Ormianie w Horodence na przełomie XVIII i XIX wieku w świetle ormiańskokatolickich konskrypcji wiernych i rzymskokatolickich ksiąg metrykalnych (chrztów i ślubów)

Abstract

Armenians in Horodenka at the turn of the 19th century in the light of the Armenian Catholic register of believers and the Roman Catholic registral records (of baptisms and marriages) The article is devoted, in its first part, to an analysis of selected elements of the demographic structure of the Armenian family in Horodenka (Eastern Galicia) at the turn of the 19th century. The chronological turning points within the article mark those dates for the subsequent registration of believers conducted at the local Armenian Catholic church in 1791 and 1808. On the basis of the indicated registration there has been established the average number of individuals within an Armenian family (5.4 individuals in 1791 and 4.3 persons for 1808) as well as the conducting of a typology of the said families against the adopted model of P. Laslett’s historical demography. The analysis shows that at the turn of the 19th century there were evident transformational processes within the structure of Armenian families involving an increase in the number of simple families, ones economically independent and residing in separate household units. The second part of the articles deals with the phenomenon of interdenominational marriages based on the mentioned registers of believers as well as the preserved baptism and marriage certificates of the local Roman Catholic parish. The result of the analysis confirms the researcher’s conviction as to the inter-ethnic distance in force, something borne out by the small number of two-denominational marriages (5%). An analysis of sources has shown here however that the phenomenon of other interaction, at a lower level of inter-ethnic intimacies, has to date escaped historical analysis. It follows to include here mutual service during the sacrament of baptism (the godparents being of various denominations). The conclusions drawn from the analysis of the demographic sources that are presented in the current article are by nature introductory and intuitive in character. Only further scrupulous research into the neighbourhood, kinship and relations here present will, however, allow one to draw more certain conclusions in this matter.