Record Atlas
8 eras · 893–2026 · 1 places

Roussillon and Northern Catalonia

Perpignan, Collioure, Céret, Prades, Elne. 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
893–1172 County of Roussillon no registers survive

Before registers. Sunyer II became the first hereditary count of Roussillon in 893.
1172–1276 Crown of Aragon - County of Roussillon no registers survive

Alfonso II of Aragon took possession of Roussillon in 1172 under the will of Girard II.
1276–1344 Kingdom of Majorca - Roussillon no registers survive

In 1276 James I granted the Kingdom of Majorca, which included Roussillon, to his son James II. Peter IV of Aragon seized Majorca and Roussillon in 1344.
1344–1462 Crown of Aragon - Principality of Catalonia no registers survive

Roussillon was part of the Crown of Aragon and of the Catalan lands.
1462–1493 French occupation during the Catalan Civil War no registers survive

France occupied the province as collateral during the Catalan Civil War from 1462, and Charles VIII evacuated it in 1493 as part of a settlement with Ferdinand the Catholic; the occupation is dated 1462-1472 or 1462-1493 depending on the account.
1493–1659 Spanish monarchy - Roussillon and Cerdanya no registers survive

France and Spain clashed in the region in 1496-1498, ending with the Treaty of Granada (1500). France controlled Catalonia from 1641 until Spain retook most of it in 1652, during the Reapers' War of 1640-1659.
1659–1790 Kingdom of France - Province of Roussillon Archives départementales des Pyrénées-Orientales · FamilySearch · Geneanet

The Treaty of the Pyrenees of 7 November 1659 gave France Roussillon, Conflent, Vallespir, Capcir and the northern part of Cerdanya. Llívia, a town, stayed Spanish, and the border was not fully settled until the Treaty of Bayonne of 1856.
1790–2026 France - Pyrénées-Orientales Archives départementales des Pyrénées-Orientales · FamilySearch · Geneanet

The province was abolished in the Revolution and the Pyrénées-Orientales department created in its place. Civil registration passed to the municipalities by the decree of 20 September 1792.

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, 893–2026, 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.

1 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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