Culture, Religion and Demographic Behaviour: Catholics and Lutherans in Alsace, 1750-1870

Leonard Adams is a professor of French Studies at the University of
Guelph.

Among the factors determining demographic behaviour and transition, does
religion have a major role to play? This is the question that McQuillan
proposes to answer in his investigation of the Catholic and Lutheran
communities in Alsace from 1750 to 1870. Using a wealth of appropriately
selected and strategically placed statistics, McQuillan argues cogently,
coherently, and convincingly as he demonstrates that the two
communities, caught up in cultural practices dictated by strongly held
religious beliefs, developed in two parallel but distinct ways to emerge
in the 19th century as entities that were either open to new ideas, in
the case of the Lutherans, or generally conservative, as the Catholics
remained. Whether with regard to marital fertility, contraception,
social interaction, divorce, or illegitimacy, confessionalism was the
principal factor—either by itself or in combination with other
cultural manifestations—that governed virtually all the other aspects
of daily life in the two groups.

In this meticulously researched work, the author’s interpretations
are perceptive, and his presentation of the data is, of necessity,
heavily weighted on the side of statistical tables and graphic figures,
which can have their full impact only if the reader pauses frequently to
consult them. Secondary published material is presented against a
backdrop of original documents, examined critically and brought to bear
on the central thesis at every stage of the study. The lessons to be
learned from the Alsace “experiment” are inescapable, and I believe
that demographers would gain useful insights from a careful study of
McQuillan’s latest work. Highly recommended.