Record Atlas
6 eras · 1259–2026 · 1 places

Vendée and Bas-Poitou

La Roche-sur-Yon, Les Sables-d'Olonne, Fontenay-le-Comte, Luçon, Île d'Yeu. 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
1259–1360 Poitou - Bas-Poitou under the French crown no registers survive

Before the royal register ordinances. The Treaty of Paris of 1259 allowed the French king to annex Poitou after Henry III of England recognised the loss of his continental territory.
1360–1369 Poitou ceded to Edward III under the Treaty of Brétigny no registers survive

The treaty was drafted in May 1360 and ratified on 14 June, and Poitou was among the lands Edward III was to hold in full sovereignty. Charles V declared war again in 1369.
1369–1790 Kingdom of France - Bas-Poitou Archives départementales de la Vendée · Archives municipales de La Roche-sur-Yon · Archives municipales de Cholet · FamilySearch · Geneanet

The Wars of Religion (1562-1598) brought discrimination and attacks on Protestants in Poitou, and the Edict of Nantes was revoked in 1685.
1790–1796 Revolutionary France - the War in the Vendée Archives départementales de la Vendée · Archives municipales de La Roche-sur-Yon · Archives municipales de Cholet · FamilySearch · Geneanet

The revolt began in March 1793 against the conscription decree, and the Republicans won at Cholet on 17 October 1793. The Treaty of La Jaunaye was concluded on 15 February 1795 and the Directory proclaimed the war over on 16 July 1796; estimates of the dead vary widely between sources. Municipal civil registration began by the decree of 20 September 1792, so the war years fall under the new system.
1796–1956 France - the Vendée department Archives départementales de la Vendée · Archives municipales de La Roche-sur-Yon · Archives municipales de Cholet · FamilySearch · Geneanet

Smaller risings followed in 1799, 1815 and 1832; in the Hundred Days of 1815 Napoleon sent 10,000 troops under General Lamarque to pacify the Vendée.
1956–2026 France - Pays de la Loire region Archives départementales de la Vendée · Archives municipales de La Roche-sur-Yon · Archives municipales de Cholet · FamilySearch · Geneanet

In 1956 the Pays de la Loire region was formed from Loire-Atlantique and parts of Anjou, Maine and Poitou.

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, 1259–2026, 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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