Record Atlas
5 eras · 1209–2026 · 15 places

Toulouse, the Lauragais and the Albigeois

Toulouse, Albi, Castres, Muret, Saint-Gaudens, Mazamet. 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
1209–1229 County of Toulouse - the Albigensian Crusade no registers survive

Pope Innocent III proclaimed the crusade after the murder of his legate Pierre de Castelnau in 1208, which he blamed on Raymond VI of Toulouse. The Fourth Lateran Council made Simon de Montfort Count of Toulouse in 1215, and Raymond VII had regained his lands by 1222.
1229–1271 County of Toulouse under the Treaty of Paris (Meaux) no registers survive

The Treaty of Paris, signed on 12 April 1229, placed Toulouse on a path to the French crown. The Inquisition was established in 1234.
1271–1790 Kingdom of France - Languedoc (Haut-Languedoc) Archives départementales de la Haute-Garonne · Archives départementales du Tarn · Archives municipales de Toulouse · Archives municipales d'Albi · FamilySearch · Geneanet

The French crown annexed the county of Toulouse in 1271. The Estates of Languedoc first convened in 1346, in 1542 the province was split into the généralités of Toulouse (Haut-Languedoc) and Montpellier (Bas-Languedoc), and the Parlement of Toulouse dates from the middle of the 15th century.
1790–1956 France - Haute-Garonne, Tarn and neighbouring departments Archives départementales de la Haute-Garonne · Archives départementales du Tarn · Archives municipales de Toulouse · Archives municipales d'Albi · FamilySearch · Geneanet

The généralités ended in 1789 and the province of Languedoc was dissolved in 1791. Civil registration passed to the municipalities by the decree of 20 September 1792.
1956–2026 France - regions of 1956-2016, then Occitanie Archives départementales de la Haute-Garonne · Archives départementales du Tarn · Archives municipales de Toulouse · Archives municipales d'Albi · FamilySearch · Geneanet

Between 1956 and 2016 the old Languedoc was split among four regions, later merged into Occitanie and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

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, 1209–2026, 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.

15 places on this ground

165 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 105 more.

All record regions · The map