Over the past 5 centuries, the clergy has found innumerable ways to say things in Latin. Genealogists often run into strange ways of describing
people in the church records. Sometimes the priest seemed to be searching for a polite way to indicate a child born outside of marriage. Occasionally they will
write in poetical or metaphorical terms. Here are some examples of this vocabulary that might be helpful. Please let us know when you find other
peculiar words in the church records!
- Illegitimacy: child born outside of marriage.
- naturalis: but when you see "legitima et naturalis" (feminine) or "legitimus et naturalis" (masculine), that means the child is legitimate, born
from a legal marriage. When you see "naturalis" without the legitimate part, it probably means the child is illegitimate.
- acquisitus, acquisita: literally, "acquired", but apparently just an obtuse way of saying illegitimate!
- nutritus, nutrita: literally "nourished" or raised, a term often applied to illegitimate children as late as the 16th Century in notarial records, though
it could just as well apply to an adopted child. This will probably be found in the church records as well.
- pupilla, pupillus: orphan, or legal ward, found in the same context as the previous item.
- alumna, alumnus, or alumpna, alumpnus (older spellings): The Classical meaning is a foster child. I found this term applied to illegitimate
children of the Catholic clergy in the 15th Century (although it is possible some of them really were foundlings adopted by the clergy).
Watch for this term in the church records!
- Retroactive legitimization: Watch for notations in the margin or elsewhere, to the effect that a child originally baptised as illegitimate was
later "legitimized" because his or her parents got married. These notations are often very small, squeezed into small spaces on the page, and therefore
easy to miss.
- Baptism.
- "nata et renata est": litterally, was born and reborn. This phrase turned up for a child who was apparently born and baptised on the same day. The
intent is evidently that baptism is a spiritual "rebirth". Too cute by half.