| Abstract [eng] |
The doctoral dissertation presents an analysis of the size, type and life cycle of the Catholic family and household of the Samogitian population, which aims to answer the question of how Western the family and household model of the nobles, peasants and town residents of the first half of the 19th century was. A detailed analysis of the size, type and life cycle of the family and life was carried out in Lithuania for the first time. A data sample representing the Catholic population of the Samogitian population was studied, consisting of 21,112 households and 31,181 families living in Raseiniai, Šiauliai and Telšiai counties in 1795–1861. For the study, data were collected from manor inventories, parish lists and revision censuses. The analysis was carried out using the Hammel and Laslett (1974) typology established in historical demography. The study found that the families of Catholic inhabitants of Samogitia in the first half of the 19th century can be attributed to the transitional cultural zone, because the proportion of nuclear, extended and multiple families was similar and this was characteristic of both the petty nobility, the peasants and the inhabitants of the towns. True, the nuclear family dominated among the landless and small-landed inhabitants, so the family type was influenced not by class, but by the relationship to the land. At the beginning of the period in question, households without servants and lodgers were most common among the inhabitants of all classes. However, approaching the middle of the 19th century, households consisting of a nuclear family, servants and lodgers were most common among the peasants, among the nobility - a nuclear family and servants, and among the inhabitants of the towns – a nuclear family and lodgers. Families and households of all classes were characterized by a similar life cycle. It was noticed that young householders more often lived in families in which unmarried brothers and sisters, as well as one of the elderly parents, still lived. Meanwhile, older householders mostly lived in multiple families, as the family of a married child lived with them. Towards the middle of the 19th century, families were decreasing in number, but households were increasing in size. |
