Portugal, Braga, Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Records
Registros Paroquiais da Igreja Católica, Arquidiocese de Braga, Portugal.

Record Description
This collection of church records includes the years 1530-1911.

The records included in this collection are those of baptisms, marriages, and burial/deaths from parishes in the in the Diocese of Braga, Portugal.

These parish records have been preserved relatively well. Some of the older registers appear to have some physical damage; therefore, some data may be difficult to read or some even may be lost. However, in general, they are in good condition for extracting genealogical information. The text of the records is in Portuguese. Earlier records were handwritten in narrative style, but newer records are handwritten in formatted registers.

For a list of records by localities and dates currently published in this collection, select the Browselink from the collection landing page.

Record Content
Birth records usually contain the following information:


 * Date and place of the event
 * Name of child
 * Date of birth and gender
 * Legitimacy
 * Parents’ names, their residence and/or place of origin
 * Names of witnesses or godparents’ names

Marriage records usually contain the following information:


 * Date and place of the event
 * Names of the bride and groom
 * Civil status (widowed, single, divorce) of bride and groom at time of the event
 * Place of origin and/or residence of bride and groom
 * Names of parents
 * Names of witnesses

Death/burial records usually contain the following information:


 * Place and date of death
 * Name of the deceased
 * Civil status of deceased person at time of death
 * Civil status and name of spouse, if married at time of death
 * Cause of death
 * Sometimes parents' names and that of children if any left behind
 * Sometime if the deceased left a testament (will)
 * Place of burial (cemetery)

How to Use the Records
To search this collection ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select the "District" where your ancestors lived ⇒Select the appropriate "Municipality" ⇒Select the appropriate "Civil Parish" ⇒Select the appropriate "Parish" ⇒Select the appropriate "Record Type and Years" you should see images of those records.

When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

When browsing this collection it is helpful to know the following:


 * The place where the event occurred
 * The name and surname of the person
 * The approximate date of the event
 * The name of the parents or spouse

Parish priests performed the ordinances for baptisms, marriages, deaths, and burials, and the other holy sacraments in the jurisdiction of their assigned parish or parishes. All the original parish records were kept in the parish archive under the custody of the priest. However, a duplicate of these registers was regularly sent to the diocesan archive where the records were centralized and kept at a higher state of preservation.

Catholic Church parish registers were created to record the church sacraments of baptism, marriage, death, burial, and other ordinances performed on parishioners by an authorized priest in his area of jurisdiction.

For records after 1911, it is suggested that you research both the civil registry and the church records to verify information.

For Help Reading These Records
These records are in Portuguese. For help reading the records, see the following wiki articles:

Portuguese Genealogical Word List

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Related Websites

 * Dioceses of Portugal
 * Anuario Católico – Lista das paróquias
 * Arquidiocese de Braga

Related Wiki Articles

 * Portugal
 * Portugal Catholic Church Records

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
Citations for individual image records are available for this collection. Browse through images in this collection and click on the "Show Citation" box: Portugal, Braga, Catholic Church Records, 1530-1911

When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the wiki article Help:How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information published in FamilySearch.org Historical Record collections. Sources include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records.