Likewise, there are very few census records preserved from the sixteenth century. If the records consulted for medieval genealogical projects differ considerably from those employed in modern research projects, it is logical that research strategy itself will differ somewhat. This is worth explaining before we proceed. However, a search through lists or registers is not overwhelmingly difficult for the trained genealogist if he can comprehend old Italian or, in some instances, Latin or a local dialect. One might instead discover a probable remote forebear without establishing his precise line of ascent from a more recent one.
Medieval records present far greater challenges even to the most astute genealogical scholars.
A particular aspect of this research to be aware of is that, by and large, it relates to aristocratic families rather than ordinary ones. However, this does not always imply nobility per se. An example of this social development is the Scannapieco family, which by 1700 was prominent enough to be listed among the noble families of Nocera, even though they were never titled and therefore were not to be found in standard heraldic armorials. One observes that there were few references in these records to the titled families that were prominent in the region in more recent times. Medieval records fall into numerous categories, a few of which we'll describe here.