Italian genealogy by Stefania Fangarezzi

What is it about

It is the research that deals with finding the males of the family, going back from father to father, that is the direct ancestors.

You go backwards from a known element, for example your father or grandfather, and go up through the municipal and diocesan archives, back to where you can go back.

Agnatic research is the most used and most requested type of research.

Its popularity is mostly due to the fact that it is usually a very fast type of search, as the number of individuals to search is well defined.

Being the search tree linear, we proceed backwards towards the most remote point up to where we can go back up.

You can usually go back to 1500.

The limitations of this research may mostly be due to lack of acts (randomness due to fires, wars or natural events); finding of the progenitor, or the ultimate goal of the search.

How research is carried out

As with any genealogical research, the sources vary with the ages.

Until the early nineteenth century these can be found in the city archives, in the diocesan ones. But going further back, the diocesan archives remain.

A particular case is the Kingdom of the two Sicilies which by Royal decree of King Charles of Bourbon, around 1741 established the Catasto ociario, with which in those regions, it is possible to go back even further.

With all this information, you can easily trace back to those eras, the only handicap is due to the budget and the applicant's willingness to go back to that point and beyond.