Issue 1, Vol. 50 (2026)

This study examines the dimension represented by supplementary and non-standard entries in parish death registers, aiming to highlight selected examples of atypical records that appeared in these registers during all five major cholera epidemic waves in the territory of present-day Slovakia throughout the nineteenth century. The analysis is based on a comparative reading of seventeen exceptional entries originating from Roman Catholic and Evangelical parish registers across various Slovak regions. Particular attention is paid to narrative and graphical elements, such as marginal notes, symbols, and
visual markers that reveal the individual agency and emotional engagement of local clergy during the epidemic crisis. These non-standard inscriptions offer valuable insight into the intersection of epidemiological experience, religious practice, and historical demography in nineteenth-century Upper Hungary. A total of seventeen exceptional register entries were analysed and interpreted.

The paper focuses on the development of illegitimate births in Prostějov during the second half of the 19th century and explores its potential connection to the growth of the local garment industry. The study aims to determine whether, and to what extent, the specific character of the industry, primarily based on home-based production, has influenced the illegitimacy rate. The analysis is based on 17 Roman Catholic parish registers of births kept by the Holy Cross parish in Prostějov and combines quantitative and qualitative approaches. The research primarily examines the frequency of illegitimate births and the presence of fathers in the records. At the same time, particular attention is paid to the periods 1880–1889 and 1900–1909, focusing on the socio-professional background of the parents and the development of subsequent legitimations. The results indicate that the proportion of illegitimate births in Prostějov was higher than the national average for most of the observed period.

This text presents a synthetic and overview study that summarizes the development of foreign academic theories on the family in relation to the Czech academic community. Through this work, the author has sought to fill a gap in the Czech scietific literature. Existing studies typically view family issues through a very narrow lens, such as specific historical periods, selected social strata, or the lens of legal history. This study transcends these boundaries by interconnecting historical-legal, sociological, and historical-demographic approaches. At the same time, it connects global theoretical trends with their subsequent application in the Czech context. The present text devotes systematic attention not only to the history of research but also to an overview of specific research projects.

Using bibliometric analysis, this article compares the first ten volumes of Historická demografie and Przeszłość Demograficzna Polski to investigate the formative trajectories of historical demography in Czechoslovakia and Poland. Drawing on an original
database of 135 articles, 69 unique first authors, 1,271 references, and 1,692 citations, it examines authorship patterns, referencing practices, analytical apparatus, and subsequent citation impact. The findings reveal asymmetries beneath the journals’ nearly parallel histories. Przeszłość Demograficzna Polski was associated with an older, predominantly male, and more methodologically consolidated scholarly milieu, with stronger reliance on domestic and German-language literature. Historická demografie, by contrast, reflected a younger, more gender-balanced community and a stronger orientation toward French historical demography. Despite these differences, both journals produced a broadly comparable long-term legacy.