SUMMARY

Palaeography is the science of ancient writing.
Its aim is to decipher the writings of the 19th century.
Its field extends to all kinds of documents written in the past, such as pottery fragments, wax tablets on durable materials (epigraphy), papyrus (hieroglyphics), parchment, coins (numismatics), seals (sigillography), manuscripts (codicology) and, for us genealogists, the study of ancient deeds in Latin from the 15th century onwards, the period at which we can hope to trace ancestors.
The term tends to be restricted to the study of "manuscript books" and documents collected in large libraries and archives. The subject is so vast that this book will only present the most common uses encountered in the course of our genealogical research.

AUTHOR

Yves Heraly. He was born in 1948 in Léopoldville (now Kinshasa) in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 1990 he began researching the Heraly family genealogy, which originated in Walloon Brabant. Former treasurer of the Cercle d'histoire, d'archéologie et de généalogie de Wavre et du Brabant Wallon. In 1998 he founded the GéniWal association (Généalogie Wallonie Informatique), of which he is chairman.