Boundaries and Jurisdictions
Present-day Italy was literally a mass of independent and autonomous states and regions throughout most of the post Roman Empire. However, despite the potential for confusion, there are generally only one or two jurisdictions that apply to family history research, both before and after the unification of Italy. The most beneficial geographical units are the town/commune and the parish. These jurisdictions govern the day to day affairs of the people in both a civil and an ecclesiastical manner, and in turn are governed by the province/state.
Gazetteers are useful in determining the jurisdictions or alternate spellings of areas within modern-day Italy. Two useful gazetteers are:
Annuario delle Diocesi d’Italia. Rome: Marietti Editori, Ltd., 1951.
Annuario Generale, Comuni e Frazioni d’Italia. Milano: Touring Club Italiano, 1993.
Regions
A map of Italy's 20 regions can be found here. Clickable map of Italy outlining the regions and then describing regional maps, etc.
Abruzzo
Apulia (Puglia)
Basilicata
Calabria
Campania
Emilia Romagna
Friuli - Venezia Giulia
Lazio (Latium)
Liguria
Lombardia
Marche
Molise
Piemonte
Sardegna
Sicilia
Toscana
Trentino (Trentino-South Tyrol)
Umbria
Valle D'Aosta
Veneto
Find some maps and forms for printing, that may also be good research aides at Enchanted Learning.
