birth and death registers, as well as the census returns for 1862, 1871, 1885, 1895, and 1905. The analysis focuses on a number of factors that affected infant mortality, including breast-feeding, female labor-force participation, social class, and migrant status. Particular attention is paid to the age structure of infant mortality in relation to stillbirths and reproductive mortality, as well as registered trends in neonatal and postneonatal mortality. The Bremen data also provide a basis for analyzing infant mortality by cause of death and seasonality. By incorporating disaggregated demographic and socioeconomic data, the authors are able to offer some new insights into the determinants of urban infant mortality trends in the 19th century.     

Rural widows,economy and co-residence in the 18th and 19th centuries

Widows in the past have often been viewed either as poor and lonely or living under the control of their family members. The aim of this article is to show that the situation of widows in the 18th and 19th century Nordic countries does not necessarily correspond with these images. Law and custom provided landholding women with a certain amount of economic security in widowhood, and it seems to be relatively clear that women knew how to make use of their position. However, the frequency of co-habitation between mothers and children also indicates the creation and maintaining of mutually supportive strategies. The increasing stratification of 19th century society did on the other hand inflate the group of widows without property. As a result of running a household without a production element these widows had a greater need to launch their children into the labour market and therefore found themselves in greater need of assistance from the community in old age.     

Rural widows,economy and co-residence in the 18th and 19th centuries

Widows in the past have often been viewed either as poor and lonely or living under the control of their family members. The aim of this article is to show that the situation of widows in the 18th and 19th century Nordic countries does not necessarily correspond with these images. Law and custom provided landholding women with a certain amount of economic security in widowhood, and it seems to be relatively clear that women knew how to make use of their position. However, the frequency of co-habitation between mothers and children also indicates the creation and maintaining of mutually supportive strategies. The increasing stratification of 19th century society did on the other hand inflate the group of widows without property. As a result of running a household without a production element these widows had a greater need to launch their children into the labour market and therefore found themselves in greater need of assistance from the community in old age.     

The French population censuses: Purposes and uses during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries

From the mid-17th until the beginning of the 20th century, French censuses became increasingly more frequent and organized. This article focuses on the purposes of the first censuses (military), how the population was conceived of, and what variables were collected. The main characteristics of included individuals, the data considered important during each period, and the major categories chosen are examined. Also included are the evolution of reasons for knowing the precise age of individuals and how age groups were standardized because these aspects are closely linked to census operations. Finally, we will see how censuses have been used to obtain an overview of the population and, during the 19th century, how they were central to the discussion of the decline in fertility and, more generally, the changes occurring in the French population. How each new question led to the invention of a new variable and how data were presented is also examined.     

The French population censuses: Purposes and uses during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries

From the mid-17th until the beginning of the 20th century, French censuses became increasingly more frequent and organized. This article focuses on the purposes of the first censuses (military), how the population was conceived of, and what variables were collected. The main characteristics of included individuals, the data considered important during each period, and the major categories chosen are examined. Also included are the evolution of reasons for knowing the precise age of individuals and how age groups were standardized because these aspects are closely linked to census operations. Finally, we will see how censuses have been used to obtain an overview of the population and, during the 19th century, how they were central to the discussion of the decline in fertility and, more generally, the changes occurring in the French population. How each new question led to the invention of a new variable and how data were presented is also examined.     

Economic opening and society endogamy: migratory and reproduction logic in the Insubric mountains (18th and 19th centuries)

This article illustrates the character of the alpine and prealpine societies of the Insubric area, which is both open and closed. In these mountains, various migratory forms (periodic, temporary, and definitive) could be both exclusion and stability factors. Even if under a lineage model, family reproduction forms were close to a “unilineal” system. Yet, emigration left open pluriestablishement, the intensity of which depended on the openness of the local economy and demographic configuration of the households.     

Witch signs in forensic medicine of the 16th to 18th centuries

Witch's marks and injecta, two magical phenomena discussed in the law-courts are here examined from the perspective of forensics and medical history. While stigmata were already deprived of their magical aura in the time of Zacchias, injecta continue to puzzle legal medicine for a long time. Gradually the solution is discovered in natural (diseases, dermatology) and psychological (simulation) phenomena.     

Natural population movement and marriage restrictions and hindrances in Styria in the 17th to 19th centuries

To marry has never been an egalitarian option or everybody's wish. There have always been calculations or considerations, structural or individual hindrances and even societal restrictions for individuals to get married despite wishing to do so. Without any doubt and apart from the debate on determination or love and free choice in former times, to marry has always been a societal event, a mutual relationship between personal wishes and societal environmental expectations.

And apart from all the debates on paradoxes in modernization processes, it is clear that in pre-modern times societal marriage restrictions were widespread.

It is very unlikely that people should have been forbidden to marry because they should not have sexual contacts, just for morality reasons. The keys have been considerations and calculations on reproductivity, economic and social resources, social and human capital. This paper deals with aggregated vital data from four parishes in Styria, Austria, covering the outgoing 17th century until the end of the 19th century, in order to detect hints of marriage restrictions.

The paper proves the well-known variety of marriage systems in pre-industrial and pre-modern times. It supports the idea that the presence of marriage restrictions hindered population growth, but the absence of such restrictions did not automatically foster more societal transparency and developmental chances in a modern sense, as mortality and inequality were very strong factors in pre-modern agrarian societies. In the end, the question of marriage restrictions was apparently posed and answered by privileged groups.     

Natural population movement and marriage restrictions and hindrances in Styria in the 17th to 19th centuries

To marry has never been an egalitarian option or everybody's wish. There have always been calculations or considerations, structural or individual hindrances and even societal restrictions for individuals to get married despite wishing to do so. Without any doubt and apart from the debate on determination or love and free choice in former times, to marry has always been a societal event, a mutual relationship between personal wishes and societal environmental expectations.And apart from all the debates on paradoxes in modernization processes, it is clear that in pre-modern times societal marriage restrictions were widespread.It is very unlikely that people should have been forbidden to marry because they should not have sexual contacts, just for morality reasons. The keys have been considerations and calculations on reproductivity, economic and social resources, social and human capital. This paper deals with aggregated vital data from four parishes in Styria, Austria, covering the outgoing 17th century until the end of the 19th century, in order to detect hints of marriage restrictions.The paper proves the well-known variety of marriage systems in pre-industrial and pre-modern times. It supports the idea that the presence of marriage restrictions hindered population growth, but the absence of such restrictions did not automatically foster more societal transparency and developmental chances in a modern sense, as mortality and inequality were very strong factors in pre-modern agrarian societies. In the end, the question of marriage restrictions was apparently posed and answered by privileged groups.     

Migration,households, and agrarian reform in the Baltic provinces of Russia: 19th and 20th centuries

Earlier research has shown that migration flows affect household size and that these measures in turn are affected by local and regional legal systems that seek to regulate migration. This article explores these connections in those areas of the 19th century Russian Baltic provinces of Livland and Kurland that in the 20th century became the country of Latvia. Different data bases are used to link variables during the decades after the agrarian reforms of the 1816–1819 period, in the decades after the 1860s reforms that made possible the purchase of farmland by peasants, and in the decades after 1920 when the new country of Latvia nationalized land heretofore owned by estates and redistributed it to landless peasants and small farmers. The findings are tentative because the data sources differ substantially from period to period, but the present analysis suggests strong enough connections between agrarian reform, migration, and household size and structure to require a more thorough project.     

Migration,households, and agrarian reform in the Baltic provinces of Russia: 19th and 20th centuries

Earlier research has shown that migration flows affect household size and that these measures in turn are affected by local and regional legal systems that seek to regulate migration. This article explores these connections in those areas of the 19th century Russian Baltic provinces of Livland and Kurland that in the 20th century became the country of Latvia. Different data bases are used to link variables during the decades after the agrarian reforms of the 1816–1819 period, in the decades after the 1860s reforms that made possible the purchase of farmland by peasants, and in the decades after 1920 when the new country of Latvia nationalized land heretofore owned by estates and redistributed it to landless peasants and small farmers. The findings are tentative because the data sources differ substantially from period to period, but the present analysis suggests strong enough connections between agrarian reform, migration, and household size and structure to require a more thorough project.     

Central European household and family systems,and the ‘Hajnal–Mitterauer’ line: The parish of Bujakow (18th–19th centuries)

The article examines marriage behaviours, household patterns and household formation rules prevailing among the population of the Upper Silesian parish of Bujakow during the late 18th and the first part of the 19th century. Their character, it is argued, is crucial not only for the proper understanding of European family systems in the past, but also for accurate comparisons of family systems in Europe and Asia. The family pattern prevailing in this part of central Europe exhibited a ‘hybrid’ nature in many respects. The pattern's chief characteristics were a moderate age at marriage, the dominance of simple family households and the high incidence of lifecycle servants. Serial household lists revealed, however, the significant diversity in proportions of household types between censuses and between villages. Despite the strong indication of a stem family pattern in the parish, the analysis of headship transmission revealed the concurrent co-existence of various modes of household formation among families. Some of these formation processes did not vary much from neo-local principles or followed exactly this type of pattern. This study also made it possible to reconsider the supposed relationship between the seigneurial authority and family behaviours in the parish pointing out the considerable degree of autonomy of the peasant subjects.     

Widowhood-related mortality in Scania,Sweden during the 19th century

In this article, mortality risks are empirically examined in connection with spousal bereavement in four parishes in Scania, southern Sweden, during the 19th century using duration analysis. The data are longitudinal and the inhabitants have been followed literally from the cradle to the grave. To simultaneously catch transitory (shock) and persistent (long-term) effects of widowhood on mortality of the surviving spouse, the Cox semiparametric proportional hazards model has been applied with time spent in widowhood as a time-dependent multiple factor. Widowers in general were found to face higher relative mortality risks than widows and the effect of bereavement decreased through time. The estimated relative risks for males were dependent on socioeconomic status and widowers classified as landless faced high relative risks. Quantitatively, the magnitude of our estimates was large in comparison with similar studies made on contemporary data.     

Widowhood-related mortality in Scania,Sweden during the 19th century

In this article, mortality risks are empirically examined in connection with spousal bereavement in four parishes in Scania, southern Sweden, during the 19th century using duration analysis. The data are longitudinal and the inhabitants have been followed literally from the cradle to the grave. To simultaneously catch transitory (shock) and persistent (long-term) effects of widowhood on mortality of the surviving spouse, the Cox semiparametric proportional hazards model has been applied with time spent in widowhood as a time-dependent multiple factor. Widowers in general were found to face higher relative mortality risks than widows and the effect of bereavement decreased through time. The estimated relative risks for males were dependent on socioeconomic status and widowers classified as landless faced high relative risks. Quantitatively, the magnitude of our estimates was large in comparison with similar studies made on contemporary data.     

Infant mortality in town and countryside: northern Germany, ca. 1750–1850

The discussion still continues among researchers about the causes for the decline in infant mortality in widespread parts of Europe at the turn of the 19th century. This article is based on sources such as unpublished statistical material from Prussia, parish registers, and lineage and village genealogies. As these sources are broken down by town and countryside and into various phases of infant mortality, they provide evidence for further reflection that may be fruitful. Thus, several causes for the decrease in infant mortality and ways of diffusion can be excluded and the impact of others delimited. The present study concludes that research should pay more attention to changes in infant care than it usually does.