According to QI you can work out mathematically that every white European is a direct descendant of Charlemagne, just because he's so far back that anyone in that era who had kids will be a common ancestor to modern Europeans.
Your heritage/family tree share a interesting piece of history/fact
- Thread starter killerguythefox
- Start date
Recommended Videos
It's a long shot, but I may be a descendant of Hywel Dda, who was King of a large portion of Wales during the 10th century. He is hailed as one of the greatest Welsh kings as he set down a book of laws for his kingdom that was less about the bloody code punishments typical of his time, but more akin to modern justice systems as he emphasised restitution and compensation.
Well, I'm a Dutch/English Canadian. There are a couple interesting pieces of trivia about my heritage.
My dad's dad and my mom's mom both immigrated from the Netherlands, and from looking at records and pictures, it seems very likely that they were on the same boat. How's that for crazy?
Also, my dad's mom's dad was a war orphan. Unfortunately, he was never really keen to talk about himself, so we don't know much about him. All we do know is that he was found in the streets, too young to know his own name, so they named him after the street they found him on - Cornwall.
EDIT: Also, while it isn't my heritage, I do have a friend whose lineage traces back to the man that assassinated William the Silent.
My dad's dad and my mom's mom both immigrated from the Netherlands, and from looking at records and pictures, it seems very likely that they were on the same boat. How's that for crazy?
Also, my dad's mom's dad was a war orphan. Unfortunately, he was never really keen to talk about himself, so we don't know much about him. All we do know is that he was found in the streets, too young to know his own name, so they named him after the street they found him on - Cornwall.
EDIT: Also, while it isn't my heritage, I do have a friend whose lineage traces back to the man that assassinated William the Silent.
My mother spent a ridiculous amount of time researching our tree. My ancestors include:
-Captain Kidd's sister
-two indentured servants (slaves with a "release by" date), one volunteered for it in order to pay for his way to the US, the other was forced into it after getting caught stealing.
-One of King Edward I's bastards. (also known as "longshanks", he was the antagonist in the movie Braveheart for anyone that doesn't know their history. The link is also somewhat tenuous, historical records from that far back being just a bit unreliable)
-two participants in the civil war, both fighting for the south, one died at the battle of Shiloh
So... um, yeah
While interesting, there isn't much there for me to be exceptionally proud of, especially since my family seems to have mostly skipped the past 150ish years of history.
-Captain Kidd's sister
-two indentured servants (slaves with a "release by" date), one volunteered for it in order to pay for his way to the US, the other was forced into it after getting caught stealing.
-One of King Edward I's bastards. (also known as "longshanks", he was the antagonist in the movie Braveheart for anyone that doesn't know their history. The link is also somewhat tenuous, historical records from that far back being just a bit unreliable)
-two participants in the civil war, both fighting for the south, one died at the battle of Shiloh
So... um, yeah
While interesting, there isn't much there for me to be exceptionally proud of, especially since my family seems to have mostly skipped the past 150ish years of history.
My father's family tree goes back to one the pioneer leaders that led the South-African colonists north, to form an independent nation. He was one of the three who actually survived.
Actually that wasn't as rare as people think. The Saxon's justice system was much more about compensation than revenge. If you killed someone, you had to pay the family a weregeld which was took into account the loss of earnings as well as the emotional damage done. I think the Irish celts had a surprisingly modern justice system as well.FluffyWelshCake said:
It was the medieval period when everything started going arse up.
My family, the 'mag Fhionnghaile' clan in its original Irish used to rule half of Co. Donegal and Tory Island up until 1605, when, during the Nine Years War, the English wrecked our lovely castle and deported us all as enemies of the Crown to Australia. Then, it appears, half went back to Ireland and the other half to America. The Irish residents eventually emigrated in the Famine, which brought the direct line to Scotland, and then down here to England.
The American splinter went on to become famous writers and even include a couple of war heroes in their number.
What the hell.
The American splinter went on to become famous writers and even include a couple of war heroes in their number.
What the hell.
As far back as we can trace the family name (several hundred years), my family have been completely unremarkable and never moved outside the south west of England, or even more than a few towns from where the line originated. That's just my direct ancestors though, plenty of random siblings of blood relatives moved further afield, and I don't know anything about my mother's ancestry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_recent_common_ancestor
It's pretty awesome that you managed to actually trace it though
I hate to break it to you, but if you go back that far we're probably all descended from him.killerguythefox said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_recent_common_ancestor
It's pretty awesome that you managed to actually trace it though
King Duncan I, Macbeth, and Thorfinn the Raven-Feeder were all cousins, and I descend from them as well as Adam Duncan and Donn'chaidh Reamhar ("Stout Duncan"). Duncan I and Macbeth you'll know if you've read the Shakespearean play Macbeth, though Thorfinn isn't mentioned in it. He was basically this really tall, really big Viking who said to hell with Duncan and helped Macbeth kill him. Donn'chaidh Reamhar was one of the chiefs of the clan before the whole Robertson-Duncan clusterfuck who supposedly lead the clan at the Battle of Bannockburn (though some records dispute this) and Adam Duncan was a naval officer in the British navy who defeated the Dutch at Camperdown and the Spanish as well at one point I think.
A couple years ago my grandfather was contacted by a museum in Israel that he turned out be a descendant from Baruch da Spinoza (a famous philosopher); which I'm very proud of, since a building of my university (Universiteit van Utrecht, the Netherlands) is actually named after him: The Spinoza Hall.
From my other side of the family, my father's side, I'm a descendant from Marcus Cassianius Latinius Posthumus, Emporer of the Gallo-Roman empire in 260-269. I actually own a coin with his face on it from that era.
Enough to be proud of! I just hope my descendants will remember me in a thousand years...
From my other side of the family, my father's side, I'm a descendant from Marcus Cassianius Latinius Posthumus, Emporer of the Gallo-Roman empire in 260-269. I actually own a coin with his face on it from that era.
Enough to be proud of! I just hope my descendants will remember me in a thousand years...
Need to raise the awareness even further, since I'm tired of seeing people boast about their 1000 years old ancestors in threads like these.
From the Wiki Eamar linked; "A human alive today would over 30 generations (going back to about the High Middle Ages), have 230 or about 1.07 billion ancestors, more than the world population at the time."
Congratulations, but we're all related to him.
OT: Farmers, Indian gypsies and Belgians(Walloons). Nothing really intresting here.
From the Wiki Eamar linked; "A human alive today would over 30 generations (going back to about the High Middle Ages), have 230 or about 1.07 billion ancestors, more than the world population at the time."
Congratulations, but we're all related to him.
OT: Farmers, Indian gypsies and Belgians(Walloons). Nothing really intresting here.
I'm distantly related to the guy who patched up the guy who shot Lincoln.
...It's a bit of a dubious honor, to be sure...
...It's a bit of a dubious honor, to be sure...
My great-grandfather, who is 98 now, and still doing fine, was a pilot for the Soviet Air Force during WWII. He was a Lieutenant Colonel, who had his own squadron of fighters and bombers. He was going to be a Colonel, and probably higher, but the Air Force stopped promoting him because he married my great-grandmother, the navigator on his plane, specifically, because she was Jewish. He was even shot down a few times, and was completely fine.
I haven't seen him in years, but I will be visiting Ukraine, where he lives, this summer.
I haven't seen him in years, but I will be visiting Ukraine, where he lives, this summer.
Mr Goostoff said:
DESCENDANT OF BALTHASAR GERARDS, OUR SWORDS WILL NOT REST!
So anyway.
my mother comes from A line of mayans that we know nothing special about. My dad has no interesting people in his bloodline, so that's that.
I am my own man!
My French ancestors helped settled Montreal.
My great-grandparents, who were Slovakian, emigrated to America in the early 1900's, and it turned out they had lived within a couple blocks of each other back in the home country.
I don't have any information on my other ancestors (English, Irish).
*Shrug*
My great-grandparents, who were Slovakian, emigrated to America in the early 1900's, and it turned out they had lived within a couple blocks of each other back in the home country.
I don't have any information on my other ancestors (English, Irish).
*Shrug*
I'm related to (and share a name with) a Bonanza King [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_William_Mackay] (basically, he got rich through mines), and he worked in communications. He also has mountains in Antarctica [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackay_Mountains] named after him.
And he has a son [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Mackay] (Clarence Hungerford[footnote]Probably the best name ever[/footnote] MacKay), whose daughter married Irving Berlin [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Berlin] (then he disinherited her).
Then there's THIS [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Mackay] William Mackay, who painted shit Teddy Roosevelt did and helped created dazzle camouflage.
Then there's these JOHN MacKays. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mackay_(disambiguation)]
Lot of them.
I found that out by Googling my name.
And he has a son [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Mackay] (Clarence Hungerford[footnote]Probably the best name ever[/footnote] MacKay), whose daughter married Irving Berlin [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Berlin] (then he disinherited her).
Then there's THIS [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Mackay] William Mackay, who painted shit Teddy Roosevelt did and helped created dazzle camouflage.
Then there's these JOHN MacKays. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mackay_(disambiguation)]
Lot of them.
I found that out by Googling my name.