Suchergebnisse

We examine different aspects of nuptiality and fertility in the Länder of the Austrian Empire using the Tafeln zur Statistik der Österreichischen Monarchie (Statistical Tables of the Austrian Monarchy). This source, published from 1829 to 1871, contains data on population and natural movement. After discussing its quality, we study marriage and birth rates, and also age at wedding, illegitimacy ratio, and marital fertility. We find meaningful differences between the regions of Empire: low and late nuptiality in some central Länder, which generally have consequences for birth rates. The frequency of illegitimacy and marital fertility rates are also examined for the 15 Länder.

Despite the laborious process of gathering the data and some limitations due to selective incompleteness, catasti and estimi (fiscal cadastres) provide precious information on demographic differences within Italy during the Late Middle Ages and early Modern Age. The authors compare three areas: the countryside surrounding Lucca in 1411 (Tuscany, 5,792 individuals) and Varese in 1530 (Lombardy, 2,703), and the "quasi-city" of Legnago in 1430 (Veneto, 2,101), reconsidering also the Florentine catasto of 1427. Family-type distribution, age at marriage, and residence after marriage are noticeably different, showing that the territorial diversity in family of nineteenth-century Italy was already present four centuries earlier.