Record Atlas
5 eras · 1506–2026 · 216 places

Bologna, Ferrara and Romagna — the Papal Legations

Bologna, Ferrara, Ravenna, Forlì, Cesena, Rimini, Imola. 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
1506–1796 Papal States — Bologna from 1506, Ferrara from 1597, the Romagna legations Archivio di Stato di Bologna · Archivio di Stato di Ferrara · Archivio di Stato di Ravenna · Archivio di Stato di Forli Cesena · Archivio di Stato di Rimini · FamilySearch

Pope Julius II entered Bologna on 10 November 1506 and the Papal States annexed the Duchy of Ferrara in 1597. The four northern papal areas, Bologna, Ferrara, Forlì and Ravenna, were governed by cardinal legates and were called the Legations.
1796–1815 French conquest, Cispadane and Cisalpine Republics, Kingdom of Italy Archivio di Stato di Bologna · Archivio di Stato di Ferrara · Archivio di Stato di Ravenna · Archivio di Stato di Forli Cesena · Archivio di Stato di Rimini · Antenati · FamilySearch

Napoleon entered Bologna on 19 June 1796, the Cispadane Republic was formed at the Congress of Reggio (27 December 1796 - 9 January 1797) and the Cisalpine Republic succeeded it on 9 July 1797. Civil-status registers of the former Papal lands in this period are generally dated 1810 to 1814, and from 1806 where the territory was in the Kingdom of Italy.
1815–1859 Papal States restored — Legations of Bologna, Ferrara and the Romagne Archivio di Stato di Bologna · Archivio di Stato di Ferrara · Archivio di Stato di Ravenna · Archivio di Stato di Forli Cesena · Archivio di Stato di Rimini · FamilySearch

The Congress of Vienna restored the Legations to the Pope. A motu proprio of 6 July 1816 made Bologna, Ferrara, Forlì and Ravenna the first-class delegations (Forlì included Cesena and Rimini; Ravenna included Faenza and Imola), and in 1850 they were regrouped as legations. A part of upper Romagna in the Apennines belonged to Tuscany until the 1920s.
1859–1861 United Provinces of Central Italy, annexed to Sardinia Archivio di Stato di Bologna · Archivio di Stato di Ferrara · Archivio di Stato di Ravenna · FamilySearch

After the 1859 war the Legations became part of the United Provinces of Central Italy, and Bologna voted for union on 11-12 March 1860.
1861–2026 Kingdom, then Republic of Italy Archivio di Stato di Bologna · Archivio di Stato di Ferrara · Archivio di Stato di Ravenna · Archivio di Stato di Forli Cesena · Archivio di Stato di Rimini · Antenati · FamilySearch

Italian civil registration began in 1866 for most of northern and central 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, 1506–2026, 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.

216 places on this ground

The 200 carrying the most collections are listed; 16 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