Kryzysy demograficzne w Małopolsce w końcu XVII i pierwszej połowie XVIII wieku. Zarys problematyki

Abstract

The article deals with demographic questions on the basis of baptism (birth) registers from eleven parishes situated in various parts of Southern Lesser Poland. A special attention has been paid to the periods when in all the analysed parishes there was a sharp and substantial decrease in births. Thus, two major crises (1714–1715 and 1735–1736) and a few milder ones (1675, 1691, 1694, 1699–1700, 1709–1710, 1732 and 1746) have been identified. A detailed quarterly observation of fecundations during the selected three crises (the first half of the 1690s, 1714–1715, and 1736–1736) juxtaposed with the quarterly prices of rye, oats, buckwheat, and peas from Cracow and Warsaw prove that they were food crises. It has been confirmed by narrative sources, which mention a severe famine in 1714–1715 and 1736–1736. Those years of famine coincided with the years when the quantity of corn sent to Gdańsk was at the lowest level in the first half of the 18th century.

Keywords

• demographic crisis
• famine
• Lesser Poland (Polish: Małopolska)
• births