83,402
edits
Czechia Census: Difference between revisions
→Historical Background
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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. | 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 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'' that year. This ''Patent'' (royal edict) ordered every overlord in Bohemia to ensure that a register was made of all Catholic subjects living on his estates. It was sent out with a standardized form enclosed. The register was suppose to include not just subjects, but also overlords, manorial officials, burghers living in towns belonging either to the crown or to the nobility, and freemen. 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. | ||
At the end of the register for each estate, the enumerators were suppose to write up a report on the condition of the local church administration. | |||
Most feudal estates had complied with the requirements of the ''Patent'' by the summer of 1651. But on June 1651, before the project of writing up the register had been completed in all regions of the country, the office of the Governor of Bohemia issued a second Patent, abandoning the detailed, standardized form and ordering local administrators simply to provide a brief report concerning non-Catholic individuals. As a result, on some feudal estates the register in the original format was never drawn up at all. In others, it had already been written up but it had not yet been sent in to the central government. The situation differed from one region to another, and it is sometimes impossible to discover, why it has not survived. | |||
The first census to record people by name was conducted in 1651. The Family History Library has published copies of the 1651 census for the following regions: | The first census to record people by name was conducted in 1651. The Family History Library has published copies of the 1651 census for the following regions: | ||