Tracing Mortality in 19th-Century Albanian Provinces. Parish Registers and Death-Causes in Shkodra and Jubani
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52024/hlcs26145Keywords:
Mortality, Causes of death, Albania, Parish registersAbstract
Tracing vital events in the 19th century across Albanian provinces is a complex research endeavour related to the organisation of Albanian population into three different communities (Muslim, Catholic and Orthodox) under the Millet system applied in the Ottoman Empire, which grouped population by religion rather than ethnicity. The registration of births, deaths, and marriages was the responsibility of the respective religious communities, and as a result, the methods, regularity, language and quality of these records vary. This study draws on archival sources from the Central State Archives in Tirana, mainly from the Shkodra Archdiocese collection, to analyse how deaths among the Catholic population were reported and registered. We analyse the accuracy and reliability of the registers, and the main causes of death as recorded in the registers, combining the data with other official sources, especially sources regarding epidemics of the 19th century in Albanian territories. These documents provide evidence not only of how the state classified deaths and responded to mortality crises, but also of how shortages of medical personnel affected the implementation of legislation.
Downloads
References
Balsoy, G., & Gündoğdu, C. (2021). Ottoman death registers (Vefeyât Defterleri) and recording deaths in Istanbul, 1838–1839. Middle Eastern Studies, 57(2), 197–208. https://doi.org/10.1080/00263206.2020.1851682
Beduli, Dh. (1997). Kodiku i kishës së Shën Prokopit në Tiranë (1818–1922) [The codex of the church of Saint Procopius in Tirana (1818–1922)]. Kisha Orthodhokse Autoqefale e Shqipërisë.
Clayer, N. (2012). Në fillimet e nacionalizmit shqiptar: Lindja e një kombi me shumicë myslimane në Evropë [At the beginnings of Albanian nationalism: The birth of a Muslim majority nation in Europe]. Përpjekja.
Cozzi, E. (1909). Malattie, morte, funerali nelle montagne d'Albania [Diseases, death, and funerals in the mountains of Albania]. Anthropos, 4(4), 903–918.
Deusch, E. (2009). Das k.(u.)k. Kultusprotektorat im albanischen Siedlungsgebiet in seinem kulturrellen, politischen und wirtschaftlichen Umfeld [The k.(u.)k. Cult Protectorate in the Albanian settlement area within its cultural, political, and economic context]. Böhlau.
Dumănescu, L., Hărăguş, M., Lumezeanu, A., Holom, E. C., Hegedüş, N., Mârza, D., Covaci, D., & Bolovan, I. (2022). Historical Population Database of Transylvania. Sources, particularities, challenges, and early findings. Historical Life Course Studies, 12, 133–150. https://doi.org/10.51964/hlcs12038
Erünal, E. (2021). Examining age structure and estimating mortality rates in Ottoman Bursa using mid-nineteenth-century population registers. Middle Eastern Studies, 57(2), 179–196. https://doi.org/10.1080/00263206.2020.1844672
Faroqhi, S., McGowan, B., Quataert, D., & Pamuk, S. (1997). An economic and social history of the Ottoman Empire (Volume 2: 1600–1914). Cambridge University Press.
Fauve-Chamoux, A., Bolovan, I., & Sogner, S. (Eds.). (2016). A global history of historical demography: Half a century of interdisciplinarity. Peter Lang.
Harrison, M. (2012). Contagion: How commerce has spread disease. Yale University Press.
Holom, E. C., & Hărăguș, M. (2025). A detailed individual-level analysis of tuberculosis-related deaths among adults from Transylvania, 1850–1914. Historical Life Course Studies, 15, 175–185. https://doi.org/10.51964/hlcs23064
Hoxha, F. (1962). Njoftime historike mbi zhvillimin e mjekësisë në Shqipëri [Historical notes on the development of medicine in Albania]. Universiteti Shtetëror i Tiranës.
İlikan Rasimoğlu, C. G. (2022). Cholera epidemics in the late Ottoman Istanbul, healthcare and the French Catholic Sisters of Charity. Asclepio, 74(1), p588. https://doi.org/10.3989/asclepio.2022.09
Kabadyı, M. E., & Erünal, E. (2024). A nineteenth-century urban Ottoman population micro dataset: Data extraction and relational database curation from the 1840s pre-census Bursa population registers. Scientific Data, 11, Article 570, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03381-2
Karpat, K. H. (1978). Ottoman population records and the census of 1881/82–1893. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 9(3), 237–274. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020743800000088
Karpat, K. H. (1985). Ottoman population, 1830–1914: Demographic and social characteristics. The University of Wisconsin Press.
Kërçiku, K. (1962). Zhvillimi i shëndetësisë në Shkodër gjatë shekujve XVIII–XX: Kontribut për historinë e përgjithëshme të mjekësisë në Shqipëri [The development of healthcare in Shkodra during the 18th–20th centuries: A contribution to the general history of medicine in Albania]. Universiteti Shtetëror i Tiranës.
McCarthy, J. (1984). The defters of the late Ottoman period. Turkish Studies Association Bulletin, 8(2), 5–15. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43385151
Malaj, E. (2025). Rreth murtajës dhe rasteve të saj në trojet iliro-arbërore e përreth, nga antikiteti deri në mesjetën e mesme [About the plague in the Illyrian-Albanian territories and around, from antiquity to the high middle ages]. Studime Historike, 1, 5–27.
Mandemakers, K. (2025). Overview and comparison of 84 databases with historical population longitudinal micro data. Historical Life Course Studies, 15, 281–321. https://doi.org/10.52024/hlcs21660
Materiale dokumentare për Shqipërinë Juglindore të shekullit XVII-fillimi i shekullit XX (Kodiku i Korçës dhe i Selasforit) [Documentary materials on Southeastern Albania from the 17th century to the beginning of the 20th century (The codex of Korça and Selasfor)] (Vol. 1). (1981). Akademia e Shkencave.
Muhaj, A. (2024). Five centuries of plague in Albania (fourteenth to nineteenth century). Hiperboreea, 11(2), 151–170. https://doi.org/10.5325/hiperboreea.11.2.0151
Nopcsa, F. (1907). Beitrag zur Statistik der Morde in Nordalbanien [Murder statistics in northern Albania]. Mitteilungen der kaiserlich königlichen Geographischen Gesellschaft in Wien, 50(8), 429–437.
Nuro, K. (2020). The records of Catholic churches of Shkoder's province (Albania), an important archival source for the historical studies during the XII–XX Centuries. Near East Historical Review, 10(1), 25–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.29228/nehrreview.40236
Őri, P., & Pakot, L. (2026). From macro-statistics to family reconstitution data. Causes of death in Hungary (Sources and databases — 19th and early 20th Centuries). Historical Life Course Studies, 16, 96–113. https://doi.org/10.52024/hlcs25909
Osmanli arsiv belgelerinde Arnavutluk/Shqipëria në dokumentet arkivale Otomane [Albania in Ottoman archival documents]. (2008). T. C. Başbakanlık Devlet Arşivleri Genel Müdürlüğü.
Raftakis, M. (2022). What was killing babies in Hermoupolis, Greece? An investigation of infant mortality using individual level causes of death, 1861–1930. Historical Life Course Studies, 12, 205–232. https://doi.org/10.51964/hlcs11601
Reid, A., Garrett, E., Hiltunen Maltesdotter, M., & Janssens, A. (2024). Historic cause of death coding and classification scheme for individual-level causes of death - Codes [Dataset]. Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.109961
Serdiuk, I., & Chyruk, S. (2026). Causes of death in 19th-century Ukraine. Parish registers, data quality, and source-critical analysis. Historical Life Course Studies, 16, 130–145. https://doi.org/10.52024/hlcs25896
Shaw, S. J. (1978). The Ottoman census system and population, 1831–1914. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 9(3), 325–338. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020743800033602
Shaw, S. J. (2011). Studies in Ottoman and Turkish history: Life with the Ottomans. Gorgias Press.
Thëngjilli, P. (2000). Historia e popullit shqiptar: 395–1875 [History of the Albanian people: 395–1875]. Toena.
Todorov, N. (1998). The historical demography of the Ottoman Empire: Problems and tasks. In N. Todorov (Ed.), Society, the city and industry in the Balkans, 15th–19th centuries (pp. 151–172). Variorum collected studies series. Studies in East-Central Europe 1500–1900. Ashgate.
Todorova, M. (1993). Balkan family structure and the European pattern. The American University Press.
von Hahn, J. G. (1854). Albanesische Studien [Albanian studies]. F. Mauko.
von Hahn, J. G. (1869). Reise durch die Gebiete des Drin und Wardar. Im Aufträge der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften unternommen im Jahre 1863 (2. Abteilung) [Journey through the regions of the Drin and Vardar: Undertaken on behalf of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in the year 1863 (2. Department)]. In Commission bei Carl Gerolds Sohn, Buchhändler der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschafte.
Willigan, J. D., & Lynch, K. A. (1982). Sources and methods of historical demography. Academic Press.
Data
Gruber, S., Kaser, K., Kera, G., & Pandelejmoni, E. (2024). 1918 Census of Albania (Version 1.1) [Mosaic Historical Microdata File]. mosaic.ipums.org
Gruber, S., Kera, G., & Pandelejmoni, E. (2025a). Death books of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Shkodra, 1820–1898 (Version 1.1) [SPSS file]. University of Graz.
Gruber, S., Kera, G., & Pandelejmoni, E. (2025b). Death books of the Roman Catholic Parish of Jubani, 1789–1950 (Version 1.0) [SPSS file]. University of Graz.
Archival sources
Gojani, Nicolo. (1898, December 16). Arkivi Qendror Shtetëror (Fonds 132 Arqipeshkvia e Shkodrës, Year 1898, Folder 30, pp. 3–4), Tirana, Albania.
Gouvernement General Scutari d'Albanie. (1876, February 28). [Letter to the Archbishop of Antivari-Scutari, Monsignor Karl Pooten]. Arkivi Qendror Shtetëror (Fonds 132 Arqipeshkvia e Shkodrës, Year 1876, Folder 2, p. 1), Tirana, Albania.
Jubani death book. (1878). (Fonds 132A Arqipeshkvia e Shkodrës, Year 1878, Folder 1, p. 89), Tirana, Albania.
Nedim. (1911, September 6). [Letter to the Archbishopric of Scutari]. Arkivi Qendror Shtetëror (Fonds 132 Arqipeshkvia e Shkodrës, Year 1911, Folder 33, p. 2), Tirana, Albania.
Pooten, Karl. (1876, March 1). [Letter to the General Gouverneur of Scutari]. Arkivi Qendror Shtetëror (Fonds 132 Arqipeshkvia e Shkodrës, Year 1876, Folder 2, pp. 2–3), Tirana, Albania.
Vali of Scutari. (1893, August 6). [Note to the Archbishop of Scutari]. Arkivi Qendror Shtetëror (Fonds 132 Arqipeshkvia e Shkodrës, Year 1893, Folder 29, pp. 3-4), Tirana, Albania.
Zamputti, Giuseppe. (1896, August 23). [Letter to Archbishop Pasquale Guerini]. Arkivi Qendror Shtetëror (Fonds 132 Arqipeshkvia e Shkodrës, Year 1896, Folder 1, p. 1), Tirana, Albania.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Gentiana Kera, Enriketa Pandelejmoni, Siegfried Gruber
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
