Precursors of the census in European history were registers of inhabitants of a town or region. These sporadically date back to the High Middle Ages, and became more widespread from the Renaissance. The sovereign power had such registers made primarily for purposes of taxation (e.g. the English Poll Tax of 1377), and they generally confined themselves to listing taxable households (Population 1.4.). One exception in terms of completeness and precision was the Florentine Cadaster (…