Brittany and the Nantes country
Rennes, Nantes, Brest, Quimper, Saint-Malo. Which empire held this ground in which years — and, the part that matters, which archive that means.
Whose archive this ground was
| Years | Who held it | Whose archive that means |
|---|---|---|
| 939–1532 | Duchy of Brittany | no registers survive Before the royal register ordinances of 1539 and 1579. The duchy is dated from about 939, after Alan II's victory over the Vikings at Trans-la-Forêt on 1 August 939, and the War of Succession was fought from 1341 to 1364. |
| 1532–1790 | Kingdom of France - Province of Brittany (Estates of Brittany) | Archives départementales des Côtes-d'Armor · Archives départementales du Finistère · Archives départementales du Morbihan · Archives départementales de la Loire-Atlantique · Archives de Nantes · Archives municipales de Rennes · Archives municipales de Brest · FamilySearch · Geneanet The union with France is dated 1532 (the Estates of Brittany proclaimed it) or 13 August 1547, depending on the source. Baptism registers date from the ordinance of 1539, marriage and burial registers from 1579, and from 1667 registers were kept in duplicate, one copy going to the bailiwick court clerk. |
| 1790–1815 | French Republic, Consulate and Empire - five Breton departments | Archives départementales des Côtes-d'Armor · Archives départementales du Finistère · Archives départementales du Morbihan · Archives départementales de la Loire-Atlantique · Archives de Nantes · Archives municipales de Rennes · Archives municipales de Brest · FamilySearch · Geneanet In 1790 the province was divided into five departments: Côtes-du-Nord, Finistère, Ille-et-Vilaine, Loire-Inférieure and Morbihan. Civil registration passed to the municipalities by the decree of 20 September 1792. From 1793 Brittany was a centre of royalist and Catholic resistance (the Chouannerie), and Loire-Inférieure lay within the Vendée war. |
| 1815–1940 | France - the five departments of Brittany | Archives départementales des Côtes-d'Armor · Archives départementales du Finistère · Archives départementales du Morbihan · Archives départementales de la Loire-Atlantique · Archives de Nantes · Archives municipales de Rennes · Archives municipales de Brest · FamilySearch · Geneanet The department archives are the filing unit. Côtes-du-Nord became Côtes-d'Armor later, and Loire-Inférieure was renamed Loire-Atlantique in 1957, so Nantes records may be catalogued under either name. |
| 1940–1945 | German-occupied France - Vichy administration | Archives départementales des Côtes-d'Armor · Archives départementales du Finistère · Archives départementales du Morbihan · Archives départementales de la Loire-Atlantique · Archives de Nantes · Archives municipales de Rennes · Archives municipales de Brest · FamilySearch · Geneanet Brittany was invaded in 1940 and freed after Operation Cobra in August 1944; the Saint-Nazaire and Lorient areas surrendered on 10 and 11 May 1945. In 1941 the Vichy government removed Loire-Atlantique from the Brittany region. |
| 1945–2026 | France - Region of Brittany; Loire-Atlantique in Pays de la Loire | Archives départementales des Côtes-d'Armor · Archives départementales du Finistère · Archives départementales du Morbihan · Archives départementales de la Loire-Atlantique · Archives de Nantes · Archives municipales de Rennes · Archives municipales de Brest · FamilySearch · Geneanet In 1956 Brittany was reconstituted as a region without Nantes, and Loire-Atlantique went into Pays de la Loire with parts of Anjou, Maine and Poitou. Nantes, the prefecture, is considered by many to be Brittany's capital although the department sits outside the region. |
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, 939–2026, 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.
80 places on this ground
- Côtes-d'Armor 1
- Côtes-du-Nord 1
- Ille-et-Vilaine 1
- Loire-Inférieure 1
- Nantes 1
- Arzano 0
- Audierne 0
- Bannalec 0
- Beuzec-Cap-Sizun 0
- Beuzec-Conq 0
- Brasparts 0
- Brélès 0
- Brest 0
- Briec 0
- Brittany 0
- Carantec 0
- Châteaulin 0
- Cléden-Cap-Sizun 0
- Cléder 0
- Coray 0
- Crozon 0
- Daoulas 0
- Edern 0
- Elliant 0
- Esquibien 0
- Finistère (area) 0
- Gouesnou 0
- Gouézec 0
- Goulven 0
- Guiclan 0
- Guipavas 0
- Guissény 0
- Kerfeunteun 0
- Kergloff 0
- La Forêt-Fouesnant 0
- Lambézellec 0
- Lampaul-Guimiliau 0
- Landerneau 0
- Landivisiau 0
- Landrévarzec 0
- Le Juch 0
- Le Quiliou 0
- Locronan 0
- Loire-Atlantique 0
- Lopérec 0
- Milizac 0
- Morlaix 0
- Pays de la Loire 0
- Pleyben 0
- Pleyber-Christ 0
- Plogoff 0
- Plomodiern 0
- Plouarzel 0
- Ploudalmézeau 0
- Plouescat 0
- Plougar 0
- Plougasnou 0
- Plougastel-Daoulas 0
- Plougoulm 0
- Plougourvest 0
- Plouguerneau 0
- Plouider 0
- Plouigneau 0
- Ploujean 0
- Ploumoguer 0
- Plounéventer 0
- Plouvien 0
- Plouvorn 0
- Plouzané 0
- Plozévet 0
- Pont Croix 0
- Quimper 0
- Riec-sur-Belon 0
- Rosporden 0
- Sibiril 0
- Taulé 0
- Trébabu 0
- Tréflez 0
- Trémaouézan 0
- Tréouergat 0
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.
- L'Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (INSEE) ↗ 1882–2023 27,001,076 records regional
- Luxembourg, Census Records, 1843-1900 ↗ 1843–1900 4,105,764 records regional
- Luxembourg, Church and Civil Registration, 1601-1923 ↗ 1601–1923 3,005,872 records regional
- Luxembourg, Civil Registration, 1796-1941 ↗ 1796–1941 253,875 records regional
- Luxembourg, Births and Baptisms, 1662-1840 ↗ 1662–1840 7,705 records regional
- Luxembourg Marriages, 1700-1810 ↗ 1700–1810 1,663 records regional
- Luxembourg, Deaths and Burials, 1702-1798 ↗ 1702–1798 1,245 records regional
- Luxembourg, Church Records, 1601-1948 ↗ 1601–1948 0 records regional
- Luxembourg, Notarial Records, 1621-1821 ↗ 1621–1821 0 records regional
- France, Insee Social Security Death Index, 1970-2022 ↗ 1970–2022 27,217,470 records
- France, Côtes-d'Armor, Parish and Civil Registration, 1467-1920 ↗ 1467–1920 9,861,214 records
- France, Haute-Garonne, Parish and Civil Registration, 1539-1993 ↗ 1539–1993 8,970,706 records
- France, Nord, Parish and Civil Registration, 1524-1893 ↗ 1523–1893 8,717,405 records
- France, Isere, Parish and Civil Registration, 1540-1900 ↗ 1539–1900 8,331,658 records
- France, Dordogne, Church and Civil Registration, 1540-1897 ↗ 1539–1897 7,857,723 records
- France, Savoie, Parish and Civil Registration, 1500-1927 ↗ 1500–1927 7,363,246 records
- France, Saône-et-Loire, Parish and Civil Registration, 1530-1892 ↗ 1530–1892 7,228,055 records
- France, Mayenne, Parish and Civil Registration, 1427-1897 ↗ 1426–1897 5,403,554 records
- France, Indre, Parish and Civil Registration, 1564-1905 ↗ 1564–1905 5,322,228 records
- France, Births and Baptisms, 1546-1896 ↗ 1546–1896 5,313,811 records
- France, Pas-de-Calais, Parish and Civil Registration, 1553-1902 ↗ 1553–1902 5,177,375 records
- France, Bas-Rhin, Parish and Civil Registration, 1525-1912 ↗ 1525–1912 4,303,261 records
- France, Aude, Parish and Civil Registration, 1537-1882 ↗ 1537–1882 4,272,925 records
- France, Creuse, Parish and Civil Registration, 1568-1903 ↗ 1568–1903 4,179,408 records
- France, Eure-et-Loir, Parish and Civil Registration, 1526-1902 ↗ 1525–1902 4,131,623 records
- France, Landes, Parish and Civil Registration, 1580-1898 ↗ 1580–1898 3,896,260 records
- France, Haute-Saône, Parish and Civil Registration, 1551-1872 ↗ 1551–1872 3,757,991 records
- France, Seine-Maritime, Civil Registration, 1793-1879 ↗ 1793–1879 3,390,985 records
- France, Ardennes, Parish and Civil Registration, 1558-1893 ↗ 1558–1893 2,800,279 records
- Africa, French Colonial Civil Registration Records, 1700–1950 ↗ 1700–1950 2,789,809 records
- France, Loire-Atlantique, Civil Registration, 1792-1960 ↗ 1792–1960 2,710,678 records
- France, Charente, Parish and Civil Registration, 1550-1936 ↗ 1549–1936 2,579,938 records
- France, Brittany, Church and Civil Records, 1521-1896 ↗ 1520–1905 2,427,746 records
- France, Var, Civil Registration, 1793-1914 ↗ 1793–1914 2,306,783 records
- France, Ariège, Parish and Civil Registration, 1583-1923 ↗ 1583–1923 2,306,239 records
- France, Hautes-Alpes, Parish and Civil Registration, 1583-1931 ↗ 1583–1931 2,301,156 records
- France, Vosges, Parish and Civil Registration, 1522-1956 ↗ 1522–1956 2,184,571 records
- France, Pyrénées-Orientales, Parish and Civil Registration, 1451-1897 ↗ 1451–1897 2,081,774 records
- France, Vendée, Parish and Civil Registration, 1508-1894 ↗ 1508–1894 1,994,474 records
- France, Morbihan, Parish and Civil Registration, 1536-1894 ↗ 1535–1894 1,975,120 records
- France, Loiret, Civil Registration, 1793-1906 ↗ 1793–1906 1,965,105 records
- France, Calvados, Civil Registration, 1792-1942 ↗ 1792–1942 1,692,790 records
- France, Ardèche, Parish and Civil Registration, 1481-1924 ↗ 1481–1924 1,446,261 records
- France, Nord, Census, 1906 ↗ 1906–1906 1,339,687 records
- France, Gironde, Civil Registration, 1696-1912 ↗ 1696–1912 1,219,475 records
- France, Marriages, 1546-1924 ↗ 1546–1924 1,178,188 records
- France, Haute-Garonne, Toulouse, Church Records, 1539-1793 ↗ 1538–1793 826,831 records
- France, Loire-Atlantique, Nantes, Civil Registration, 1747-1907 ↗ 1747–1907 770,219 records
- France, Seine-Saint-Denis, Parish and Civil Registration, 1523-1932 ↗ 1522–1932 707,658 records
- France, Saône-et-Loire, Census, 1876 ↗ 1876–1876 692,910 records
- France, Saône-et-Loire, Census, 1896 ↗ 1896–1896 622,811 records
- France, Côtes-d'Armor, Census, 1876 ↗ 1876–1876 618,426 records
- France, Coutances et d'Avranches Diocese, Catholic Parish Records, 1533-1894 ↗ 1532–1894 613,224 records
- France, Saône-et-Loire, Census, 1856 ↗ 1856–1856 577,784 records
- France, Haute-Garonne, Toulouse, Civil Registration, 1792-1893 ↗ 1792–1893 548,009 records
- France, Saône-et-Loire, Census, 1836 ↗ 1836–1836 545,834 records
- France, Dordogne, Censuses, 1856 ↗ 1851–1861 530,703 records
- France, Dordogne, Censuses, 1876 ↗ 1871–1881 497,323 records
- France, Dordogne, Census, 1836 ↗ 1836–1836 489,379 records
- France, Dordogne, Censuses, 1891 ↗ 1891–1891 471,373 records
…and 58 more.