Catholic society of Saint Petersburg according to the metric records of the Greek township's parish (1710-1740): an attempt to compile and study the database

The article presents the results of a study of the St. Petersburg foreigners’ database compiled on the basis of metric records of Petersburg Catholic parish for the years 1710-1740. This database is being introduced into scientific use for the first time. The data on Catholics were studied by methods of descriptive statistics for the St. Petersburg Catholic socium’s reconstruction. Author identifies the national and social structure of St. Petersburg Catholics and determines some demographic indicators (such as child mortality, national and religious parameters of spiritual kinship, the percentage of illegitimate children). The article largely concretizes our ideas about the social and professional composition of St. Petersburg Catholics and creates their collective portrait. The author concludes that in the first half of the 18-th century the St. Petersburg Catholic, as a rule, was a qualified specialist, an educated person applying for a high social status.