Qormi, 1560-1634 : a demographic overview

Abstract

This demographic study of Qormi is principally aimed at putting new light on a past local rural society, until now still largely understudied. The agrarian essence of the village of Qormi can serve as an appropriate model for other contemporary rural areas. This dissertation, indeed, gives in-depth attention to the various strata of people living in the village and shows quite clearly their collective perception towards their highly- cultured urban neighbours. The role of the Catholic Church is also put under scrutiny having an indirect influence on the villagers' financial means, occupations and mobility. Rural family patterns are, indeed another aim of this dissertation. These could only be examined through an in-depth analysis of baptism, marriage and death registers. This large quantitative data permits a further analysis of other aspects, such as mortality and the timing of marriage. The first chapter of this dissertation deals mainly with the analysis of Qormi social strata, made up of the parish priests and his clergy, the nobles, the artisans and the peasants. The role played by the dominant clans of the village is further highlighted, together with the marginal presence of illegitimate births, foundlings and acts of criminality. Social prestige was a state very much coveted by all the rural villagers. The ways and means for a modest villager to achieve distinction are the subject of the second chapter. This analysis inevitably involves a thorough study of baptismal godparents and marriage witnesses. Prominent hospitallers, noblemen and other titleholders were on many occasions duly appointed in these roles. Marriage, on the other hand, is the central theme in the third chapter. The newly established rules by the Council of Trent, forced the marriage ritual on all the villagers. The acts furnish the exact date of marriage, the places of origin of couples and the presence of foreign grooms. Such information also made possible the analysis of pre marital pregnancies and the conditions which forced couples into marrying pre-maturely. The final chapter is an overview of nativity and mortality in Qormi. The presence of large family units presumes a high female fertility, which seems to have been often brought to a standstill by the high mortality at a tender age. Definitely, most villagers died in their youth, and hence mortality played a central role in the demographic growth of 16th century rural Qormi.