Having babies in a very unbalanced marriage market… Fertility patterns in nineteenth-century Portugal, the case of the urban parish of Vila do Conde.

The continuous departure of emigrants (mostly young males) observed in Portugal over the nineteenth century directly affected nuptiality patterns, and so fertility behaviours. The Portuguese historiography has already shown a clear connection between migration, high ages at first marriage and inheritance patterns in rural areas. However, Portugal was not only constituted by rural communities, medium and large towns and cities had different population behaviour. In an attempt to fill this gap in the historiography, this paper will present the case of Vila do Conde, a medium-size urban town placed in northwestern Portugal, area from where most of the emigrants were originally from. It will show that in the case of the urban setting of Vila do Conde, the significant absence of young males had a different impact on marriage patterns. Aiming to contribute to a better understanding of fertility patterns in nineteenth-century Portugal, this paper will present an analysis of fertility levels in relation to specific cohorts and times, in order to understand its variations over time. In addition, investigation on illegitimacy patterns will also take place being the first step towards identifying fertility patterns and their impact upon the dynamics of Portuguese population over the nineteenth century.