Possibilities and limits of the use of the 1799 census list of Jewish families in Bohemia for research in historical demography
Abstract
The study explores the possibilities and limits of the use of the 1799 census list of Jewish families in Bohemia for historical demography. The source is characterised in terms of its composition, the content of individual sections and the completeness of its preservation.
The authors conclude that the census list from 1799 contains considerably less complex data e.g. compared to the 1793 census list and is worse for historical demography, more suitable for micro-study of particular localities or families. Source is not fully preserved (data for 4 counties are missing) and contains data abou 5 414 families.
An analysis of the settlement structure of the Jews and their spatial mobility (only long-term migrations were observed) showed that the mobility of the Jewish population in Bohemia was extraordinary at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries.