Vol. XXXVI · 2005

Jaroslav Miller

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In this study I will restrict myself to certain aspects of early modern population mobility in East Central Europe, a region comparative historians have, to date, largely neglected. To be more specific, my attention will focus on Poland-Lithuania and two segments of the Habsburg monarchy, namely, the Bohemian Lands and Royal Hungary. By discussing geographical horizons of urban immigration, I will also explore the dimensions of population movements in relation to urbanization and political, economic, and religious pressures. For methodological reasons, which are explained later in the text, the article is concerned in particular with the full-right citizens who usually formed between 10 and 25 percent of the cities 'total population. First, however, problems of sources and the impact of variables on the nature and structure of immigration will be considered.