Record Atlas
9 eras · 1563–2026 · 10 places

The Basque provinces — Álava, Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa

Bilbao, San Sebastián, Vitoria-Gasteiz. 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
1563–1808 Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa under their own fueros FamilySearch · PARES

Parish registers run from the Council of Trent (FamilySearch gives 1545 and 1563); most registers over 100 years old were moved to the archive of the parish's diocese. Until 1861 their parishes were split among the dioceses of Calahorra, Burgos, Pamplona and Santander, so one province's registers can lie in several diocesan archives. The three provinces had their own fueros, partly suppressed in 1839 and totally in 1876.
1808–1814 Spain under Joseph Bonaparte — Peninsular War FamilySearch · PARES

Joseph Bonaparte's reign is dated from June or August 1808 depending on the source, to 11 December 1813; the Peninsular War ended on 17 April 1814. An 1810 Napoleonic division of Spain into 84 prefectures is recorded.
1814–1839 Provincias Vascongadas — under their fueros FamilySearch · PARES

The three provinces kept their historic names in the 1833 division. The First Carlist War (1833-1840) was fought mainly in the Basque Country and elsewhere, and the Convention of Bergara of 1839 partly suppressed their self-government.
1839–1876 Provincias Vascongadas — reduced fueros FamilySearch · PARES

The diocese of Vitoria was erected on 8 September 1861 (its first bishop took possession in 1862) from parts of Burgos, Calahorra, Pamplona and Santander. The Third Carlist War ran 1872-1876. Civil registration is dated from 1871 (FamilySearch's church-records page says 1869), with some municipalities holding records from as early as 1837; the records are still in each municipality's archive, and certificates are requested through the Ministerio de Justicia.
1876–1931 Kingdom of Spain — Concierto Económico FamilySearch · PARES

The law of 21 July 1876 ended the fueros and made the provinces pay taxes like other Spaniards; the royal decree of 28 February 1878 set up the Concierto Económico under which provincial councils collect taxes and pay a fixed quota to the State.
1931–1936 Second Republic FamilySearch · PARES

A Basque statute failed in 1932.
1936–1937 Civil War — Álava Nationalist; Biscay and Gipuzkoa Republican at first FamilySearch · PARES

In July 1936 Vitoria in Álava was easily seized by the rebels, while the rising failed in Biscay and Gipuzkoa. Gipuzkoa was Republican until Irun and San Sebastián fell in September 1936, and the Nationalists entered Bilbao on 19 June 1937. The Statute of Autonomy of October 1936 was enforced only in Biscay and was abolished automatically when Nationalist troops occupied the territory.
1937–1978 Spain — Franco's State, then the transition to the 1978 Constitution FamilySearch · PARES

A decree-law of 23 June 1937 abolished the Concierto Económico for Biscay and Gipuzkoa, which it branded traitor provinces; Álava kept its agreement. On 2 November 1949 the dioceses of Bilbao and San Sebastián were separated from Vitoria.
1978–2026 Spain — 1978 Constitution; the Basque Country FamilySearch · PARES

The 1978 Constitution restored the suspended prerogatives; the Statute of Gernika was approved by referendum on 25 October 1979 and Law 12/1981 approved the Concierto Económico for the whole Basque Country.

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, 1563–2026, 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.

10 places on this ground

47 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.

All record regions · The map