List of Inventaires-Sommaires (Séries G & H) of French Departmental Archives
List of Inventaires-Sommaires (Séries G & H) of French Departmental Archives

List of Inventaires-Sommaires (Séries G & H) of French Departmental Archives

This is a list which links to digitised copies of série G and série H of the inventaires-sommaires for the archives of the northern French départements on which I primarily work. These departmental “summary inventories” are arranged largely according to the same scheme, so in all cases their série G volume(s) brings together sources from the secular clergy (diocese, cathedral chapters, parishes, cures) and the série H volume(s) from the regular clergy (abbeys, priories, collegiate churches). Most of them were compiled in the late nineteenth or early twentieth centuries.

Despite the name, these inventories can often be quite detailed. The image above gives a sense of what a standard entry looks like: the heading gives the cote (call number), if it’s a liasse (bundle of documents) or a single document, and then how many items are within the liasse. At the beginning of the entry proper, the figures in bold give the date range for the documents contained within the liasse (so in the case of H 775 (pictured above), the oldest is from 1173 and the most recent from 1268), and then follows a one-sentence description of each individual document, arranged (where known) in chronological order.

These descriptions are very useful in giving you a sense as to whether you need to call up a particular cote—however, as they were drawn up according to nineteenth-century and early-twentieth ideas of what is historically important about a given source, these descriptions cannot be relied on wholly, particularly when it comes to the presence of women as actors within a particular medieval charter. In addition, as many of the inventaires were compiled before the World Wars, some of the documents which they describe have since been destroyed.

Sadly, not all of the departmental archives’ websites make these inventaires available online. Where volumes have been digitised by Google Books or Gallica, the meta data are often confused and confusing, and finding the volume you’re looking for can be a trial in frustration. This list brings together all the inventaires which I have been able to find, either on the archives’ websites or on external sites like Archive.org and Google Books.

(Updated August 2018)

Aisne

Série G & H, Vol. 3 — Bishopric and Cathedral Chapter of Laon; Abbeys of Saint-Jean de Laon, Saint-Quentin-en-l’Ile, Prémontré. [Google Books]

Ardennes

Série G, H & I — Parishes [Internet Archive]

Aube

Série G, Vol. 3 — Episcopal officialité of Troyes; Grand and petit séminaire of Troyes. [Google Books]

Série G & H (entirety). [AD Aube]

Marne

Série G, Vol. 4 — Bishopric of Meaux. [Internet Archive]

Série G & H (entirety). [AD Marne]

Meuse

Séries G & H (entirety). [AD Meuse]

Oise

Série G (nos. 1 à 2352) — Bishoprics and Cathedral Chapters of Beauvais, Noyon, Senlis. [Google Books]

Série G (entirety) [AD Oise]

Série H, Vol. 1 (nos. 1 à 1717) — Abbeys of Saint-Quentin de Beauvais, Saint-Martin-aux-Bois, Saint-Barthélémy de Noyon, Saint-Vincent de Senlis, Note-Dame de la Victoire, Saint-Germer, Saint-Lucien, Saint-Symphorien. [Google Books]

Série H, Vol. 2 (nos. 1718 à 2649) — Abbeys of Breteuil, Saint-Éloi de Noyon, Saint-Corneille de Compiègne [Internet Archive]

Série H (entirety) [AD Oise]

Somme

Série G (nos. 1 à 1169) — Bishopric and Cathedral Chapter of Amiens. [Google Books]

Série H (entirety) — Abbeys of Saint-Jean d’Amiens, le Gard, Saint-Riquier, Berteaucourt-les-Dames [Internet Archive]

Yonne

Série G, Vol. 2 — Archbishopric and Cathedral Chapter of Sens; Parish churches. [Internet Archive]

Yvelines/Seine-et-Oise

Série G (nos. 1 à 1167) — Parishes; collégiales of Notre-Dame de Poissy, Saint-Mellon de Pontoise. [Google Books]

Série G (entirety). [Archives Portal Europe]

Série H (entirety). [Archives Portal Europe]

 

If you know of other places where digitised copies of the inventaires-sommaires are hosted, please let me know.

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