Middle Ages Records

Medieval genealogy requires different approaches than researching more recent ancestors. Articles explain how to use manorial rolls, tax records, church documents and legal papers from this period.

Genealogy and Baptismal Records from the Middle Ages

Medieval baptismal records are scattered and hard to find, but they hold crucial clues for tracing your family tree back centuries.

Genealogy and Wills from the Middle Ages

Medieval wills show how inheritance worked and why they're valuable for tracing family history back centuries.

How Far Did People Move in the Middle Ages?

Medieval people moved around far more than the common image of serfs stuck to one manor suggests, especially after the Black Death.

Medieval Ages Legal Records and Genealogy

Medieval court rolls offer a direct way to trace ancestors and understand daily life in the Middle Ages through legal records.

Middle Ages Manorial Records and Your Family History

Manorial records offer clues to your ancestors' lives during medieval times, even when other documents have disappeared.

Middle Ages Poll Tax

Medieval poll taxes were a form of war funding that taxed movable property, with surviving records only naming individuals from 1524 onwards.

Middle Ages: Problems Tracing Ancestors

Tracing ancestors before 1538 is nearly impossible due to missing records and the fact that ordinary people simply weren't documented.