Barrois and the Meuse — Bar-le-Duc, Verdun and Commercy
Bar-le-Duc, Verdun, Commercy, Saint-Mihiel, Neufchâteau. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 960–1301 | County of Bar | no registers survive Before registers. Frederick I of Upper Lorraine built the frontier fortress of Bar on the Ornain about 960 and Sophia was the first to style herself Countess of Bar in 1033. |
| 1301–1480 | County, then Duchy of Bar: the Barrois mouvant | Archives départementales de la Meuse The Treaty of Bruges in 1301 made the county's territory west of the Meuse a French fief, the Barrois mouvant, while the east stayed in the Empire. The count took the ducal title and became a Peer of France in 1354. |
| 1480–1766 | Duchy of Bar united with Lorraine; the Three Bishoprics | Archives départementales de la Meuse · Archives départementales de Meurthe-et-Moselle · FamilySearch · Geneanet Bar was united with Lorraine in 1480 under René II, and Stanisław Leszczyński received it in 1735-1738. Verdun belonged to the Three Bishoprics with Metz and Toul, listed as a separate entity from 1552 to 1790. |
| 1766–2026 | France: Meuse | Archives départementales de la Meuse · FamilySearch · Geneanet On Stanisław's death on 23 February 1766 the duchies passed to the French royal domain. |
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, 960–2026, 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.