How to Grow Stoneless Cherries, or What Parish Registers Hide Besides Demographics

Abstract

The objective of the article is an attempt at a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the “incidental” material that is present in the pages of parish registers. This source is characterized by interdisciplinarity, but is most often used by genealogists and historical demographers. Polish historiography generally lacks a synthetic approach to this issue, especially in a broader territorial and chronological perspective. The paper uses the philological method, with elements of a geographic information system used for spatial data visualization. The source basis of the article is the record resource from the area of the former Lublin district. Over 600 archival units from 60 parishes were analyzed, including the two oldest parishes in Lublin. The oldest book begins with baptism records from 1582. The end point of the research was 1810. Based on an analysis of the content of the records, which went beyond the standard form of registering the vital statistics of the population, they were grouped. In total, nearly 100 entries were registered, classified as “casual” material. The highlighted content was assigned to six groups: spiritual life, economic life and parish administration; epidemics; war and politics; natural disasters and famine; extraordinary events; literary work.

Keywords

• incidental material
• parish registers
• historical demography
• Lublin district
• epidemics
• wars