Analiza matične knjige krštenih današnje župe Veljaci (1786. – 1808.)

Abstract

This study examines demographic trends within the micro unit Veljaci in the municipality of Ljubuški. The sources of primary data were the oldest registers of births from the turn of the 19th century in the area encompassed in the parish Veljaci. The data were analysed using historical and demographic, microhistorical and comparative-historical methodological approach. The research goalis to present former demographic reality of this micro-space at the empire border describe its demographic indicators and their dynamics, especially those related to the birth rate, and pinpoint any trends that would indicate demographic trends of the surrounding area, that is, former parish Ljubuški as a whole. With limited research and analysis of data collected in heuristic procedures for a broader and more comprehensive study of Ljubuški population, we gained an insight into demographic reality of this area from the extreme periphery of the Ottoman Empire at the turn of the 19th century. Comparative-historical approach showed that the characteristics fit into the regularity established by various studies, of geographically closer, but also more remote areas. The analysis of the anthrophonymy corpus also proved similar facts. The analysis of the data from parish registers provided the first, preliminary insight into the demographic image of one section of Ljubuški, and we hope that further research of the entire micro-unit of Ljubuški will significantly complement it and at least partially reconstruct its entire demographic development.