Record Atlas
5 eras · 972–2026 · 2 places

Berry — Bourges, Châteauroux, Issoudun

Bourges, Châteauroux, Vierzon, Issoudun, Saint-Amand-Montrond. 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
972–1101 Viscounty of Bourges no registers survive

Before registers. The County of Bourges was reduced to a viscounty in 972.
1101–1360 Berry in the royal domain no registers survive

Berry was annexed by France in 1101.
1360–1790 Duchy of Berry — a royal apanage Archives départementales du Cher · Archives départementales de l'Indre

King John II created the duchy of Berry in October 1360 for his third son, and it was later held by senior members of the royal family, usually of the House of Valois.
1790–1815 Départements of Cher and Indre — Republic and Empire Archives départementales du Cher · Archives départementales de l'Indre

On 4 March 1790 Berry was split into Cher (Upper Berry) and Indre (Lower Berry); some sources date the dissolution of the provinces to 1791.
1815–2026 France — Cher and Indre Archives départementales du Cher · Archives départementales de l'Indre

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, 972–2026, 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.

2 places on this ground

118 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 58 more.

All record regions · The map