ABSTRACT
The demographic development of the four great Flemish towns, Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent and Malines, was quite different. One very important point stands out at once: throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the demographic development of the four towns was completely identical. This chapter attempts to study as far as is possible a group of demographic facts which may throw light on the underlying factors and causes of the various demographic movements. The development of legitimate fertility is reflected up to a point in the development of the number of persons per household and also in the development of the births-marriages ratios. Fertility has two main factors: an improvement in legitimate fertility and a decline in mortality among adults. The changes in legitimate fertility resulted from a combination of factors some of which remained stable while others fluctuated. The general improvement was the considerable decline in mortality amongst women of child-bearing age.
