Suchergebnisse

Inhabitants of the province of Limburg are often considered to differ from the Dutch in general. The seasonal pattern of marriages and conceptions provides us with insights in the intimate details of the lives of historical actors, and thus allows us to see whether or not this hypothesis is correct. In the entire country, the choice of marriage month is clearly determined by the changing seasonal duties in agriculture. So, May, between sowing and harvesting, and the month in which labor contracts changed, was favorite. In Limburg, however, most marriages were contracted slightly earlier, in April. The Catholic Church did not allow marriages during Lent and Advent. This we find in the low number of marriages in March and December, most notably in the Catholic province of Limburg. Conceptions followed approximately the same pattern, although Limburg Catholics were less obedient in this respect. In general, one has to conclude that the traditions governing the date of marriage and conception were consistent in time, be it that the 20th century came with slight changes. And Limburgers were absolutely Dutch with only a few provincial deviations.

"On average, more than one fifth of the 19th century Nijmegen brides were pregnant at the date of marriage. In a society where extramarital sexuality was explicitly forbidden, and where the success of marriage restriction depended on following that rule, this finding is remarkable. Obviously, the cultural life script that allowed sexuality only within marriage was not a script all inhabitants lived up to. A remarkable secondary finding is that the protestant population had a much higher proportion of bridal pregnancies than the Roman Catholic population, although both the Protestant and the Roman Catholic clergy strongly opposed sexual activities, unless within marriage. Therefore, when bridal pregnancy among Protestant couples was twice as high as among Catholics, this points either at a stricter control by the Catholic clergy, or at more deviance among Protestant youngsters. In any case, when studying cultural life scripts on sexuality, it is always important to note that it can be countered by human agency." (author's abstract)

East is east and west is west? : population checks in Europe and China -- Nuptiality : one concept, two realities -- Illegitimate births and bridal pregnancy : deviations from societal rules -- Infant mortality : "the massacre of the innocents" -- Fertility : Malthusian reality or proactive behavior?

Historical demographers since Malthus have characterized the West-European and Chinese demographic regimes as systems under low and high pressure, respectively. This volume examines the operation of the positive check at the two ends of the Eurasian continent by taking the Netherlands and Taiwan as representatives of the West-European and Chinese mortality regimes. Are these cases as different as the low and high pressure contrast implies? The volume opens with a cluster of chapters dealing with long term trends in mortality and the accompanying changes in causes of death (Chapters 1 through 4 ). Both Taiwan and the Netherlands witnessed steady improvements in public health, disease prevention, medical care, and living conditions in the periods described; these trends are discussed in Chapters 5 though 8. The third cluster of chapters analyzes the factors affecting maternal and infant mortality (Chapters 9 through 12). Finally, in Chapter 13, the accuracy of Taiwan's censuses and death reporting is assessed. - In dit boek beschrijven auteurs uit de VS, Nederland en Taiwan de historische ontwikkeling van de sterfte in Taiwan en Nederland. De auteurs gebruiken die twee landen als representatief voor de demografische regimes in West Europa en Azië. Volgens de beroemde econoom en demograaf Thomas Malthus is het hoge sterftecijfer in China te verklaren door een structurele overbevolking; de dood als 'positieve check' om de bevolkingsgroei af te remmen. Deze bundel tracht antwoord te geven op deze stelling . Aan bod komen de lange termijn ontwikkeling van sterfte en sterfteoorzaken. Speciale aandacht is er voor de verbetering van de gezondheidszorg in de twee landen en voor de moeder- en kindersterfte. De empirische bijdragen laten de verwachte verschillen zien, maar stuiten ook op opvallende overeenkomsten.