Record Atlas
8 eras · 1248–2026 · 46 places

Seville and the lower Guadalquivir — Sevilla, Jerez, Cádiz

Sevilla, Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz. Which empire held this ground in which years — and, the part that matters, which archive that means.

Where researchers lose records here

1503–1717 — THE TRAP for emigrants. The Casa de Contratación, which licensed emigrants to the Americas, was founded in Seville in 1503; its archive is held in the Archivo General de Indias in Seville. Parish registers: Trent requires them from 1545/1563, held in diocesan archives.

Whose archive this ground was

YearsWho held itWhose archive that means
1248–1503 Crown of Castile — Seville and Jerez no registers survive

Before parish registers. Ferdinand III besieged Seville from 1247 and the city surrendered on 23 November 1248; the terms contemplated evicting the population, and a mass exodus is suggested. Jerez surrendered to Castile in 1261 with its Muslim population remaining, which rebelled and was finally defeated in 1264.
1503–1717 Crown of Castile — Seville, port of the Indies trade PARES · FamilySearch

THE TRAP for emigrants. The Casa de Contratación, which licensed emigrants to the Americas, was founded in Seville in 1503; its archive is held in the Archivo General de Indias in Seville. Parish registers: Trent requires them from 1545/1563, held in diocesan archives.
1717–1833 Crown of Castile — the Casa moved to Cádiz PARES · FamilySearch

The Casa de Contratación moved to Cádiz in 1717 under the Bourbons and was abolished in 1790. The Archivo General de Indias was created in Seville by a decree approved by Charles III in February 1785, to gather Indies papers held at Simancas, Cádiz and Seville. The end date 1833 is the national provincial division (Javier de Burgos); its effect on this ground is not established here.
1833–1871 Spain — provinces of Seville and Cádiz PARES · FamilySearch

Parish registers stay the main record until civil registration; the old ones are in the diocesan archive.
1871–1936 Spain — civil registration PARES · FamilySearch

Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths begins on 1 January 1871 (law of 17 June 1870; one source gives 1869). The records stay in each municipality, and some municipios hold civil records from as early as 1837.
1936–1939 Spain — Nationalist zone from the first days PARES · FamilySearch

Seville's garrison revolted on 18 July 1936 under General Queipo de Llano, and the rebels secured control by the afternoon of 22 July; the garrisons of Cádiz and Jerez revolted on the afternoon of 18 July. Jerez airport was built by the Nationalists in 1937 during the war. Civil War losses of records are recorded for Spain; how far they reach this area is not established here.
1939–1975 Spain — Franco's dictatorship PARES · FamilySearch

Under Franco's State.
1975–2026 Kingdom of Spain — Constitution of 1978 PARES · FamilySearch

Under the Constitution of 1978.

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, 1248–2026, 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.

46 places on this ground

47 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.

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