Crkvene matične knjige kao izvori demografskih podataka lokalne zajednice

Abstract

Demography is a science which studies population while historical demography is concerned with the history of population growth. The basic source of data for a certain population is census records. In addition to census records, huge amounts of data can be obtained from parish records which register events at the moment of their happening. Birth, marriage and death records contain data which could not be found in census records: dates of birth, marriage and death of individual persons, names, surnames, professions, origins of the recorded people, marital status and the age of the married and the dead as well as causes of death. Because of the data found in them and the need to study the life of an ordinary man, parish records are a valuable historical source for demographers and historians. Thus far, parish records have not been used sufficiently. Earlier, they were under the ownership of religious communities while today they are kept in archives. This facilitates their use for different purposes. They can have great significance for a demographic analysis of a local community with the aim of providing better acquaintance with a local history.