Record Atlas
6 eras · 950–2026 · 2 places

Limousin and La Marche

Limoges, Guéret, Tulle, Brive, Aubusson. 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
950–1360 Viscounties of Limousin and the County of La Marche no registers survive

Before registers. In the 10th century Limousin fragmented into seigneuries including the viscounties of Limoges, Comborn, Ventadour and Turenne. La Marche became a separate fief in the mid-10th century and passed to the Lusignan family in the 12th.
1360–1369 Limousin ceded to Edward III under the Treaty of Brétigny no registers survive

Limousin is among the territories the treaty of May 1360 gave Edward III in full sovereignty. War resumed in 1369.
1369–1527 Limousin and La Marche - Bourbon and Armagnac holdings no registers survive

La Marche passed between the Bourbons and the Armagnacs. From 1470 until the Revolution the province fell under the Parlement of Paris.
1527–1790 Kingdom of France - Limousin and La Marche (Haute and Basse Marche) Archives départementales de la Creuse · Archives départementales de la Haute-Vienne · Archives départementales de la Corrèze · Archives municipales de Brive-la-Gaillarde · FamilySearch · Geneanet

Francis I seized La Marche in 1527 and it became part of the crown domains, divided into Haute Marche and Basse Marche. Limousin was attached to the crown in 1589, when Henry IV came to the throne.
1790–1960 France - departments of Creuse, Haute-Vienne and Corrèze Archives départementales de la Creuse · Archives départementales de la Haute-Vienne · Archives départementales de la Corrèze · Archives municipales de Brive-la-Gaillarde · FamilySearch · Geneanet

Creuse was one of the original 83 departments, created on 4 March 1790 from La Marche, with Guéret as prefecture. The province of Limousin was divided among Corrèze, Haute-Vienne and, to a lesser extent, Dordogne; civil registration by municipalities began on 20 September 1792.
1960–2026 France - Limousin region, then Nouvelle-Aquitaine Archives départementales de la Creuse · Archives départementales de la Haute-Vienne · Archives départementales de la Corrèze · Archives municipales de Brive-la-Gaillarde · FamilySearch · Geneanet

A region named Limousin was reconstituted in 1960; it merged into Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the merger taking effect on 1 January 2016 (some sources say 2015).

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, 950–2026, 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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