Ako skúmať epidémie? Možnosti analýz cirkevných matrík pri výskume epidémií 19. storočia na území dnešného Slovenska

Abstract

In the contribution, I am devoted to the evaluation of Slovak historiography related to the research of epidemics on the territory of Slovakia. Especially after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, as in the global spectrum, many researchers in Slovakia began to devote themselves to the research of epidemics. Their publication output, as well as older works, have the character of case studies, without creating a cross-sectional analysis of epidemic research. The diverse level of results, which in many cases does not respect the basic rules of historical demography, remains a problem. Therefore, the results of these researches cannot be compared with other publications from Slovakia and abroad. Based on these findings, I decided to offer readers a methodological anchoring of the possibility of researching epidemics from the 19th century, which can be realized through the analysis of church registers. This is a topic that has not been elaborated on the Slovak area until now, which is probably also why Slovak researchers often do not follow the basic rules of historical demography accepted in the world. When interpreting the methods, I am based primarily on the French school of historical demography, which is established in the region of Central Europe. It is used in both Czech and Polish historiography, which may be even more acceptable for Slovak researchers and readers.