Josephian cadastre as a source of geographic information on historical landscapes

Abstract

The article deals with the potential of the Josephian Cadastre (1785–1790) to be the first modern cadastre in the territory of the Habsburg Monarchy for the purposes of the geographic research of historical landscapes. Although the cadastre is not equipped with maps, the Book of Fasí provides very detailed written information of each plot within the defined cadastral area. The case study focuses on the applicability of the Josephian Cadastre on the research of historical land use and the possibility of involving it as another time horizon in the LUCC Czechia database (1846–2010). We carried out a check of the borders defined in the Josephian Cadastre with the later Stabile Cadaster (1837–1843) and its maps using the retrogression method. It was ascertained that the cadastral areas did not correspond to each other and their homogenization was necessary for further comparison. Despite the fact that some areas were not surveyed in the Josephian Cadastre, this source can be used to acquire detailed data of land use in eight basic classes and to utilize them both in the research of landscape macrostructure – and for specific landscape elements, such as ponds, balks, hedgerows, rocks, and remnants of montane activities.