Effect of mortality on marriage and fertility in Belgium, Germany and Sweden, 1700-1930

The study aims to analyse, based on historical data, the sociological and bio-evolutionary effects on long-term fertility trends in the 19th and early 20th century. In a first stage, this research will investigate the difference between the illegitimacy rate in rural and urban areas in Flanders (Belgium) and the reproductive outcome of illegitimate children. In a second stage, the research will focus on the influence of  Y-DNA haplogroups on demographic parameters such as fertility, age at first child, life expectancy and mortality. The COR* database, a historical-demographic database of the population in the district of Antwerp, as well as a genetic dataset from current male descendants of the COR* database will be used to investigate the research question.