The almost total loss of the Tournai archives

In early May 1940 the town of Tournai was the scene of several light air attacks by German forces. Between 16 May and 18 May, there were several major bombardments of the town. The presence of British forces in the town was certainly the cause of this barbarity.
Many fires break out

all over the town. Due to a lack of resources and manpower, the fire brigade was unable to extinguish the many fires before the end of the day. This act led to the loss of many archival documents deposited in Tournai at the time. These included Tournai's rich municipal archives, which contained collections of exceptional interest, some dating back to the end of the 12th century.^e century.
There were also :
The Tournai chirographers which included at least 500,000 acts for the period from 1194 to 1795 and of which the collection of Tournaisian wills was a part.
The series of Tournaisian registers, including the Consaux registers, which were preserved from the end of the 14th century, is now available.^e century until 1793.
The "law registers", after a few copies from the second half of the 13^e century.
A series of registers from 1313 to 1792, in which all the important decisions of the urban authorities were recorded.
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