Birth-rate in the Topla parish in the second half of the 18™ century

Dragana, Radojičić

Glasnik Antropološkog društva Jugoslavije

41

65

73

0351-1480

http://scindeks.ceon.rs/article.aspx?query=ISSID%26and%264895&page=0&sor...

2006-2021/11/05/10:15:34

Registers of birth, marriages and deaths from the Topla Parish have not been under scrutinized investigation so far; however, an insight into these registers helped us to better understand a birth-rate of the Topla Parish the largest parish in Herzegovina in the second half of the 18th century. In the beginning of the 18th century, Topla was a main centar of the Dalmatian episcopate, and later on in the second half of the 18th century until 1797 at the time of Venetian rule, it became a center of Topla's autonomous unit called "Topla's komunitadi". This autonomous unit covered the territory of the present-day county district of Herceg Novi, except for the settlement of Lustice and Sutorine. The majority of populations (up to 90%) were Orthodox Christians. The Roman Catholics lived in the city centre, in Topla and in lesser number, along the coast, while rural areas were inhabited exclusively by the Orthodox Christians. Based on the archive sources, this paper reveals the data on the Topla populations for the given period. Namely, a research into registers reveal that in the period of 1760-1799, seven hundred and six newborns were christened, or on average, about 17,6; moreover, one hundred and one marriage was registered, suggesting that, on average, five children were born in each. At the same time, four hundred and ninety individuals died.