The practice of faith in everyday life based on the metrical books of various denominations in the period of Galician autonomy (as illustrated by Rzeszów)

Abstract

This article aims to highlight aspects of religious life based on metrical records. The research focuses on religious communities in Rzeszów: the Roman Catholic parish of Farna, the Jewish metrical district, and the Greek Catholic parish in Zalesie. In all of these communities, the choice of wedding dates was in accordance with the liturgical calendar, including holidays and fasting periods. Illegitimate births indicated that relationships typical of marriage were also established before the formal wedding ceremony. Illegitimate births were more common among Jews due to marriages concluded only according to their own ritual. Illegitimate births were also more prevalent in the urban-like Farna parish compared to the rural Greek Catholic parish, where their percentage was the lowest. Records of administering sacraments to the dying were also indicative of religiousness.