Record Atlas
7 eras · 1152–2026 · 1 places

Gascony - the Landes, Armagnac and Bigorre

Mont-de-Marsan, Dax, Auch, Tarbes, Lourdes. 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
1152–1360 Gascony - Plantagenet kings of England as dukes no registers survive

From 1152 the Plantagenet kings of England ruled Gascony, which some historians call England's first colony. The old duchy had split into counties such as Armagnac, Bigorre and Béarn.
1360–1369 Gascony, Bigorre and Gaure under the Treaty of Brétigny no registers survive

Gascony, Bigorre and the countship of Gauré were among the lands the treaty gave Edward III in full sovereignty. War resumed in 1369.
1369–1453 English Gascony until Castillon no registers survive

The French victory at Castillon on 17 July 1453 and the retaking of Bordeaux on 19 October 1453 ended Plantagenet control of Gascony. In the Basque lands to the west, Mauléon fell in 1449 and Bayonne in 1451.
1453–1790 Kingdom of France - Gascony, governed with Guyenne from Bordeaux Archives départementales des Landes · Archives départementales du Gers · Archives départementales des Hautes-Pyrénées · Archives municipales de Tarbes · FamilySearch · Geneanet

The province of Gascony is dated 1453 to 1789, and from the 17th century it was governed together with Guyenne at Bordeaux. Auch was its historical capital.
1790–1940 France - Landes, Gers, Hautes-Pyrénées Archives départementales des Landes · Archives départementales du Gers · Archives départementales des Hautes-Pyrénées · Archives municipales de Tarbes · FamilySearch · Geneanet

The departments of 1790 broke up the historical regions, so Gascon records are filed by department and not by province. Civil registration passed to the municipalities by the decree of 20 September 1792.
1940–1945 German-occupied France - the demarcation line Archives départementales des Landes · Archives départementales du Gers · Archives départementales des Hautes-Pyrénées · Archives municipales de Tarbes · FamilySearch · Geneanet

The line created by the armistice of 22 June 1940 ran through the Landes and passed Mont-de-Marsan on its way to the Spanish border.
1945–2026 France - Gascony divided between Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie Archives départementales des Landes · Archives départementales du Gers · Archives départementales des Hautes-Pyrénées · Archives municipales de Tarbes · FamilySearch · Geneanet

The former province is today divided between the regions of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie.

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, 1152–2026, 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.

1 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