The
Italian
Documents
The Italian Script Tutorial: About the Website
Reading old records written in Italian is not the same as reading, for example, a modern newspaper written in Italian. Besides having to become familiar with a different set of words, you will need to adjust to such things as old styles of handwriting, unfamiliar abbreviations, misspelled words, ink blotches, and torn pages. While some of these things may cause you concern, you will find that in a very short period of time, you will be able to read old Italian records with ease and accuracy.
Types and Formats
When the records you will be reading were kept, Italian speakers were almost 100 percent Catholic. Of all the records mentioned on this site, Catholic records are the most important for family historians and genealogists with Italian ancestry. The Catholic Church, at the Council of Trent (1545-63), required that each of its parishes keep records of the baptisms (christenings) and marriages performed in the parish. The church also prescribed the form in which these records, or parish registers, were to be kept. Each time a child was christened or a couple married, the parish priest or one of his assistants was to make an entry in the appropriate book, telling who did what to whom, when, and where.
Although the specific requirements for keeping parish registers have changed from time to time, the formats of christening and marriage entries have stayed basically the same. This tutorial will introduce you to those basic formats; that is, it will focus on the specific information contained in each entry and locate where that information can usually be found.
As you begin reading through copies of Italian parish registers and other records, consult the topics that appear in the sidebar under Techniques & Tools beginning with the Overview and then the Seven Practical Suggestions. As you do this be reassured about your ability to learn to read old Italian records. Three things will help to make your task easier. First, some words in Italian are very similar to English words that you already know. Second, the handwriting style in most records is basically the same style we use today. Third, due to sandard formatting, the information that you have to read will be in roughly the same place in each record. Now to begin click here to go to Overview or here to go to Reading The Handwriting (Seven Practical Suggestions).
Reference
For more detailed guidelines on Italian document extraction, we recommend the resource Italian Records Extraction - An Instructional Guide, © by Intellectual Reserve.
