The authors aimed to elucidate the circumstances surrounding the compilation of registers of souls in the diocese of Hradec Kralové, in the northeast of Bohemia, in the years 1776 and 1777. They also analysed the three extant registers as demographic sources for the study of the population of the day. The resulting data indicate that in the second half of the 18th century, the state had a considerable influence on how the registers of souls were kept and compiled in the Hradec Kralové diocese, and used them to obtain important information on the population, particularly in matters of religion. The volumes containing the registers of souls in 1776-77 represent an extremely valuable source from a demographic point of view that can be used not only to ascertain the numerical state of the population of a particular locality at the time of their compilation, but to study its age profile, social stratification and the typology of families and households., Jiří Pavlík a Radek Pokorný., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy