Godfather, a useful mention in the archives

A man who does not take care of his family will never become a man The godfather, Part 1

You have necessarily seen in the baptism registers the mention of the godfather or the godmother. Often you do not be interested in it, wrongly, because the figure of the godfather can help you in your genealogical search, especially when you find yourself in a dead end. 

But first of all, what is a godfather? 

The origins of sponsorship date back to the 3rd century, and since the Council of Trent (1545-1563), the baptized child was assigned only a godfather and a godmother, and not several. 

Au 18 e siècle, les parrains étaient désignés de façon stricte : pour le premier enfant, il s’agissait du grand-père maternel et pour le second du grand-père paternel, il était courant en outre que l’enfant  prenne le prénom de son parrain, le baptême ayant lieu le jour même de la naissance ou le lendemain. 

Le parrain s’engage à soutenir le filleul dans sa vie chrétienne et à l’aider à grandir spirituellement, c’est pour cela qu’il faut être catholique pour pouvoir avoir ce statut et être âgé de plus de 14 ans. Il dispose d’une « parenté spirituelle » qui lui interdit de fait de se marier avec son filleul.  Mais contrairement à ce que beaucoup pensent ( après avoir regardé trop de films américains ), en cas de décès des parents, le parrain et la marraine ne deviennent pas les tuteurs légaux de l’enfant, ils n’ont aucune existence légale sur le plan civil, et ne disposent que d’un rôle moral.

A very useful mention

In the registers, godparents are considered witnesses. They can be very useful when the names of the parents are not mentioned, because they allow us to look for acts where they are likely to appear. To find for example a marriage certificate, they prove to be tools not to be overlooked when you do not know in which town to look for. Indeed, they were often chosen from the family circle, and it is not uncommon to see in the registers a mention of their original parish. The marriage often taking place in the commune of origin of the woman, if it is linked to the godfather or to the godmother, it is possible that it is also her commune of origin and therefore to be able to find her marriage certificate. 

It may be interesting to find a baptismal act where his ancestor is as a godfather, in fact we find in this act the name, first name, residence, profession and often the place of residence of sponsors and godmothers.

This is why even if we tend to neglect it, the godfather is not useless in a family tree, and it can even be important to note it, if by chance we found ourselves blocked in family exploration. And let's not ment, it has happened to us all already!