Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Census
(1,192 words)

1. Precursors

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 (…

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Ehmer, Josef, “Census”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_029882>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20160907



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