Record Atlas
5 eras · 925–2026 · 2 places

Forez — Saint-Étienne, Roanne and Montbrison

Saint-Étienne, Roanne, Montbrison, Saint-Chamond, Firminy. 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
925–1173 Counts of Forez, also counts of Lyon no registers survive

Before registers. William I is recorded as count in 925; the counts of Forez were also counts of Lyon in the Empire until 1173, when the Archbishop of Lyon received the countship.
1173–1417 Counts of Forez no registers survive

Before registers. Anne of the House of Albon ruled from 1372 to 1417.
1417–1531 Forez under the Bourbons Archives départementales de la Loire

John I of Bourbon ruled Forez from 1417. Montbrison is considered the historical capital of Forez.
1531–1574 Forez united to the French crown Archives départementales de la Loire · FamilySearch

Forez was united to the French crown in 1531, after Louise of Savoy ruled it from 1521. Henry, later Henry III, held it as an appanage from 1566 to 1574.
1574–2026 France: Gouvernement général de Lyon Archives départementales de la Loire · Archives municipales de Saint-Étienne · FamilySearch · Geneanet

Forez was united permanently to the French crown in 1574. It lay in the Ancien Régime gouvernement général of Lyon, together with Lyonnais and Beaujolais.

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, 925–2026, 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.

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