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→Historical Background
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The ''Register of Subjects According to Their Religion'' was drawn up in 1651 as part of the attempt of the Habsburg monarchy to re-Catholize Bohemia after victory at the Battle of the White Mountain in 1620. Bohemian nobles and higher clergy were largely anti-Habsburg and continued to hope for a restoration. | The ''Register of Subjects According to Their Religion'' was drawn up in 1651 as part of the attempt of the Habsburg monarchy to re-Catholize Bohemia after victory at the Battle of the White Mountain in 1620. Bohemian nobles and higher clergy were largely anti-Habsburg and continued to hope for a restoration. | ||
When the Thirty Years War ended in 1648 the situation in Bohemia became much calmer. The issuing of a Patent by the Governors of Bohemia on 4 February 1651 provided the direct impulse for creating the ''Register of Subjects According to Their Religion''. This Patent (royal edict) ordered every overlord in Bohemia to ensure that a register was made of all Catholic subjects living on his estates. The Patent of 4 February 1651 was sent out with a standardized form enclosed with it. The register was suppose to include not just subjects, but also overlords, amnorial officials, burghers living in towns belonging either to the crown or to the nobility, and freemne. The only persons excluded were clergyman and soldiers. | |||
When the Thirty Years War ended in 1648 the situation in Bohemia became much calmer. This made it possible to establish a politically stable government, to begin to re-Catholicize the Protestant sections of the population, and to create a new and functioning orgazization of local parish churches. A prerequisite was to obtain information about the true situation in all Bohemian regions at that time. | |||
The issuing of a Patent by the Governors of Bohemia on 4 February 1651 provided the direct impulse for creating the ''Register of Subjects According to Their Religion''. This Patent (royal edict) ordered every overlord in Bohemia to ensure that a register was made of all Catholic subjects living on his estates. The Patent of 4 February 1651 was sent out with a standardized form enclosed with it. The register was suppose to include not just subjects, but also overlords, amnorial officials, burghers living in towns belonging either to the crown or to the nobility, and freemne. The only persons excluded were clergyman and soldiers. | |||
The standardized form was organized in columns. The enumerator was suppose to write down each person's name, social status, occupation, age, religious affiliation, and the family status of all members of each household, including all servants and farm laborers. | The standardized form was organized in columns. The enumerator was suppose to write down each person's name, social status, occupation, age, religious affiliation, and the family status of all members of each household, including all servants and farm laborers. | ||