Search

The examination of the Sé parochial records of baptisms, marriages and deaths, between the mid- sixteenth and the mid-eighteenth century, based on Norberta Amorim's methodology of parish reconstitution, enabled the analysis of the population's demographic behaviour and also an approach to the parish's social reality, based on qualitative data, such as positions, condition and professions. Located in a central area, close to the «Ribeira» (literally, the riverside) and the Tagus, the Sé (parish named after the Lisbon See) was one of the first urbanized zones in Lisbon and one of its largest parishes. According to Cristóvão Rodrigues de Oliveira, its population stood at six thousand one hundred eighty-seven and seven hundred and eighteen neighbours, in 1551. In 1620, Frei Nicolau de Oliveira, presented it as the sixth largest parish in Lisbon and the largest of the seven parishes of the Cerca Moura. Based on demographic analysis, we found that it was an urban parish with a strong mortality and mobility, understandable due to it location near the Lisbon port, at a time that the capital was experiencing a golden age, derived from the maritime trade of the Discoveries. Our study also revealed the existence of low average ages for males and females at the time of their first marriage and that a large percentage of marriages involved spouses who had not been born in the parish. They came from several parts of the country, especially from the north, as well as from abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through the examination of a set of baptismal records from Aveiro, a coastal town between Lisbon and Porto in northern Portugal, this study explores the ways in which women were identified in relation to their families and community, and in relation to their economic occupations. The findings show that of the approximate 2,600 names of parents and godparents who were noted in the parish registers in the years between 1624 and 1638, the vast majority of them were not provided with a work label. Yet, the inconsistent manner in which women and men were identified suggests that what the church scribe deemed worthy of note did not necessarily reflect the views of the broader community. Although officialdom generally relegated women to their marital or family links, it was possible for a woman to acquire an occupational status of her own. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]