Page 117 - Changing Living Spaces

The Transformation of the Migratory Strategies of the Rural Population

serfs migrated, their type of settlement tended to remain the same, that
is, they typically moved from one village to another. This was true of
three-fifths of all cases of both emigration and immigration. Serfs in ru-
ral areas searched for partners or jobs in the immediate neighbourhood
of their locality of residence. More than one-fifth of all individuals apply-
ing for release letters (224 cases, comprising 20.9 percent of the total) mi-
grated only to the nearest village, that is, within a distance of 1-5 km. A
similar proportion of cases involved migration within a distance of 6-10
km (192 cases, comprising 17.9 percent of the total) and 11-15 km (130 cas-
es, comprising 12.1 percent of the total).13 In general, the mobility of the
rural population typically took place within a range of 20 km, the return
trip to which could be covered on foot within one day. Spatial mobility
within a distance of 1-20 km was involved in almost three-fifths of all re-
corded cases (611 cases, comprising 57 percent of the total).
The frequency of migration decreased with increasing distance.14 A bi-
directional exchange of serfs can be observed between the territory ad-
ministered by the town of České Budějovice and the surrounding ma-
norial estates, monasteries, towns and parishes. As far as long-distance
immigration was concerned, only one tenth of immigrants to the estate
of České Budějovice (53 cases, comprising 9.4 percent of the total) came
from outside the Budějovice region. People more often came from more
distant regions of Bohemia (37 cases, comprising 6.5 percent of the to-
tal), compared to Moravia (8 cases, comprising 1.4 percent of the total)
or Upper and Lower Austria (6 cases, comprising 1.1 percent of the to-
tal).15 Serfs emigrating from the estate of České Budějovice, on the oth-
er hand, preferred the capital city of Vienna to provincial Prague. Even
though Upper Austria is not far from České Budějovice, the rural popu-
lation tended to migrate to Lower Austria, where Vienna is located. Men
migrated in lower numbers than women, but over greater distances.

13 ‘Micromobility’, which was a part of everyday life in rural society, is the term giv-
en to migration within a range of 14 km from the place of residence, see: Anders-
son (2018, 83–9) and Wyżga (2019, 195–262).
14 It would be extremely interesting to analyse migration across language ‘bor-
ders’, because in the proximity of the town of České Budějovice there were villag-
es with both Czech and German inhabitants. A more precise distinction between
the Czech and German nationality emerged as a result of growing nationalism
after 1848.
15 The issue of immigration and emigration between the Czech and Austrian lands
has been addressed in Komlosy (2003, 150–205, 282–92).

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