Record Atlas
8 eras · 1200–2026 · 140 places

Basilicata — Potenza and Matera

Potenza, Matera, Melfi, Lagonegro, Maratea, Policoro. Which empire held this ground in which years — and, the part that matters, which archive that means.

Whose archive this ground was

YearsWho held itWhose archive that means
1200–1442 Kingdom of Sicily (Hohenstaufen), then the Angevins no registers survive

Before registers. Frederick II created the Justiciarate of Basilicata, and the Angevins replaced the Swabians in the 13th century.
1442–1504 Aragonese Kingdom of Naples FamilySearch

Alfonso V of Aragon conquered Naples in 1442.
1504–1714 Spanish viceroyalty of Naples FamilySearch

In 1663 a new province was created with Matera as its capital; until then Matera had belonged to Terra d'Otranto.
1714–1735 Austrian Habsburg rule (Charles VI) FamilySearch

The Treaty of Rastatt gave Naples to Charles VI in 1714.
1735–1806 Bourbon Kingdom of Naples FamilySearch

The Bourbons took control in 1735.
1806–1815 Napoleonic Kingdom of Naples Antenati · Archivio di Stato di Potenza · Archivio di Stato di Matera · FamilySearch

Napoleonic civil registers in the Kingdom of Naples are dated 1809 or 1810-1814 depending on the source.
1815–1861 Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Antenati · Archivio di Stato di Potenza · Archivio di Stato di Matera · FamilySearch

The 1857 earthquake devastated much of the region. On 18 August 1860 the Potenza insurrection led Basilicata to declare its annexation to the Kingdom of Italy.
1861–2026 Italy — Provinces of Potenza and Matera Antenati · Archivio di Stato di Potenza · Archivio di Stato di Matera · FamilySearch

Brigandage followed unification. The population fell from 539,258 in 1881 to 485,911 in 1911, mainly through emigration overseas.

The rings are approximate — deliberately. They exist to shade which filing system a place fell under, not to adjudicate a border. A place near a ring's edge should be checked against both neighbours.

See the whole span, 1200–2026, on the map →

The map takes a range, and a range that crosses one of the rows above is where records get lost: the family never moved, and the archive on the far side of the handover will tell you it holds nothing.

140 places on this ground

258 FamilySearch collections reach this ground

Ranked with the regional ones first — a collection for a province is usually a better lead than a national index, though the national index is often where a name is actually written down. A free account opens the images.

…and 198 more.

All record regions · The map