Poitou, Aunis, Saintonge and Angoumois
Poitiers, La Rochelle, Angoulême, Niort, Saintes, Cognac. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 778–1259 | Counts of Poitou, Saintonge and Angoumois | no registers survive Before registers. The line of counts of Poitou traces back to an appointment by Charlemagne in 778, and the Saintonge War of 1242-1243 was a feudal conflict involving Louis IX, Alphonse of Poitiers and Henry III of England. |
| 1259–1360 | Kingdom of France - Poitou and the Atlantic provinces | no registers survive The Treaty of Paris of 1259 allowed the French king to annex Poitou after Henry III of England recognised his loss of continental territory. |
| 1360–1369 | English Poitou, Aunis, Saintonge and Angoumois | no registers survive The Treaty of Brétigny gave Edward III Poitou, Saintonge, Aunis and Angoumois in full sovereignty, and it was finalised as the Treaty of Calais on 24 October 1360. War resumed in 1369, and by 1376-77 English forces had been pushed back to the area around Bordeaux. |
| 1369–1685 | Kingdom of France - Huguenot Poitou, Aunis and Saintonge | Archives départementales de la Vienne · Archives départementales de la Charente · Archives départementales de la Charente-Maritime · Archives municipales de Poitiers · Archives municipales de La Rochelle · Archives municipales de Parthenay · Archives municipales de Bressuire · FamilySearch · Geneanet Protestants in Poitou faced discrimination and attacks in the Wars of Religion (1562-1598); the Edict of Nantes of 1598 then gave the Huguenots considerable autonomy until the siege of La Rochelle (10 September 1627 to 28 October 1628) removed their territorial, political and military rights. Some of the settlers who became the Acadians left southern Poitou from 1604. |
| 1685–1790 | Kingdom of France - after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes | Archives départementales de la Vienne · Archives départementales de la Charente · Archives départementales de la Charente-Maritime · Archives municipales de Poitiers · Archives municipales de La Rochelle · Archives municipales de Parthenay · Archives municipales de Bressuire · FamilySearch · Geneanet The Edict of Nantes was revoked in 1685. Calvinists could record births, marriages and deaths with their parish priest without converting only after the edict of tolerance signed on 7 November 1787 and registered on 29 January 1788. |
| 1790–1940 | France - departments of Vienne, Charente and the Atlantic coast | Archives départementales de la Vienne · Archives départementales de la Charente · Archives départementales de la Charente-Maritime · Archives municipales de Poitiers · Archives municipales de La Rochelle · Archives municipales de Parthenay · Archives municipales de Bressuire · FamilySearch · Geneanet Provincial governments ended with the decree of 22 December 1789 and the departments were decreed in February-March 1790. Civil registration passed to the municipalities by the decree of 20 September 1792. |
| 1940–1945 | German-occupied France - the demarcation line | Archives départementales de la Vienne · Archives départementales de la Charente · Archives départementales de la Charente-Maritime · Archives municipales de Poitiers · Archives municipales de La Rochelle · Archives municipales de Parthenay · Archives municipales de Bressuire · FamilySearch · Geneanet The line created by the armistice of 22 June 1940 passed Angoulême and crossed the departments of Charente and Vienne. Crossing required an Ausweis or Passierschein, coastal areas were closed from April 1941, and the Free Zone was occupied on 11 November 1942. |
| 1945–2026 | France - Poitou-Charentes, then Nouvelle-Aquitaine | Archives départementales de la Vienne · Archives départementales de la Charente · Archives départementales de la Charente-Maritime · Archives municipales de Poitiers · Archives municipales de La Rochelle · Archives municipales de Parthenay · Archives municipales de Bressuire · FamilySearch · Geneanet On 1 January 2016 Aquitaine, Poitou-Charentes and Limousin merged to form Nouvelle-Aquitaine. |
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, 778–2026, 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.
4 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.
- L'Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (INSEE) ↗ 1882–2023 27,001,076 records regional
- Luxembourg, Census Records, 1843-1900 ↗ 1843–1900 4,105,764 records regional
- Luxembourg, Church and Civil Registration, 1601-1923 ↗ 1601–1923 3,005,872 records regional
- Luxembourg, Civil Registration, 1796-1941 ↗ 1796–1941 253,875 records regional
- Luxembourg, Births and Baptisms, 1662-1840 ↗ 1662–1840 7,705 records regional
- Luxembourg Marriages, 1700-1810 ↗ 1700–1810 1,663 records regional
- Luxembourg, Deaths and Burials, 1702-1798 ↗ 1702–1798 1,245 records regional
- Luxembourg, Church Records, 1601-1948 ↗ 1601–1948 0 records regional
- Luxembourg, Notarial Records, 1621-1821 ↗ 1621–1821 0 records regional
- France, Insee Social Security Death Index, 1970-2022 ↗ 1970–2022 27,217,470 records
- France, Côtes-d'Armor, Parish and Civil Registration, 1467-1920 ↗ 1467–1920 9,861,214 records
- France, Haute-Garonne, Parish and Civil Registration, 1539-1993 ↗ 1539–1993 8,970,706 records
- France, Nord, Parish and Civil Registration, 1524-1893 ↗ 1523–1893 8,717,405 records
- France, Isere, Parish and Civil Registration, 1540-1900 ↗ 1539–1900 8,331,658 records
- France, Dordogne, Church and Civil Registration, 1540-1897 ↗ 1539–1897 7,857,723 records
- France, Savoie, Parish and Civil Registration, 1500-1927 ↗ 1500–1927 7,363,246 records
- France, Saône-et-Loire, Parish and Civil Registration, 1530-1892 ↗ 1530–1892 7,228,055 records
- France, Mayenne, Parish and Civil Registration, 1427-1897 ↗ 1426–1897 5,403,554 records
- France, Indre, Parish and Civil Registration, 1564-1905 ↗ 1564–1905 5,322,228 records
- France, Births and Baptisms, 1546-1896 ↗ 1546–1896 5,313,811 records
- France, Pas-de-Calais, Parish and Civil Registration, 1553-1902 ↗ 1553–1902 5,177,375 records
- France, Bas-Rhin, Parish and Civil Registration, 1525-1912 ↗ 1525–1912 4,303,261 records
- France, Aude, Parish and Civil Registration, 1537-1882 ↗ 1537–1882 4,272,925 records
- France, Creuse, Parish and Civil Registration, 1568-1903 ↗ 1568–1903 4,179,408 records
- France, Eure-et-Loir, Parish and Civil Registration, 1526-1902 ↗ 1525–1902 4,131,623 records
- France, Landes, Parish and Civil Registration, 1580-1898 ↗ 1580–1898 3,896,260 records
- France, Haute-Saône, Parish and Civil Registration, 1551-1872 ↗ 1551–1872 3,757,991 records
- France, Seine-Maritime, Civil Registration, 1793-1879 ↗ 1793–1879 3,390,985 records
- France, Ardennes, Parish and Civil Registration, 1558-1893 ↗ 1558–1893 2,800,279 records
- Africa, French Colonial Civil Registration Records, 1700–1950 ↗ 1700–1950 2,789,809 records
- France, Loire-Atlantique, Civil Registration, 1792-1960 ↗ 1792–1960 2,710,678 records
- France, Charente, Parish and Civil Registration, 1550-1936 ↗ 1549–1936 2,579,938 records
- France, Brittany, Church and Civil Records, 1521-1896 ↗ 1520–1905 2,427,746 records
- France, Var, Civil Registration, 1793-1914 ↗ 1793–1914 2,306,783 records
- France, Ariège, Parish and Civil Registration, 1583-1923 ↗ 1583–1923 2,306,239 records
- France, Hautes-Alpes, Parish and Civil Registration, 1583-1931 ↗ 1583–1931 2,301,156 records
- France, Vosges, Parish and Civil Registration, 1522-1956 ↗ 1522–1956 2,184,571 records
- France, Pyrénées-Orientales, Parish and Civil Registration, 1451-1897 ↗ 1451–1897 2,081,774 records
- France, Vendée, Parish and Civil Registration, 1508-1894 ↗ 1508–1894 1,994,474 records
- France, Morbihan, Parish and Civil Registration, 1536-1894 ↗ 1535–1894 1,975,120 records
- France, Loiret, Civil Registration, 1793-1906 ↗ 1793–1906 1,965,105 records
- France, Calvados, Civil Registration, 1792-1942 ↗ 1792–1942 1,692,790 records
- France, Ardèche, Parish and Civil Registration, 1481-1924 ↗ 1481–1924 1,446,261 records
- France, Nord, Census, 1906 ↗ 1906–1906 1,339,687 records
- France, Gironde, Civil Registration, 1696-1912 ↗ 1696–1912 1,219,475 records
- France, Marriages, 1546-1924 ↗ 1546–1924 1,178,188 records
- France, Haute-Garonne, Toulouse, Church Records, 1539-1793 ↗ 1538–1793 826,831 records
- France, Loire-Atlantique, Nantes, Civil Registration, 1747-1907 ↗ 1747–1907 770,219 records
- France, Seine-Saint-Denis, Parish and Civil Registration, 1523-1932 ↗ 1522–1932 707,658 records
- France, Saône-et-Loire, Census, 1876 ↗ 1876–1876 692,910 records
- France, Saône-et-Loire, Census, 1896 ↗ 1896–1896 622,811 records
- France, Côtes-d'Armor, Census, 1876 ↗ 1876–1876 618,426 records
- France, Coutances et d'Avranches Diocese, Catholic Parish Records, 1533-1894 ↗ 1532–1894 613,224 records
- France, Saône-et-Loire, Census, 1856 ↗ 1856–1856 577,784 records
- France, Haute-Garonne, Toulouse, Civil Registration, 1792-1893 ↗ 1792–1893 548,009 records
- France, Saône-et-Loire, Census, 1836 ↗ 1836–1836 545,834 records
- France, Dordogne, Censuses, 1856 ↗ 1851–1861 530,703 records
- France, Dordogne, Censuses, 1876 ↗ 1871–1881 497,323 records
- France, Dordogne, Census, 1836 ↗ 1836–1836 489,379 records
- France, Dordogne, Censuses, 1891 ↗ 1891–1891 471,373 records
…and 58 more.