Monaco Church Records

Church records (Registres ecclésiastiques)
Research use: Usually information given is quite complete and identifies parents and sometimes grandfathers. Fathers of illegitimate children are usually not recorded. Marriage records usually give more information than other records. There are gaps in many parish registers.

Record type: Births and baptisms; marriages, marriage proclamations; deaths and burials; confirmations.

Time period: 1546-present. Most early church records were destroyed during the Thirty Years’ War, 1618-1648. Contents: Baptismal/birth records:  Children’s names, baptism and/or birth dates; parents’ names and residence, sometimes mother's maiden name; witnesses’ and godparents’ names, and sometimes their relationships to infants. Marriage records: Candidates’ names, marriage and/or proclamation dates; often ages and/or birth dates, birth places, residences, parents’ names,  witnesses and former spouses. Death/burial records: Names of deceased, death and/or burial dates, age and/or birth date, cause of death, residence, spouse’s name, especially for women, parents’ names for deceased children. Confirmation records: Children were confirmed between the ages of 7 and 19. Candidates’ names, ages, residence and fathers’ names.

Location: Chancellery of the Bishops Palace (l’Evêché) and parish archives.

Population coverage: 50% before 1700; 75% thereafter.

Reliability: Very good.