Medieval British Isles Families
Gary T. Horlacher, 2001

Purpose

Many genealogists have been interested in researching the lines of nobility and families that lived prior to 1500. This guide has been prepared to provide information and answer questions on the following:

• Tracing medieval genealogies
• Coat-of-Arms
• History and background of the Medieval Families Unit of the Family History Library
• Identifying sources used by the Medieval Families Unit
• The Medieval/Nobility Biographical Index (MNB)
• Finding medieval families in the Ancestral File
• Guidelines for submitting information
• References for more information

This guide was created by the Family History Library staff and is a draft copy. When they create an official publication, I will replace this article with a link to their official publication.

Introduction

Most records of genealogical value dating from prior to 1500 concern only a small percentage of the total population, namely the nobility, royalty, and land-owning or merchant classes.

The primary sources for genealogical research in the British Isles is church and probate records. The earliest church records in the British Isles date back to 1538. Prior to that limited probate records, tax lists, population lists, court records, land records, and manorial records exist, however they contain much less genealogical information and are difficult to research, generally written in Latin. This is also true for most of the countries of Europe whose earliest church records begin in the 17^th century.

As one extends one's pedigree back in time, each generation doubles the number of ancestors. If one were to extend each of his or her ancestral lines back to the year 1500, he or she would have about one million ancestors (21 generations). Many people can trace at least a few of their lines back to the small nobility class. Hence there are many people with links to the same noble lines.

Once one connects his/her genealogy to nobility, often many of the lines trace back to common ancestors, which has been termed pedigree collapse. For example when researching Prince Charles' pedigree, one finds that about 80 percent of his ancestry is descended from Edward III. Anyone connecting with royal lines might find Edward III appearing multiple times in their own pedigree as well.

The interest in tracing noble families has been high. However, because of sources that are difficult to use and the large number of people interested in these families, there is a lot of duplication and errors in this work. Because of this, the Family History Department in the past created a special unit for the purpose of verifying and compiling data from the most reliable sources possible.

Tracing Medieval Genealogies

When tracing medieval genealogies one should be aware of some areas where difficulties and errors are found. Difficulties and errors that you will want to be careful of include:

• Accepting undocumented pedigrees as truth.
• Separating fact from fiction.
• Unverified or incorrect pedigree links.
• False information.

You should be especially careful in the following cases:

• Genealogies back to Adam.
• Ancestry of Colonial American Families.
• Fabricated lineages.
• Lineages through illegitimacy.

Genealogies Back to Adam

Various genealogies have been compiled for royal and noble lines. Some of these connect with the Bible genealogies which continue back to Adam and Eve.

Although it may be reassuring to some to think they have connected their lines back to the earliest times, such compiled genealogies contain many errors. None of these genealogies have been proven. Some pedigrees include the names of various gods from which the earliest ancestors of their peoples supposedly descend and which come from early folk tales or mythology. It is practically impossible to separate the fact from the fiction. At this time it is not possible to document a lineage back to Adam.

For a further discussion about this question see the following article:
 

Ancestry of Colonial American Families

Many genealogies have been compiled of settlers to North America in the 17^th century. The descendants of these pilgrims now number in the millions. Often these genealogies include claims about the origins of the family in England and connections to English noble or merchant classes.

Of five thousand heads of families who came to North America between 1620-1640, less than 50 or less than one percent were known to have belonged to the upper-class of England. Less than 250 more (5 percent) were minor mercantile or landed gentry. The rest were from the local farming or labor classes of England.

Most claims to the British noble class in America are unfounded and unsupported by evidence. If you have a connection to royalty through a colonial North American immigrant ancestor, you should look carefully at the documentation for that connection.

Although many errors in such connections have been discovered and documented in genealogical publications, descendants often are not aware of these studies and continue to publish the errors in spite of the work of careful genealogists. When working on one of these lines, carefully look for the latest research on the family. Also see what documentation was used in researching the family.

You may find articles by others who have researched your family published in periodicals. A wonderful index to articles published in genealogical journals is:
 

Other books and articles that show documentation and can be considered among the best general works in this field include:
 

For other references, see the periodicals listed under the "For Further Information" section of this guide.

Fabricated Lineages

Use compiled medieval genealogies with caution because many of them include fabricated or manipulated information. This may be particularly true in cases that involve estates or titles.

As it is very popular to be descended from nobility or to be associated with an important event like the Normans arrival in England, many people want to connect to such families. Sometimes connections are made which are impossible or unsubstantiated. A generation or two might be missed or fictitious names have been supplied for missing generations. In some instances whole pedigrees have been concocted.

Some have gone as far as to actually alter records or create and insert information in original manuscript volumes in archives and repositories to support their claims. The following sources give more information on falsified and erroneous genealogies:

• Stevensen, Noel. Genealogical Evidence. Laguna Hills, CA: Aegean Park Press, 1989. (FHL book 929.1 St48g.)
• Genealogical Journal. Vol. 19, No. 1-2. Salt Lake City: Utah Genealogical Association, 1991. (FHL book 973 D25gj.)

Following are some possible indications that the information has been fabricated:

• Genealogical data with few or no sources, or sources listed as "our family papers" with no further reference.
• Claims of connections between families from quite different geographic areas that do not represent normal migration patterns
• Intimate details given in stories about ancestors who lived several centuries previously and listed as "family tradition".

Keep in mind that pedigrees that go beyond the 1500s must be considered with caution. Each name and date should be verified in original sources.

Lineages Through Illegitimacy

Many families traditions of a noble ancestor turn out, on investigation, to have little foundation in fact. Contrary to prevailing opinion, it was not customary to disown members of noble families for unacceptable behavior. Thus, traditions of an ancestor being "erased" or eliminated from "all records" are usually unfounded.

If your family tradition states that your ancestors descended from an illegitimate son of nobility, you may want to prove this connection. Although more difficult to trace than pedigrees from lawful unions, especially on the mother's side since she is rarely identified, these lines are just as much a part of a person's ancestry and worth recording.

The following articles identify illegitimate children ascribed to the English kings:
 

You may also be interested in contacting the following society:

Coat of Arms

Coat-of-arms are symbols that were put on outer clothing. These heraldic symbols originated with warfare. The warrior in armor had to have a way of distinguishing allies from the enemy. A particular coat-of-arms was granted and belonged an individual. Only that person or the designated heir of that person was entitled to use a particular coat-of-arms. Every noble family has a coat of arms.

The laws concerning heraldry differed from country to country and during different time periods.

The mistaken idea that coat-of-arms belong to surnames, rather than specific individuals and their family, has led to the commercial enterprise where one can purchase a coat-of-arms for their surname. Many surnames originated from occupations, patronymics, or places of origin. Because families independently took the same surnames, a coat-of-arms for a particular family name may not belong to your ancestral family. For example a common family name such as Johnson or Smith may have dozens of different coat of arms, none of which may have belonged to your particular Jensen or Smith family or ancestor. In fact only the main family heir and his branch of the family was allowed to use the coat-of-arms.

The Committee on Heraldry of the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) was organized and authorized in 1864 to set up a register of coats-of-arms. This committee operated on the basis that Coat-of-Arms belong to individuals and their descendants, not to families more broadly conceived, and certainly not to surnames.

In other words, you can create your own unique coat-of-arms for your own family or you can claim the coat-of-arms awarded to a direct ancestor that you can trace back to, but you should not claim a coat of arms that is attributed to a particular family name without direct proven descent.

Further information on Heraldry can be found in many books and publications. One such reference is:
 

Medieval Families Unit

Because so much duplication was being done in temple work for noble families, the General Board of the Genealogical Society of Utah and the Family History Department adopted policies regarding this work at various times:

From 1968, lists of each of the main European royal families were made from the earliest known ancestor to present. These lists became the basis for all subsequent genealogical compilations. The main sources for these lists were the following two series:

• Isenburg, Wilhelm Karl. Europäische Stammtafeln. (European Genealogy Tables) 5 vols. Marburg: J.A. Stargardt, 1953-1978. (FHL book 940 D5f; film 0251160, 0599240 item 2, 0599166 item 2, 0824133 item 2, 0896838 item1.)
• Schwennicke, Detlev. Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge (European Genealogy Tables: Genealogy Tables for a History of the European States, New Edition). 17 vols. Marburg: Verlag von J.A. Stargardt, 1978-. (FHL book Q 940 D5es new ser; FHL film 1810094 item 7, 1183710 items 16-17.)

When compiling the genealogy of the royal families of Europe, this work was done by centuries so that all the royal families of Europe were compiled from 1900 to present, then from 1800 to 1900, and so forth.

Although the information compiled by the Medieval Families Unit was based on compiled sources and undoubtedly includes some errors, it should be noted that many sources were used in compiling the information. When sources gave information other than what was listed in the Complete Peerage by Cockayne, then several sources were compared and an explanation was included on the compiled family group records.

While most of the pedigrees compiled by the Medieval Families Unit were for people living before 1500, some of the projects included individuals living since that time.

During the period 1975-1993 the Medieval Families Unit was able to accomplish the following:

• Add 541,000 individuals (over 171,000 family group records) to the Ancestral File database
• Compile and process about 20,000 archive sheets
• Add 118,000 references to the Medieval Nobility Biographical Index.

In 1996 the Medieval Families Unit became part of Ancestral File Operations. Several projects were in various stages of completion. The large projects that were discontinued include the following:

• Peerage Project. A lineage-linked database of about 250,000 noble individuals from the United Kingdom, compiled from several published books (Complete Peerage and Complete Baronetage by Cockayne, The Scots' Peerage, Brydges' Collins' Peerage, Lodge's Irish Peerage, Members of Parliament, Scottish Fasti, English Fasti, Sanders' English Baronies, Visitation of England & Wales, and Vistitation of Ireland). Burke's compilations were also consulted for clarification.
• Welsh Project. A lineage-linked database of about 200,000 Welsh individuals compiled from Bartrum's Welsh Genealogies, Dwnn's Visitation of Wales, Anglesey & Carnarvonshire, Morgan & Glamorganshire Genealogies, and the Golden Grove Manuscript Collection.
• Irish Kings. Database of Irish kings, beginning with the series Annals of the Four Masters.
• Medieval/Nobility Bibliographic Index (MNB). An extensive surname index to mostly British families, with an extensive bibliographic index to medieval and noble genealogical works. This is discussed separately in this guide.
• Europaische Stammtafelen. Lineage linked database of European Royalty and Nobility taken first from Europeaischen Stammtafelen by Isenburg and Schwennicke.

The family group sheets that were compiled are on microfilm in the Family History Library. Compiled data was added into the Ancestral File. Family information and notes from the Peerage Project, the Welsh Project, and the Europaische Stammtafelen are found on disk 6 of the Pedigree Resource File (xxxxx). Some of the lineages on this disk were submitted by various patrons, so check the notes to be sure you are looking at the information compiled by the Medieval Families Unit.

The objectives of the medieval group that is part of Ancestral File Operations is to:

• Make the unit's information available to researchers
• Improve medieval information in the Ancestral File
• Process new submissions to Ancestral File on noble or pre-1500 families.

Although the unit is no longer autonomous, the name is still used to alert staff to the nature of a submission.

Correspondence directed to the Medieval Families Unit is now answered by the reference staff of the Family History Library. LDS temple submissions are handled by the Temple Department.

By 1993 the Medieval Families Unit had submitted over 541,000 individuals to the Ancestral File. Since that time, the Ancestral File staff have added LDS temple dates and have merged duplicate entries.

Some of the family group records created by the Medieval Families Unit have the name David A. Burton listed as a submitter. He helped fund some of the early work done by the unit.

Sources Used by Medieval Family Unit

Many sources were used by the Medieval Unit in compiling information for the Ancestral File. Most of these are published sources. The sources are not listed in the Ancestral File. A majority of these sources can be identified by searching the following collections:

• Medieval, Royalty, Nobility Records for Scandinavia A-Z. Salt Lake City, Utah: Medieval Family Unit, 1996. (FHL film 1553986.)
• Medieval, Royalty, Nobility Records. Salt Lake City, Utah: Medieval Family Unit, 1996. (FHL film 1553977-1553985.)
• Miscellaneous Family Group Sheets. Salt Lake City, Utah: Medieval Family Unit, 1997. (FHL film 1553987-1553997.)
• Icelandic Archive Sheets. Salt Lake City, Utah: Names Processing, 1995. (FHL films 1553962-1553970.)
• Family Group Records Compiled from Ahnentafel Rübel-Blass. Salt Lake City, Utah: Medieval Family Unit, 1995. (FHL films 1553974-1553976.)

These various collections include compiled family group sheets and list the various sources used in compiling the data. Your family name may be listed in these collections.

Additional sources are identified in the Medieval/Nobility Biographical Index (MNB), which is discussed below.

Medieval / Nobility Biographical Index (MNB)

The Medieval/Nobility Biographical Index (MNB) is comprised of two databases:

• A surname index of mostly British noble families with source cited for each surname.
• A bibliographical index of over 13,000 sources for medieval research.

Surname Index

The surname index includes not only medieval families, but references to British names found in select published genealogies. The Medieval Unit compiled references from several indexes into one composite index.

Volunteers copied references from surname indexes. The bibliographic citation number was then marked over the top of each entry. The surname entries were then microfilmed. Unfortunately, some citations were highlighted in a color which made it difficult to read on the microfilm copy. Following is a reference to the microfilm copy of this index:

This information was also added to the MNB database and a printed copy of the surname index from the database is found in binders on the British floor (B2) of the Family History Library. This database index was never completed and has not been microfilmed, but contains the same type of information as the microfilm index.

Bibliographical Index

Another part of the MNB is a comprehensive listing of all the sources used in the compilation of genealogies for the Medieval Families Unit's various projects. Each source was given a number, a short title, and other citation information. This database grew to over 13,000 references. The short titles and bibliographic numbers are listed on the family group sheets compiled by the Medieval Families Unit as well as in the Surname Index of the MNB. To find the full bibliographic citation from a reference number or short title, you will need to use the Bibliographical Index.

The Bibliographical Index consists of the following parts, found in binders on the British floor of the Family History Library (as of 1994):

• Reference Number Sequence. Lists each source by its reference number beginning. Each entry contains the short title, author's name, repository where located, and a call number for each source. A copy of this index can also be found at the end of microfilm number 1239015.
• Call Number Sequence. Lists all of the sources by their call number at the Family History Library. It lists the short title, author's name, and reference number for each source.
• Short Title Sequence. Arranged by the short title of each source in alphabetical order. It includes the author and reference number for each source.
• Author Sequence. Gives the authors' names in alphabetical order for each source, followed by the short title and reference number.

Only the first of the above lists is currently available on microfilm.

Surname Index Sources

The Bibliographical Index in 1994 comprised of 13,004 sources. Many of these sources came from the indexes used to compile the surname index. The sources for the surname index of the MNB are:

• Marshall, George W. The Genealogist's Guide. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1980 (reprint of 1903 edition). (FHL book 929.142 M356g 1980).
• Whitmore, John Beach. A Genealogical Guide: an Index to British Pedigrees in Continuation of Marshall's Genealogist's guide (1903). London: Walford Brothers, 1953. (FHL book 929.142 M356g Supp.; fiche 6054492.)
• Barrow, Geoffrey B. The Genealogist's Guide: an Index to Printed British Pedigrees and Family Histories, 1950-1975. London: Research Publishing, 1977. (FHL book 929.142 M356g 1950-1975; fiche 6026284.)
• Stuart, Margaret. Scottish Family History: a Guide to Works of Reference on the History and Genealogy of Scottish Families. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1930. (FHL book 941 A3s; fiche 6026373.)
• De Breffny, Brian. Bibliography of Irish Family History and Genealogy. Dublin: Golden Eagle Books, 1974. (FHL book 941.5 D23d.)
• Burke's Irish Family Records. London: Burke's Peerage, 1976. (FHL book 941.5 D22bur 1976)
• MacLysaght, Edward. Irish Families, Their Names, Arms and Origins. Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1985. (FHL book 941.5 D4em 1985.)
• Smith, Frank. Smith's Inventory of Genealogical Sources. Salt Lake City, UT: Family History Library 1994. Includes 41 volumes for England (FHL book 942 D23s; fiche 6110526), 34 volumes from Scotland (FHL book 941 D23s; fiche 6110528), 32 volumes for Ireland (FHL book 941.5 D23s; fiche 6110527), 14 volumes for Wales (FHL book 942.9 D23s; fiche 6110529).

The various sources that the above books index were also given numbers and included in the bibliographical index along with additional European nobility and medieval sources.

Finding Nobility in the Ancestral File

Finding a particular noble person in the Ancestral File can be a challenge. A noble person might hold various titles and designations throughout his or her life. He may have had one or more given names with various additional titles or nicknames. When looking for nobility in the Ancestral File use the territory they ruled over, or were associated with, as a surname. This will also be the way to look up surnames in the International Genealogical Index (IGI).

For example Ludwig V, was also called Ludwig the Faithful and Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. To find him in the Ancestral File, search under the surname of either HESSE or DARMSTADT. His wife Magdalene, Margravine of Brandenburg, can be found under the surname BRANDENBURG. Henry II, called "Plantagenet", King of England, or Fitzempress, is in the Ancestral File under the surname ENGLAND. Part of the title is often listed as part of the given name in the Ancestral File as in Henry, King of.

An exception to this are English lower nobility (dukes, earls, marquees, etc.) who had surnames. For example the Duke of Argyle had the surname Campbell and the Duke of Bedford had the surname Russell.

Some nobility also had many given names at birth, but primarily used one of the given names. As a person often went by a middle name, the name he or she went by was listed rather than the first given name when submitting these families to Ancestral File or the IGI. For example, Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch, 1866 (Gotha's Genealogical Handbook, 1866) it lists Agnes Ida Matilde Feodorowna Constantia Dorothea, Countess of Lippe, born 7 December 1844. In the Ancestral File she is listed as just Matilde, Countess of Lippe.

Pedigree Resource File

This file contains information submitted by individual patrons through the Internet. It retains the information as it was submitted by a patron along with submitters' name and address and any notes they included. When submitting information to this database, you should not include information on people who are still living.

By submitting your information to this file, you can preserve your work and your notes intact without worrying about others changing or altering your information. You can also make your information available to other researchers. Evaluate information in this file to see the sources which were used.

As mentioned previously, disk 6 of the pedigree resource file includes much information compiled by the Medieval Families Unit and includes their source notes.

For More Information

For more information about these sources mentioned in this paper, instructions for using these sources, and other sources which would be helpful to you see:

Societies. Additional help may be available by contacting or joining societies that are centered around medieval or noble research. They often have publications with tips and strategies, references to professional researchers, and other services that may be of help to you. Find one that matches closely to your interest. Some of these societies require a documented connection for admission into the society. Some of these societies include:

• Society of Descendants of Charlemagne
  Office of the Governor General
  P.O. Box 76
  Sylvester, WV 25193
   
• National Society of Americans of Royal Descent
  P.O. Box 6127
  Charlottesville, VA 22906
   
• The Plantagenet Society
  P.O. Box 27165
  Philadelphia, PA 19118

Periodicals. As many people have worked on the same lines, much information can be gleaned by reading studies that have been published about noble or medieval families. By searching periodicals you can learn the latest research that has been done on a family and keep from perpetuating errors that have been disproved. They also often show case studies and articles about researching nobility. Some periodicals which publish many articles in this field include the following:

• The Genealogist. New York: Association for the Promotion of Scholarship in Genealogy (APSG), 1980-. (FHL book 929.105 G286n.)
• The American Genealogist (TAG). New Haven: D.L. Jacobus, 1937-. (FHL book 973 D25aga; Film 0599244 item 3, 1320924, 1421574, 1425624-6.)
• The New England Historic Genealogical Register (NEHGR). Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1846-. (FHL book 974 B2ne; On several microfilm beginning with number 0599167; Compact disk number 33.)
• The National Genealogical Society Quarterly (NGSQ). Washington, D.C.: National Genealogical Society, 1912-. (FHL book 973 B2ng; films 0001283-1289, 0453065, 1421595 item 6, and 0924664 item 3.)
• The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record (NYGBR). New York: New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 1870-. (FHL book 974.7 B2n; On several microfilm beginning with number 0559161 item 2.)
• The Virginia Genealogist. Washington: J.F. Dorman, 1957-. (FHL book 975.5 B2vg.)
• Family Tree Magazine. Ramsey, Huntingdon, Cambs.: Family Tree Magazine, 1984-. (FHL book 942 D25f; film 1559422 [1984-1991], 1559423 item 1 [1991-1992]; fiche 6036471.)
• Genealogists' Magazine. London: Society of Genealogists, 1928-. (FHL book 942 B2gm.)

An index to these and other periodicals is the PERsi index mentioned previously.

Guidebooks. The following reference books may be helpful to you:

• Christiansen, Henry E. The Pedigrees of the Royal Families of Europe as they Relate to the Commoners. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society, 1969. (FHL book 929.1 W893 J4; film 0897218 item 10; fiche 6039434.)
• Gunderson, Robert C. Bibliography of Genealogical & Biographical Bilbliographies & Indices for the National Genealogical Society's 5^th National Conference 1985. 1994. (Copy available in binder on B2 floor of the Family History Library.)
• Gunderson, Robert C. Connecting Your Pedigree into Royal, Noble, and Medieval Families. Salt Lake City: Corporation of the President, 1980. (FHL book 929.1 W893 1980 v. 6 pt. 22.)
• Nelson, Glade I. and John M. Kitzmiller 2^nd. "Medieval Genealogy" in Printed Sources: a Guide to Published Genealogical Resources. Salt Lake City, UT: Ancestry Incorporated, 1998. (FHL book 016.9293 P96.) Includes many bibliographical citations for medieval research.
• Reed, Paul C. "Medieval Families Identification Unit" in The Library: A Guide to the LDS Family History Library. pp. 709-719. Salt Lake City, Utah: 1988. (FHL book 979.2258 A3Li.)

Internet Sites. The following Internet sites may be helpful to you in locating information on medieval, royalty, nobility, or heraldry:

• Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites: Royalty & Nobility, Heraldry:
  http://www.cyndislist.com/royalty.htm
  http://www.cyndislist.com/heraldry.htm
   
• Frequently Asked Questions for soc.genealogy.medieval and GEN_MEDIEVAL:
  http://users.erols.com/wrei/faqs/medieval.html
   
• Rootsweb: Royal Resources & heraldry lesson:
  http://www.rootsweb.com/roots-l/royalty.html
  http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/lesson19.htm
   
• WorldRoots Royal Pages:
  http://worldroots.com/
   
• College of Arms, London:
  http://college-of-arms.gov.uk/ 

Another page being developed by the Association for the Promotion of Scholarship in Genealogy and which will include extensive information under the heading, The English Source: British Records, 1066-1649 is found at: http://web.archive.org/web/20010714082219/http://www.apsg.org/