Unveiling Ancestral Roots: Exploring Medieval Genealogical Research

Most Italian lineages date back to around 1600, which for most people is quite profound. But why settle for being “typical” when there may be possibilities of going back further – for instance to the 1500s or Middle Ages? Medieval research requires practice, perseverance and skills more specialized than those required by modern records – so few genealogists actually engage in medieval projects; even so, anyone interested can gain from knowing more about its pursuit. Here’s a general guide.

At the core of developing profound lineages lies records. Unfortunately, in many instances such records simply do not exist; in others though they exist and may even be accessible, you just have to know where they can be found and interpret them once found.

Researchers seeking to trace lineages prior to 1500 will typically encounter different records than those used for more modern and contemporary projects. Genealogists often begin their work closer to present-day and work their way backwards; let’s first consider sixteenth-century records and methods as we consider our genealogy work backwards. An 18th and 19th-century genealogy can be traced through parochial records (such as acts of baptism, marriage and death; the church census record known as stato delle anime; confirmations or offerings; as well as occasional census (catasto or rivello), notary or military documents). Prior to 1500, few parochial records have survived; although contrary to popular belief, they were maintained in some parishes prior to Trent (1545). Furthermore, only very limited census records remain from this era.

As medieval genealogical records differ significantly from modern research projects, their records will also differ significantly in terms of research strategy. Therefore, it’s logical that their strategies would vary accordingly; we should provide further explanation before continuing. Modern research tends to be methodical in nature due to relying on statistical records for information; thus this type of investigation could be considered “quantitative.” That doesn’t mean insight and strategy don’t play any part; they most certainly do. Searching through lists or registers needn’t be too challenging for a trained genealogist who understands old Italian, Latin or a local dialect. Research in medieval sources may be considered qualitative and often results in sketchier ancestral information that requires greater conjecture and context knowledge due to not typically producing exact generation-by-generation lineages as is common with modern research projects. One can identify a potential distant forebear without necessarily ascertaining his exact path from more recent origins. Circumstantial evidence plays an increasingly crucial role in researching historical lineages; however, this does not equate to mere speculation; historical and sociological knowledge are crucial if any accuracy can be attained.

Genealogists must conduct an intensive survey in order to ascertain the approximate statistical frequency (number) of people bearing a particular surname in a certain locality during the sixteenth century, in order to establish any possible connections between one of these persons and someone bearing that surname in that same location a century before.

Medieval records can pose unique difficulties even for experienced genealogical scholars, making their research even more intricate and perplexing. One aspect that should be noted when undertaking such research is that, generally speaking, it primarily deals with aristocratic families over ordinary ones – although this doesn’t equate to nobility per se. Though many have an image of noble families as being ancient, most titled families known to us today became noble not during the Middle Ages but more recently (i.e. after 1500). Many minor (untitled) aristocracies that flourished before 1500 were important enough to play significant roles in local events during late medieval Italy despite becoming less prominent over subsequent centuries (this applies both to Italy’s untitled aristocracy as well as England’s landed gentry and Poland’s sczlachta). This applies equally well when discussing England, landed gentry, or Poland sczlachta as examples of untitled aristocracy).

An example of such historical development can be seen with the Scannapieco family, which by 1700 had become prominent enough to be listed among Nocera’s noble families, even though they never held titles and thus weren’t present on standard heraldic armorials. After conducting extensive modern research into their origins, consultation of the archive of Cava de Tirreni led to discovery of an 1118 manuscript documenting a land grant made by someone identified as “Scannapecus”, likely the forebear of those living today in this area; further examination reveals few references in these records regarding prominent families active locally today; many prominent titled families can be seen today within these records, though.

Medieval records encompass numerous categories; here we’ll describe a few.

Monastic or church records of offerings, land donations and transactions (known as tabulations) are stored in various archives. When abbeys no longer exist, such records may have been deposited with provincial archives of state; or in cases if it existed within former Papal States such as Rome if located within Vatican Apostolic Archive. Such archives date back to Longobard and Norman rule of Italy around 11th century and may refer to notable local events including notable people.

Medieval notarial records related to land transfers or wills may still exist today in some localities, similar to modern records of this nature. Acts were cataloged, if at all, by name of notary who notarized an act in any one of various localities – thus leaving no initial indication as to which notary might have notarized that act given that jurisdictions weren’t always so strictly defined during medieval times.

Feudal records typically relate to taxes rendered to the Crown or collected from feudatories by way of taxes levied upon them, or rents collected from land tenants. There also exist rolls which list feudatories who provide military or economic service for their feudatories or tenants of land tenants, along with rolls listing knights, archers, armorers et cetera.

Heraldic records usually do not pertain to coats of arms but instead pertain to matters such as petitioning for entry into the Order of Malta, which required genealogical proof of nobility as part of entry requirements. From such petitions can come insights into medieval pedigrees.

Royal, ministerial or episcopal decrees and circulars as well as chronicles may mention certain individuals and their role in specific events.

Geographic and agricultural records may provide clues that indicate patterns of migration and lifestyle choices, such as harvest success or failure, drought conditions and war-time activity. To fully assess developments related to family migration it may be beneficial for family members living abroad to visit their original place of residence for assessment purposes.