ARHIVSKI VJESNIK 31. (ZAGREB, 1989.)

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Stjepan Krivošić, Izvori za historijsku demografiju: starije matične knjige. Arhivski vjesnik, 31/1988. sv. 32, str. 13—80. SUMMARY OLD PARISH REGISTERS — SOURCES FOR HISTORICAL DEMOGRAPHY The author discusses the significance of old parish registers as important, but incomplete historical sources, suggesting some ways of coping with their incompleteness

. Although church regulations clearly stated which particular data were to be recorded, some registrars did not respect the regulations. As a result, records differ from register to register. It is not only that some data on either baptism, marriage or funeral are missing, but in some cases these ceremo nies were not recorded at all. However, the importance of parish registers is not only in the actual data recorded, but in conclusions that can be drawn from them. For example, the decline in number of marriages would imply the period of shortages present the only true source for the chronology and geography of famine through history, both in our country and in general. To conclude with, parish registers as sources for historical demography are to be studied more thoroughly by our scientists. It should be a team-work with an automatic data-processing. 30