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France
Research Outline
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Table of Contents
Introduction
French Search Strategies
Records At The Family History Library
Familysearch™
The Family History Library Catalog
     Map: Old Provinces To 1789 And Departments To 1965
Archives And Libraries
     Departmental Archives
     Town Registrars
     Other Libraries, Networks, And Archives
     Directory Of Archives
Biography
Cemeteries
Census
Church History
Church Records
     General Historical Background
     Information Recorded In Church Registers
     Locating Church Records
     Search Strategies
Civil Registration
     General Historical Background
     Information Recorded In Civil Registers
     Locating Civil Registration Records
     Search Strategies
Directories
Emigration And Immigration
     Finding The Emigrant's Town Of Origin
     Emigration From France
     Records Of French Emigrants In Their Destination Nations
     Immigration Into France
Gazetteers
Genealogy
Heraldry
Historical Geography
History
Language And Languages
Maps
Military Records
Minorities
Names, Personal
Naturalization And Citizenship
Nobility
Notarial Records
Periodicals
Probate Records
Societies
Other Records Of France
For Further Reading
Comments And Suggestions

NATURALIZATION AND CITIZENSHIPLook this term up in the glossary.

In France before the 1789 revolution, everyone born outside of the kingdom was a foreigner even if born of French parents. All persons born in France, even of foreign parents, were French.

From the 1100s to 1789, citizenship was frequently limited to individual cities (burgess records) and associated with craft guilds. Burgess and guild records are available only for selected cities. They are difficult to find and use. Church records are usually more available and easier to use.

After 1789, naturalizationLook this term up in the glossary. applications concerning the whole of France are found in the judiciary series [série judiciaire] at the National Archives. An index to earlier naturalization records is—

France. Archives nationales. Lettres de naturalité et de légitimation, 1674-1787: table alphabétique (Index to naturalizations and legitimations 1674-1787). Paris: Chadwyck-Healey, 1988. (FHL fiche 6002227.) The index lists names, place of origin (nation or city), year of naturalization, and source reference.

In 1871 Alsace-Lorraine was annexed by Germany. Some of the former residents of Alsace-Lorraine declared their preference for French citizenship. Three hundred ninety-five alphabetical, printed lists of these declarations were published in—

France. Ministère de la Justice. Bulletin des lois de la République française (Lists of persons preferring French citizenship). Paris: Imp. Nationale, 1872. (FHL film 787,154-787,166.) These lists help locate where a particular surname appeared in Alsace-Lorraine in 1872. They give name, birth date, birthplace, residence, date of the declaration, and notes. These lists include about 950,000 names.

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