Badajoz, Spain Genealogy

Guide to Badajoz province ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

'''Most of your genealogical research for Badajoz will be in two main record types: civil registration and church records. This article will teach you methods for locating and searching these two record groups.'''

History
Badajoz attained importance during the reign of Moorish rulers of North Africa. From the 8th century, the Umayyad dynasty controlled the region until the early 11th century. Badajoz was known as Baṭalyaws (Arabic: بَطَلْيَوْس‎‎) during Muslim rule. The invasion of Badajoz by Christian rulers in 1086 under Alfonso VI of Castile, overturned the rule of the Moors. In 1336, during the reign of Alfonso XI of Castile, the troops of King Afonso IV of Portugal besieged the city. Soon afterwards, the Castilian-Leonese troops,  defeated the troops of Alfonso IV in the Battle of Villanueva de Barcarrota. Their victory forced the king of Portugal to desert the city and it fell into neglect. Those affected by the plague epidemic were treated in the first hospital in 1506. In 1524, a board meeting between representatives of Spain and Portugal took place in the Old Town Hall in the city to clarify the status of their territorial arrangements to the Portuguese Crown. Philip II of Spain briefly moved his court to Badajoz in August 1580 but later moved his court out of the city from 1580 to 1640. In 1640 the city was attacked during the Portuguese Restoration War.

The battle for control of the town and its fortress continued with attacks by the Portuguese in 1660 and in 1705, during the Spanish War of Succession, Badajoz was controlled by the Allies following the death of King Charles II who had no heirs. The Peace Treaty of Badajoz was signed between Spain and Portugal on 6 June 1801. During the Peninsular War, Badajoz was unsuccessfully attacked by the French in 1808 and 1809. However, on 10 March 1811, the Spanish commander, was bribed into surrendering to a French force. A British and Portuguese army, endeavored to retake it and on 16 May 1811 defeated a relieving force at Albuera, but the siege was abandoned the following month. On 5 August 1883 there was an attempted revolt by the armed forces when there was confusion and chaos. The Spanish Civil War was terrible in Badajoz during the 1930s. It was taken by the Nationalists in the Battle of Badajoz. Several thousand of the town's inhabitants, both men and women, were taken to the town's bullring after the battle and killed. On 14 August 1936, hundreds of Republicans were shot at the Plaza de Toros. After the war, the town continued to grow, although since 1960 it has suffered significant migrations to other Spanish regions and other European countries. Today Badajoz is a major commercial centre in southwestern Spain and an important bridge between Spain and Portugal for trade and cultural relations.

The population of Badajoz is roughly 152,270 people.

Civil Registration

 * Spanish civil registration records (government birth certificates, marriage certificates, and death certificates) began in 1871.


 * Births, marriages, and deaths were recorded by the local Juzgado de la Paz, or Oficinia del Registro Civil. The records are still housed in their local municpal archives. In addition, Spain does have a national index or central repository for civil registration.


 * Some municipios (towns/cities) may have civil registration records beginning as early as 1837. Some of them have been microfilmed and/or digitized by FamilySearch.

Here are several different approaches to obtaining these certificates:
 * Larger cities may have multiple civil registration districts, and smaller towns may have their own civil registration office, or belong to an office of a nearby town. To determine the political jurisdiction for the town where your ancestors came from, please see the Spain Gazetteers article.

1. Online Digitized Civil Registration
The following records are available online from FamilySearch Historical Records:


 * 1519-1641 -, free, browseable images, incomplete. Currently, this is an extremely limited collection. Check back from time to time for additional records.

2. Microfilm Copies of Civil Registration Records in the FamilySearch Catalog

 * a. Click on this link to see a list of records for Spain, Badajoz.
 * b. Click on "Places within Spain, Badajoz" and a list of towns and cities will open.
 * c. Click on the town or city you wish to search.
 * d. Click on the "Civil Registration" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * e. Choose the correct event and time period for your ancestor.
 * f. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the microfilm listed for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the microfilm is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the microfilm.

3. Ordering Certificates From the Ministerio de Justica

 * Researchers can solicit the Ministerio de Justicia online for copies of certificates.
 * For detailed information on how to order these records online, please see the article Order Spain Vital Records Online. It will take you through the process step by step, and includes translation of terms you will find in that process.

4. Writing to the Civil Registry of a Municipality

 * Juzgado de la Paz or Oficina del Registro Civil  should be contacted if a certificate copy request to the Ministerio de Justicia fails.


 * Use the following address, filling in the parentheses with the specific information for your town :


 * Oficina del Registro Civil
 * (Street address: This link will give you addresses for all the civil registries in Badajoz.)
 * (postal code) (City)
 * Badajoz, Spain


 * Find the Spain postal code here.
 * Write a brief request to the proper office. Send the following:


 * Full name and the sex of the person sought.
 * Names of the parents, if known.
 * Approximate date and place of the event.
 * Your relationship to the person.
 * Reason for the request (family history, medical, etc.).
 * Request for a photocopy of the complete original record.
 * Check or cash for the search fee (usually about $10.00).

Write your request in Spanish whenever possible. For writing your letter in Spanish, use the translated questions and phrases in this Spanish Letter-writing Guide.

Catholic Church Records

 * Catholicism's roots extend deep into Spain's history. Parish and diocesan records created by the Catholic Church in Spain have long been considered some of the richest genealogical records in the world. Ever since the Council of Trent, Catholic parish records have been consistently recorded, usually providing three generations in a single baptismal entry. 


 * The vast majority of Spaniards are Catholic, and so almost every Spaniard can be found in the records of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church was the primary record keeper of births, marriages, and deaths, until civil registration started in 1869.


 * Some church records have been lost or have deteriorated due natural disasters such as fire, flood, and earthquakes. Civil and political strife has also caused record loss, including during time of the Spanish Civil War.


 * The Catholic Church has created several different records. The most used in genealogical research include: baptisms (bautizos, bautismos), marriages (matrimonios), and burials (entierros, defunciones, fallecimientos). Other records include: confirmations (confimaciones) and pre-marriage investigations (expedientes matrimoniales, información matrimonial).


 * Tip: If you are researching after 1869, when Civil Registration started in Spain, both church and civil records should be searched since there may be information in one record that does not appear in the other.

1. Online Church Records
Currently, there are no online church records for this area. You should check back from time to time to see if they have become available.

2. Microfilmed Records From the Family History Library

 * a. Click on this link to see a list of records for Spain, Badajoz.
 * b. Click on "Places within Spain, Badajoz" and a list of towns and cities will open.
 * c. Click on the town or city you wish to search.
 * d. Click on "Church Records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * e. Choose the correct event and time period for your ancestor.
 * f. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the microfilm listed for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the microfilm is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the microfilm.

3. Writing to a Catholic Priest for Church Records
Baptism, marriage, and death records may be searched by contacting or visiting local parish or diocese archives in Spain. Write your request in Spanish whenever possible. 'This method is not always reliable. Officials might or might not respond.'

Write a brief request in Spanish to the proper church using this address as guide, replacing the information in parentheses:


 * Reverendo Padre
 * Parroquia de (name of parish) 
 * (street address, if known: consult The Catholic Directory)
 * (postal code), (city), Badajoz
 * Spain


 * Find the Spain postal code here.

When requesting information, send the following:

Write your request in Spanish whenever possible. For writing your letter in Spanish, use the translated questions and phrases in this Spanish Letter-writing Guide.]
 * Money for the search fee, usually $10.00, and an international reply coupon (IRC)
 * Full name and the sex of the ancestor sought
 * Names of the ancestor’s parents, if known
 * Approximate date and place of the event
 * Your relationship to the ancestor
 * Reason for the request (family history, medical, and so on)
 * Request for a photocopy of the complete original record

Reading the Records

 * You do not have to be fluent in Spanish to read your documents. Genealogical records usually contain a limited vocabulary. Use this Spanish Genealogical Word List to translate the important points in the document. Reading handwriting skills are taught in the BYU Spanish Script Tutorial.


 * Online interactive slideshow lessons are available to help you learn to read these records:


 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records, Lesson 1
 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records, Lesson 2
 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records, Lesson 3


 * Detailed instructions for reading Spanish records, examples of common documents, and practice exercises for developing skills in translating them can be found in the Spanish Records Extraction Manual.
 * The Spanish Documents Script Tutorial also provides lessons and examples.

Tips for finding your ancestor in the records
Effective use of church records includes the following strategies.


 * Search for the birth record of the relative or ancestor you selected. When you find his birth record, search for the births of his brothers and sisters.
 * Then, search for the marriage of his parents. The marriage record will often help you find the birth records of the parents.
 * You can estimate the ages of the parents and determine a birth year to search for their birth records.
 * Search the death registers for all family members.
 * Then repeat the process for both the father and the mother.
 * If earlier generations are not in the record, search neighboring parishes.