Approches démographiques et sociales des ménages toulousains en 1695

Abstract

The 1695 Toulouse capitation census reveals that repartition of households structures is similar to northern model, with high proportions of simple family households and households of solitary. Thus, although customs are those of southern areas, extended family households and multiple family households are very few. In fact, urban environment seems to differ from north-south cleavage, because of many specific criteria which don't allow the cohabitation of several generations under the same roof. Size and structure of households vary according to social belonging of its head. In fact, each social rank goes with specific conditions of living. They entail differential mortality and fertility which have an influence upon the composition and the size of families. The frequence of remarriage and the presence of domestics can modulate ponctuai observations given by the census. As for domestics, very numerous in Toulouse, they are an integral part of households. They don't only have an ostentatious function. They generally have a real utility next to family members. Thus, it appears that the presence of domestics is often bound to households composition and size.