Belgium is not in the list. Is there a project that covers these pre-1700 people?

Question

I want to contribute to the deep genealogy on our shared tree. Here are people I can add, along with dates and locations:

Here are the sources I am using:

Should I contact one of the pre-1700 projects or know about any style guidelines before proceeding? Thank you!

Comments

Could you go back to your question and edit it, please?  Currently it looks as though you are adding nobody with no sources... *wink*

Answer 1

Hi Hubert,

Welcome to WikiTree!

You are right, currently there is no project yet covering pre-1700 Belgium profiles.

But the good news is that such a project is in the startup phase, and you can join by answering this question.

You might also have a look at this temporary project page.

To be up to date on Belgian subjects here you can add Belgium as a tag on your profile, and also on this question.

Success!

Comments

Note that "Belgian" natives in pre-1700 Europe should be included in the Netherlands project  accordingly.

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Not sure I agree with that David. Granted there was no Belgium pre-1700, what is now Belgium was part of the "Low Countries" but they were separated of present-day Netherlands much before 1700. I'm not sure the Netherlands have more claim to them than say, Germany. Parts of "Belgium" were in the Holy Roman Empire and most of the rest was in the Habsburg/Spanish/Austrian empire.

Pre-civil registration records (before 1800) are very similar to what you'll find in the very North of France (French Flanders).

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David,

I find it far more important where essential repositories are located. You will not find church records of current Belgische places in Nederlandse archives. Getting citations of original sources for someone's vital events outweighs the correctness of a historical countryname. Knowing today's name enables exploring history of that place if someone finds that of interest.

Recording place names historically correct (if at all undisputed possible) is, in my opinion, mostly a purist, scholarly thing that does not appeal very much to the average WTer.

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Exactly.

All the archives will be located in Belgium, and sorted according to their current (Belgian) province.

Answer 2

Belgium from became a separate country from the Netherlands in 1831.  There was no pre-1700 Belgium nationals.

Comments

David, not going into details of smaller areas, Belgium was a new name roughly equivalent to the Austrian Netherlands and before that the Spanish Netherlands. Both these were quite distinct from the United Provinces for centuries before 1830.

The southern and northern Netherlands were only united between 1815 and 1830, and then they split again, with all the records and admin splitting in a relatively peaceful way.

By your logic by the way a large part of Europe should be covered by the French project in the decades before Waterloo? I don't think that would be a practical approach.

Answer 3

Hi Hubert,

Also welcome to wikitree from me! As Jan has already told you, a project for Belgium is being set up. If you're interested in joining, just let me know here or as a reply to this question!

@David: for the practical and historical reasons that Isabelle, Jan and Andrew have already given, the Belgium Project defines its scope as "the geographical area that is now the country of Belgium", so including profiles from before 1830. Both the Dutch and French projects fully agree with this. Of course we'll collaborate closely with those projects and make sure all guidelines, categories, etc. are compatible!

That said, at this moment the Belgium Project is not yet a project, so for the time being "official" project-management and project-protection is mostly covered by the Dutch or French projects (depending on the situation).

Best regards,

Filip