The Testamentary Practice in Jihlava in the Years 1578 - 1624 (Wills as Sources for the History of Family Structures, Historical Demography and Sociotopography)
Abstract
The subject of the research - the Early Modern burgher will - is viewed in the thesis from the standpoint of family structures, historical demography and sociotopography. The sample of 968 Jihlava wills from the period 1578-1624 were subjected to statistical analysis.
Moreover, from a methodological perspective the nature of this research is similar to micro-historical and prosopographical approaches. The aforementioned theme was compared to conclusions of the literature concerning historical demography and family structures (especially English) as well as foreign sociological and anthropological studies.
The results of this research were evaluated from the point of view of the annual number of wills as possible indicators of the chief trends in mortality, and possible connections were traced between the number of children named in the testaments and the inheritance system. Given the numerous marriage contracts concluded by testators, the study also looked into the "marriage market" and the duration of marriages.
Other questions discussed in the thesis include, for example, family and household positions, disabled people, gender studies and intergenerational property transfer. Finally, in terms of the sociotopographical study, the houses of sorted testators were located within the framework of streets and the suburbs.