Family size in the Peloponnese (southern Greece) in 1700

This article initially presents a reworking of data in a Venetian census of 1700 for the Peloponnese, a region in southern Greece. The analysis is the n compared with one based on another Venetian document dared either to 1702 or 1711, and a mean family size of about 4.0 is confirmed. The calculation s for 1700 are refined to produce calculations of mean family size for urba n and rural communities (3.60 and 4.17 respectively). The results are then discussed in terms of data from the early nineteenth century for the same r egion. Conclusions are drawn that support the case for a small mean family size in southern Europe in the eighteenth century and question the continue d use of multipliers as high as 5.0 in converting Ottoman fiscal data into population numbers.