Record Atlas
7 eras · 1426–2026 · 496 places

Bergamo, Brescia and Mantua — Venetian and Gonzaga Lombardy

Bergamo, Brescia, Mantova, Salò, Desenzano, Edolo. 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
1426–1708 Republic of Venice (Brescia, Bergamo); Gonzaga duchy of Mantua Archivio di Stato di Brescia · Archivio di Stato di Bergamo · Archivio di Stato di Mantova · Archivio di Stato di Venezia · FamilySearch

Brescia was sold to Venice in 1426 and Bergamo passed from Milan to Venice in 1428, so their records are not Milanese. Mantua was raised to a duchy in 1530 under the Gonzaga, whose rule ended in 1708.
1708–1797 Republic of Venice (Brescia, Bergamo); Habsburg Mantua Archivio di Stato di Brescia · Archivio di Stato di Bergamo · Archivio di Stato di Mantova · Archivio di Stato di Venezia · FamilySearch

The Habsburgs took Mantua in 1708. Joseph II united Mantua with the Duchy of Milan on 26 September 1786 and Leopold II restored its separate administration on 24 January 1791.
1797–1805 Cisalpine Republic, then Italian Republic Archivio di Stato di Brescia · Archivio di Stato di Bergamo · Archivio di Stato di Mantova · FamilySearch

Mantua fell to the French in 1797 and the Treaty of Campo Formio (17 October 1797) recognised the inclusion of Bergamo and other territories in the Cisalpine Republic.
1805–1814 Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) Archivio di Stato di Brescia · Archivio di Stato di Bergamo · Archivio di Stato di Mantova · FamilySearch

Part of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed on 17 March 1805. Civil-status registers for Lombardy and the Veneto of this period are generally dated 1806 to 1814 or 1815.
1814–1859 Austrian Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia Archivio di Stato di Brescia · Archivio di Stato di Bergamo · Archivio di Stato di Mantova · Antenati · FamilySearch

Brescia and Bergamo were assigned to Lombardy–Venetia in 1815. Brescia's population overthrew the Austrian administration in March 1849 in the Ten Days of Brescia.
1859–1861 Kingdom of Sardinia — Bergamo and Brescia; Mantua still Austrian Archivio di Stato di Brescia · Archivio di Stato di Bergamo · FamilySearch

Austria ceded Lombardy only up to the Mincio and kept the fortresses of Mantua and Peschiera, so Mantua stayed under Austria in 1859.
1861–2026 Kingdom, then Republic of Italy Archivio di Stato di Brescia · Archivio di Stato di Bergamo · Archivio di Stato di Mantova · Antenati · FamilySearch

Mantua was not Italian until Austria lost Venetia in 1866, when it was transferred through France to Italy (19 October 1866, with a plebiscite on 21-22 October). Italian civil registration began in 1866 for most of northern Italy.

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, 1426–2026, 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.

496 places on this ground

The 200 carrying the most collections are listed; 296 more stand on this ground. Every place has them all.

258 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 198 more.

All record regions · The map