The Archives nationales (, "National Archives" in English; abbreviated AN) are the national archives of France. They preserve the

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

s of the French state, apart from the archives of the Ministry of Armed Forces and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as these two ministries have their own archive services, the

Defence Historical Service In France, the Defence Historical Service (''Service historique de la défense'' or ''SHD'') is the archives centre of Ministry of Defence and its armed forces. It was set up by decree in 2005. The SHD consists of the "Centre historique des ar ...

(SHD) and respectively. The National Archives of France also keep the archives of local secular and religious institutions from the

Paris Region Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

seized at the time of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

(such as local royal courts of Paris, suburban abbeys and monasteries, etc), as well as the archives produced by the

notaries A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...

of Paris during five centuries, and many private archives donated or placed in the custody of the National Archives by prominent aristocratic families, industrialists, and historical figures. The National Archives have one of the largest and oldest archival collections in the world. As of 2020, they held of physical records (the total length of occupied shelves put next to each other) from the year

625 __NOTOC__ Year 625 ( DCXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 625 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar er ...

to the present time, and 74.75 terabytes (74,750 GB) of electronic archives. To deal with this massive volume of documents, the National Archives currently operate from two sites in the Paris Region: the historical site of the National Archives in the heart of Paris (in the Medieval

Marais Marais (, meaning "marsh") may refer to: People * Marais (given name) * Marais (surname) Other uses * Le Marais, historic district of Paris * Théâtre du Marais, the name of several theatres and theatrical troupes in Paris, France * Marais (c ...

district), which contains the physical records of the French state from before the French Revolution as well as the records of the Paris notaries from all periods, and the newer site at

Pierrefitte-sur-Seine Pierrefitte-sur-Seine (, literally ''Pierrefitte on Seine'') is a commune in the Seine-Saint-Denis department and Île-de-France region of France. Today forming part of the northern suburbs of Paris, Pierrefitte lies from the centre of the Fre ...

, in the northern suburbs of Paris, opened in 2013, which contains all the physical records of the French state since the French Revolution, as well as the private archives from all periods. Two sister agencies, the National Overseas Archives (ANOM) and the (ANMT) are located in Aix-en-Provence and in

Roubaix Roubaix ( or ; nl, Robaais; vls, Roboais) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial commune in the Nord department, which grew rapidly in the 19th century ...

respectively. These are managed separately from the National Archives.

History

The ''Archives nationales'' are heir to the ''Trésor des chartes'' ("Charters Treasury"), the archives of the

French crown France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the firs ...

that were kept in the ancient

Capetian The Capetian dynasty (; french: Capétiens), also known as the House of France, is a dynasty of Frankish origin, and a branch of the Robertians. It is among the largest and oldest royal houses in Europe and the world, and consists of Hugh Ca ...

royal palace on the

Île de la Cité Île de la Cité (; English: City Island) is an island in the river Seine in the center of Paris. In the 4th century, it was the site of the fortress of the Roman governor. In 508, Clovis I, the first King of the Franks, established his palace ...

until the

, although the ''Trésor des chartes'' was more limited in scope than the current ''Archives nationales'', since it contained only charters and legal records constituting title deeds for the French crown, used to establish the rights of French kings over

crown lands Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...

. The ''Trésor des chartes'' today still forms one of the most renowned archival series in the collections of the National Archives. The ''Archives nationales'' were created at the time of the

in 1790. It was a state decree of 1794 that made it mandatory to centralise all the pre-French Revolution private and public archives seized by the revolutionaries, completed by a law passed in 1796 which created departmental archives (''archives départementales'') in the

departments of France In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

to alleviate the burden on the ''Archives nationales'' in Paris, thus creating the collections of the French archives as we know them today. In 1800 the ''Archives nationales'' became an autonomous body of the French state.

Archives of France

The National Archives are under the authority of the Archives of France administration (''Service interministériel des Archives de France'') in the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: *Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) *Ministry of Culture (Argentina) *Minister for the Arts (Australia) *Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan) * Ministry of ...

. The Archives of France also manage the 101 departmental archives located in the

prefectures A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

of each of the 100 departments of France plus the city of Paris, as well as various other local (municipal) archives, plus 12 more recent regional archives (which store the archives of the regional councils and their agencies). The departmental and local archives contain all the archives from the deconcentrated branches of the French state, as well as all the archives of the pre-French Revolution provincial and local institutions seized by the revolutionaries (parliaments, chartered cities, abbeys, and churches). In addition to the of physical records and 74.75 terabytes of electronic archives kept by the National Archives and its sister agencies, the National Overseas Archives (ANOM) in Aix-en-Provence and the (ANMT) in

, this as of the end of 2020 (373 km and 74.75 TB at the National Archives strictly speaking, and 86 km at ANOM and ANMT), another of physical records and 225.25 terabytes of electronic archives were kept in the regional, departmental and local archives in the end of 2020, in particular the church records and

notarial A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...

records used by

genealogists Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

. The archives of the Ministry of Armed Forces (

, ca. of physical records) and the archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (, ca. of physical records) are managed separately by their respective ministries and do not fall under the jurisdiction of the Archives of France administration.

Collections

Confirmation par Clotaire II 1 - Archives Nationales - AE-II-1

The National Archives have one of the largest and most important archival collections in the world, a testimony to the very ancient nature of the French state which has been in existence for more than twelve centuries already, as well as a reflection of the importance of the city of Paris, whose local institutions and notaries produced millions of records over the centuries. In the end of 2020, the National Archives contained of physical records (the total length of occupied shelves put next to each other) and 74.75 terabytes (74,750 GB) of electronic archives, an enormous mass of documents growing every year (3.1 km of physical records and 4.7 terabytes of electronic archives entered the National Archives in 2020 despite the

COVID-19 lockdowns Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countri ...

). Due to the events of the

, the pre-French Revolution archives kept by the National Archives are not just the archives of the central state, but also the many local archives of the Paris region, such as all the archives of the abbeys surrounding Paris (e.g. the Royal Abbey of St Denis), the archives of the churches of Paris, and the archives of the medieval Paris city hall. Thus, the National Archives serve as the archives of the French central state for records from 1790 onwards, but for records before 1790 they serve as both the archives of the central state and the local archives of Paris and its region. The National Archives, however, do not keep the pre-1790 church records of Paris (baptisms, marriages and burials). These were kept at the municipal archives of Paris (original series from 16th century to French Revolution) and at the Palais de Justice (duplicate registers from 1700 to French Revolution), and were entirely destroyed by fires set by extremists at the end of the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...

in May 1871 which destroyed both the municipal archives and a large part of the Palais de Justice. The oldest original record kept at the National Archives is a

papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...

dated AD

coming from the archives of the Royal

Abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The con ...

of St Denis seized at the time of the French Revolution. This papyrus is the confirmation by King

Chlothar II Chlothar II, sometime called "the Young" (French: le Jeune), (May/June 584 – 18 October 629), was king of Neustria and king of the Franks, and the son of Chilperic I and his third wife, Fredegund. He started his reign as an infant under the ...

of a grant of land in the city of Paris to the Royal Abbey of Saint-Denis previously made by the ''

vir illustris The title ''vir illustris'' ('illustrious man') is used as a formal indication of standing in late antiquity to describe the highest ranks within the senates of Rome and Constantinople. All senators had the title ''vir clarissimus'' ('very famous ...

'' Dagobert, son of Baddo. This charter is the oldest original one kept by the National Archives, but the National Archives possess medieval copies of earlier records from the 6th century (but not the originals). The National Archives also possess a small fragment of an original papyrus record from the year 619 or 620 (uncertain date), a private donation, probably to the basilica of St Denis, but the charter from 625 is the oldest one preserved in its entirety. The National Archives keep 211 authentic, original records from the 1st millennium (later copies and forgeries not included). The oldest

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

records are all written on papyrus imported from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, in continuation of Roman practices. Records written on

parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves, and goats. It has been used as a writing medium for over two millennia. Vellum is a finer quality parchment made from the skins o ...

appear after 670, due to the Muslim conquest of the Southern Mediterranean, and completely replace papyrus records within a few decades. Detail of the 211 authentic, original records from before the year 1000 kept by the National Archives: In total, the National Archives possess 47 original records from the

period (ended in 751). They also possess 5 original records from the reign of Pepin the Short (751–768), 31 from the reign of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...

(768-814), 28 from the reign of

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...

(814-840), 69 from the reign of

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (french: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), king of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a ...

(840-877), 4 from the reign of

Hugh Capet Hugh Capet (; french: Hugues Capet ; c. 939 – 14 October 996) was the King of the Franks from 987 to 996. He is the founder and first king from the House of Capet. The son of the powerful duke Hugh the Great and his wife Hedwige of Saxony, ...

(987–996), 21 from the reign of

Robert the Pious Robert II (c. 972 – 20 July 1031), called the Pious (french: link=no, le Pieux) or the Wise (french: link=no, le Sage), was King of the Franks from 996 to 1031, the second from the Capetian dynasty. Crowned Junior King in 987, he assisted h ...

(996–1031), and then a rapidly increasing number of original records after Robert the Pious, with for example more than 1,000 original records from the reign of Philip Augustus (1180–1223) and several thousand original records from the reign of Saint Louis (1226–1270). The National Archives also hold the original draft of the

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (french: Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen de 1789, links=no), set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human civil rights document from the French Revolu ...

, dating from 1789, a core statement of the values of the

which had a major impact on the development of popular conceptions of individual liberty and democracy in Europe and worldwide. It was inscribed on UNESCO's

Memory of the World Programme Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...

Sites

Due to the massive volume of documents and records kept by the National Archives, these have been divided among two sites, one in the historic center of Paris, the other one in the northern Parisian suburb of

(opened in 2013), complemented by a

microform Microforms are scaled-down reproductions of documents, typically either films or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the original document size. ...

centre at the Château d'Espeyran, in Saint-Gilles-du-Gard, serving as a back-up in case original documents are destroyed. A third site in the Paris Region, at Fontainebleau, was closed in 2016 and its content moved to Pierrefitte-sur-Seine.

Paris

The National Archives has been located since 1808 in a group of buildings comprising the

Hôtel de Soubise The Hôtel de Soubise () is a city mansion '' entre cour et jardin'' (), located at 60 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris. History The Hôtel de Soubise was built for the Prince and Princess de Soubise on the sit ...

and the

Hôtel de Rohan The Archives nationales (, "National Archives" in English; abbreviated AN) are the national archives of France. They preserve the archives of the French state, apart from the archives of the Ministry of Armed Forces and Ministry of Foreign Aff ...

in the district of

Le Marais The Marais (Le Marais ; "the marsh") is a historic district in Paris, France. Having once been an aristocratic district, it is home to many buildings of historic and architectural importance. It spreads across parts of the 3rd and 4th arr ...

in the centre of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. Since the opening of the Pierrefitte-sur-Seine site in 2013, the historic Paris site stores only the documents and records from before the French Revolution, as well as the so-called ''Minutier central'' of Paris, i.e. the archives of all the Parisian

extending from the 15th century to the beginning of the 20th century. Since 1867 it has also housed the Musée des Archives Nationales. In 2004, the Paris site of the National Archives kept of physical records: of pre-French Revolution archives; of records of the French central state from 1790 to 1958; of Paris notary records (''Minutier central''); of private archives, notably the archives of the aristocratic families seized at the time of the French Revolution; of books; and finally of ancient maps and plans. In 2012-2013, all archives, maps and plans from 1790 to the 20th century, as well as all private archives from all periods, were moved to the new site of Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, and as a result the amount of archives stored at the historic Paris site was reduced to of physical records (situation as of the end of 2015). The space liberated by the departure of more than 50 km of records allowed the National Archives to resume the collection of archives from the Paris notaries, in particular late 19th and early 20th centuries records which hadn't been collected yet. As of 2022, the ''Minutier central'' of the Paris notaries stored at the National Archives was filling of shelves, representing 20 million notary records from the 1460s to the first half of the 20th century.

Pierrefitte-sur-Seine

The construction of a new National Archives centre at

, in the northern suburbs of Paris, was decided in 2004 to alleviate the burden on the historic Paris sites of the National Archives as well as on the newer Fontainebleau site. Designed by the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Massimiliano Fuksas Massimiliano Fuksas (born January 9, 1944) is an Italian architect. He is the head of ''Studio Fuksas'' in partnership with his wife, Doriana Mandrelli Fuksas, with offices in Rome, Paris and Shenzhen. Biography Fuksas was born in Rome in 194 ...

, it opened to the public in January 2013. It was meant to become the main site of the National Archives, with a capacity of of shelves, one of the largest storage capacities in the world. In 2012-2013, more than 50 km of records from the historic Paris site and 150 km of records from the newer Fontainebleau site were moved to the new Pierrefitte site. By the end of 2015, the Pierrefitte site kept of records. The decision to close the Fontainebleau site in 2016 after the discovery of structural issues in 2014 has led to the transfer of all Fontainebleau's remaining archives to the Pierrefitte site, a transfer that was to be completed in 2022, at which point the Pierrefitte site of the National Archives would store more than of physical records, close to maximum capacity, at a much earlier date than was originally anticipated. As a result, the National Archives have launched the construction of new storage capacity (100 km of shelves) at the Pierrefitte site, which should bring the total capacity of the Pierrefitte site to of shelf space by 2026. The Pierrefitte-sur-Seine site of the National Archives stores all the archives of the French central state since 1790 (except those of the Ministry of Armed Forces and of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which have their own archive agencies, the

and the respectively), as well as all the private archives from all periods seized during the French Revolution or deposited at the National Archives since then (archives of aristocratic families, industrialists, major historical figures, etc). The Pierrefitte site will receive all the new records from the central state every year for the next 30 years after its opening.

Fontainebleau

The Centre for Contemporary Archives (' or ''CAC''), founded as the ''Cité interministérielle des archives'', opened in Fontainebleau in 1969. It was the repository for documents produced by the French central state since 1958 (founding of the Fifth Republic). In 2006 it contained of physical records. The Fontainebleau site also stored the electronic archives collected by the National Archives, as well as the audio and video files kept by the National Archives. With the construction of the new Pierrefitte-sur-Seine site of the National Archives, it was decided to transfer most of the archives stored at Fontainebleau to Pierrefitte, and to keep at Fontainebleau only the electronic archives, the audio and video files, as well as some series of physical records concerning specific individuals, such as naturalization records or the career files of government employees, representing an estimated 60 km of shelf space. After the discovery of structural issues with the buildings at the Fontainebleau site in 2014, it was decided to permanently close the Fontainebleau site in 2016, and move all the remaining physical records stored there to the Pierreffitte site of the National Archives. The removal of more than 70 km of records to Pierrefitte was due to be completed by 2022.

Espeyran

The National Microfilm Centre ('), opened in the Château d'Espeyran, in Saint-Gilles-du-Gard, in 1973. This centre stores original

s of documents held in other archive centres, both national and departmental, in case the original documents were destroyed. This centre keeps approximately 61 million views of original documents.

Sister agencies

National Overseas Archives (ANOM)

The National Overseas Archives (' or ''ANOM''), originally the Centre for Overseas Archives ('), opened in Aix-en-Provence in 1966. It stores the archives from the ministries in charge of the

French colonies From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire stretched from a total area at its peak in 1680 to over , the second largest empire in the world at the time behind only the Spanish Empire. During the 19th and 20th centuri ...

and

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

until the 1960s (such as the Ministry of Colonies) as well as the archives transferred from the French colonies and Algeria at the time of their independence between 1954 and 1962. The ANOM also possesses private and corporate archives related to the former French colonies and Algeria. In total the ANOM keeps of archives from the 17th to the 20th century covering more than 40 currently independent countries spread over 5 continents. Note that the archives concerning

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

and

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

, which were

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its int ...

s and not colonies, are kept by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in its Diplomatic Archives. In addition to these 36.5 km of archives, the ANOM also possesses 60,000 maps and plans going back to the 17th century, 150,000 photographs, 20,000 postcards, and 100,000 books.

National Archives of the World of Labour (ANMT)

The National Archives of the World of Labour (' or ANMT), originally the Centre for the Archives of the World of Labour ('), opened in

in 1993. It stores the archives of businesses,

trades unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

, associations and corporations, and

s. In total it contains of archives (as of 2020). Most of the archives at the ANMT are private archives.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Favier, Lucie, 2004. ''La mémoire de l'État: histoire des Archives nationales''. Paris: Fayard. . * Claire Béchu (dir.), ''Les Archives nationales, des lieux pour l'histoire de France: bicentenaire d'une installation (1808–2008)'', Paris, Somogy & Archives nationales, 2008, 384 p. () *Philippe Béchu & Christian Taillard, ''Les Hôtels de Soubise et de Rohan'', Paris, Somogy, 2004, 488 p. () *Miller, David C.(2019) "Armand-Gaston Camus: Catholic Scholar, Revolutionary, and Founder of the National Archives of France." ''Catholic Library World'' (December) 90, no.2

External links

* * *
La mémoire de l’Etat: Histoire des archives nationales

Ideology, practicality, and fiscal necessity: The creation of the Archives Nationales and the triage of feudal titles by the Agence Temporaire des Titres, 1789–1801 (Katherine L. Cox)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Archives Nationales (France) 1790 establishments in France Government agencies of France

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Archives in France Le Marais