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Version 5 is here! Version 5 has 45,191 pedigree pages; this is only 7% more than Version 4, but its corrections and additions are ``important' so I feel that this is a major revision.
In addition to a variety of corrections there are several additions including:
The relationships in early Middle Eastern myth will be the most interesting additions for many people. These were kindly provided by Dim I Nticoudis. For example, here is the new pedigree for Eve of EDEN. Note that El is not the father of Elohim, but rather the source character.
Many relatively recent ancestors of William or Churchill are still missing. For example I haven't yet a pedigree for Henry Belasyse (1743-1802) 2nd Earl Fauconberg and 5-great grandfather of Lady Di, nor for Richard Boyle (1694-1753) Earl of Burlington and 5-great grandfather of Queen Elizabeth, nor for Charles Pratt (1713-1794) 1st Earl of Camden and 3-great grandfather of the great Prime Minister, and there are many many more such omissions. (In many cases, the problem isn't that the pedigree is hard to find, just that we are overworked and understaffed here at Fabulous Pedigree. In preparing Version 5 I did try to show parents for most individuals of noble rank Duke or higher.)
In a very few cases I mention spouses and children not otherwise in my database, but please remember I make no attempt to complete these lists.
The pedigree contains about 1500 alternates shown as ``or:'' with no clickable link provided. In many cases this is because the alternate parent is just a name with no pedigree, but in over 400 cases no link is provided even though the alternate is in the database and has his or her own page. (The link is usually omitted to reduce confusion rather than due to sheer laziness! For example, one man may be shown as a person's father or father-in-law in different sources. In those cases I usually make just one link and mention the other possibility as an ``or:''.) With Version 5 I have simplified and corrected some of these alternate-parent mazes, but many are still a mess!
One big problem is that many of my sources aren't careful about assigning mothers when the father had two or more wives. When a correspondent e-mails information (or I come across an ``authoritative-looking'' webpage) I fix these, but in other cases the mother and her alternate may be assigned by chance: the primary mother is just from the first source I found, the alternate from the second.
Another problem is that, for male lineages like Richard son of Richard son of Richard, sources may miss a generation. When I combine such sources, sometimes one woman will be shown both as someone's possible wife and as his possible mother. Of course don't read this as someone marrying his mother! (There are a very few instances in the database, all from mythology, where a man did marry his own mother. One of these is Oedipus King of Thebes.) (On the other hand, marrying a sister was common in some ancient cultures, and even recent pedigrees show a man marrying a niece or step-mother.)
Another improvement, new with Version 5, is that most (but not all) of the ``or:'' alternates now have entries in the Index.
The publicly accessible database of Dirk Peters is one of the most extensive. Lately I've been taking much advantage of it, bringing in large pedigrees ``wholesale.'' For example, I copied his pedigree for Louis XVII and in the bargain got a large number of individuals who should have been in my database already, e.g. the ancestors of Maria de Medici's Spanish grandmother. (Maria de Medici was the widow of France's King Henry IV who ruled while her son Louis XIII was an infant.)
Here are three interesting e-mails I've received recently.
First an excerpt from a message by David Hughes, connecting
Septimanian Princes to the House of David:
i read that Nascien was a medieval corruption of the Jewish name
Nahshon (Naasson), and, i knew that the Jewish prince Elzasus (Elchasai;
El-Kasai) had a son Nahshon...i then inserted the pedigree-tract in
the Davidic genealogy to see how it would fit and it was chronologically
perfect...it is conjecture, i know, but so is every other
genealogy where that pedigree-segment appears;...what really anchors
the pedigree in the Davidic Dynasty genealogy is Nascient's son
Cyleddon (Celedoin), who was Bishop of Alexandria circa AD150
whom we know was a desposynic prince...
Steve Franklin has developed a theory which reconciles conflicting Biblical
chronologies:
James,
I note you have Shoshenq I.
as probably not the father of
Nicaule.
I assume this is based on biblical chronology.
What has recently occurred to me is that the 120-year lifespan
of Moses is a clue that they were using a six-month Babylonian year,
making it highly probable that Shoshenq I.
was already on the throne when Solomon married the daughter of the pharaoh.
This also places the Exodus at or near Ramses III,
thus eliminating all the nonsense about the impossibility of
the biblical chronology due to Egyptian incursions into Palestine.
A preliminary draft showing this time period is here:
http://neros.lordbalto.com/ChapterOne.htm.
Just thought I'd throw this clue your way....
Steve Franklin
I'll certainly add a link from Nicaule to Shoshenq, and keep Steve's point in mind when trying to make sense of Mid-East chronologies.
Dim I Nticoudis has linked Creator Gods from different Mid-East cultures, often not as ``fathers'' or ``mothers'' but as ``source characters.'' Because of his input, Pedigree Version 5 will have over 100 Gods and Goddesses. (I'll give them their own entry in the surname index.) Here's an excerpt from one of Dim's messages:
Agenor of Phoenicia has been listed among your ancestors for some time now. But I am afraid you have forgotten to list his maternal line. As twin brother of Belus, King of Egypt, Agenor arguably shares the same two candidate mothers:
1)Libya, Queen of Egypt, and
2)Mutnofret (Mutnofre) of Egypt.
By the way you might want to mention that "Belus" is a Greek form of a Phoenician/Aramaic word, used as a title. The word is "Baal", literally meaning "Lord" or "The Lord". It is included in the names of several Middle-Eastern deities. For example the "Baal Zebub" ("Lord of Flies") mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and the "Beelzebul" of the Christian Gospels are both considered to originate from "Baal-zebul" ("Baal the Prince").
Baal is also the personal name of a major Middle Eastern god and several modern scholars have suggested that Belus is based or named after him. In that event his lineage would be:
GENERATION 1
1)Baal , the God of thunder and winter storms. See: http://www.baal.com/baal/about/divine_overview.shtml
Father:Dagan, the Grain God. See: http://www.ancientneareast.net/religion_mesopotamian/gods/dagan.html
Mother: Sala the Goddess. One of two consorts attributed to Dagan. She is also known as consort to fellow god Addu. See: http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/relg/non-christiancomparative/TheReligionofBabyloniaandAssyria/chap5.html,
or
Mother: Ishara the Goddess. One of two consorts attributed to Dagan. Akkadian counterpart to Inanna/ Ishtar. She is also known as consort to fellow god Adad. See: http://www.jameswbell.com/geog0050inames.html,
or
Father: El, the Supreme God. His name literally means "Supreme God" in ancient Semitic languages. He was considered father/creator of both gods and humanity. Ancient Hebrews likely worshiped him as Ellohim for that is the most often used word for "God" in their Bible. His name is also considered the root word for "Allah" (meaning "God" in Arabic languages). Modern scholars have suggested that his religion was eventually absorbed into that of Yahweh. See: http://www.themystica.org/mythical-folk/articles/el.html, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_%28god%29
For Elohim See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elohim
For Yahweh see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetragrammaton
For Allah see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allah
Mother: Aserah, The Mother Goddess. Consort of El in Semmetic cultures which did not practice strict monotheism. Identified with Inanna/ Ishtar in some later traditions. See: http://www.themystica.org/mythical-folk/articles/aserah.html
GENERATION 2
1) Dagon and El are identified in some traditions. Explanations offered suggest that they are based on the same source-tradition:
"Father" (Source god): Enlil, God of Wind. His name means either "Lord of the Wind" of "Lord of the Air". Among the highest worshipped Summerian Gods. His titles include "Father of the Gods". Also considered source god for Babylonian Marduk and Assyrian Assur. See: http://i-cias.com/e.o/enlil.htm
"Mother" (presumed source goddess): Ninlil, Goddess of Heaven. Summerian deity and one of two known consorts of Enlil. Her titles include "Mother of the Gods". Immortalised in the poem "Enlil and Ninlil". See: http://www.earth-history.com/Sumer/sumer-enlil-ninlil.htm,
or
Mother: Ninhursanga , the Mountain Goddess. "Lady of the Mountain". One of two known consorts of Enlil.Her titles include "Mother of Gods". Her worship is considered to have been eventually absorbed by that of Inanna/ Ishtar. http://www.earth-history.com/Sumer/sumer-enlil-ninlil.htm
2) Ishara and Aserah are sometimes identified with an older female deity
"Mother" (source goddess): Inanna Ishtar, the Goddess of Heaven. "Queen of Heaven". Widely worshipped Middle Eastern deity often identified with several other goddesses ranging from minor local deities to as major fellow goddesses as Egyptian Isis and Greek Aphrodite. See: http://inanna.virtualave.net/inanna.html, and http://inanna.virtualave.net/ishtar.html
GENERATION 3
1)Enlil, God of Wind
Father: Ansar. A primordial being of Summerian mythology. See: http://web.raex.com/~obsidian/MesoPan.html
Mother: Kisar. A primordial being of Summerian mythology. See: http://web.raex.com/~obsidian/MesoPan.html,
or
Father: Anu, the Sky God. The Highest God in the Summerian hierarchy of gods, followed by Enlin, Inanna and Ea. See: http://i-cias.com/e.o/anu.htm
Mother: Ki, the Earth Goddess. Consort of Anu. See: http://inanna.virtualave.net/neareast.html
2)Ninlil, Goddess of Heaven
Father: Haia, God of the Stores.
Mother: Ninshebargunu
3)Inanna Ishtar, the Goddess of Heaven
Father: Anu, the Sky God. See above.
Mother: Ki, the Earth Goddess.,
or
Father: Nanna, consort of Goddess Ningal.
Mother: Ningal, Goddess of the Moon. See: http://inanna.virtualave.net/neareast.html
[truncated ... Dim's message carried this genealogy back another three generations]
Mr. Nticoudis has provided so much information I'm tempted to rename the site
The major format change in Version 4 is the new way to show details about an ancestor. These are now shown in the yellow ``hover'' window instead of the small navigation window. You access those details as before: place the pointer over the name and leave it there. (Unfortunately, the hover-window disappears after a few seconds. Just use the mouse to move the pointer away; then move it back.)
This non-standard Title Tool-tip on Hover works with MicroSoft's Internet Explorer and, I'm told, Mozilla 1.4.1. Sorry if it doesn't work with your browser.
Another change I've made is to use a CSS StyleSheet. This means I can change the background color or other behavior without replacing all 42,000 pedigree pages. So if my pages seem to change color from week to week, that's just me playing around!
Let me stress one more time that much of this information is Wrong. For example, consider the pedigree of Kenneth MacAlpin, first King of Scots. While his father was surely Alpin, beyond that many scholars believe that the connections to ancient Celtic and Pictish Kings are ancient fabrications. Perhaps those ancestors existed, but just weren't the ancestors of MacAlpin. Or perhaps some of the people are completely fictitious. I just don't know; you'll have to do your own research.
Use this website for HINTS, but not as a source!
Many very large genealogical databases have, unknowingly, the same individual twice.
For example, I finally figured out that Wichard II von Geldern (d. ca 973) was the same Wichard II of Pont whose daughter married Otto I of Zutphen. I also concluded that Qutighu (9th King) of Huns is the same person as Chu Ti Hou (Khan) of Huns. although their dates show up as nearly a century different.
I'm afraid there are other duplicates I've not yet found. Contrariwise, I'm afraid some women are shown with two husbands when they were actually two different women with similar names.
You will also see two different pedigree pages for same-named people who are shown as siblings. These might be the same person, but I didn't merge them -- they might also be two different people with wrong parents shown for one.
Stewart Baldwin,
a top-ranked expert on early medieval European genealogy,
offered this comment:
I suggest that you take all pre-400 Irish individuals and all
pre-800 Scandinavian individuals and simply delete them from your
database lock, stock and barrel....
Not
only will you have removed a huge amount of bogus data, but virtually
nothing of value would be lost by such a move.
I've not removed these Individuals -- the legendary genealogies are too much fun, even if they are fabricated -- but Mr. Baldwin's note should serve as a wise caution. (Some experts would not fully agree with Mr. Baldwin, claiming that many legends are based on fact.)
Am I the only one who finds the modern world too hectic and materialistic? Genealogists are a welcome change from the business world. Many many people have written to me to provide additions and corrections to this pedigree. Not a single one of them has ever asked for anything in return; not a single one has even asked that I acknowledge their contribution on this site. They were happy just to share their research anonymously with the world, using this site as a conduit. I do try to mention most of the major contributors on this page or on my List of Sources, but many contributions have gone unacknowledged.
There are two contributors who deserve very special mention.
David Hughes has accumulated a huge wealth of ancient genealogical information, some of it his own research and speculations, some of it the research of others, and, without even asking for acknowledgement, he has generously shared it all with me. Version 3 already owed much to Mr. Hughes; Version 4 adds ancient Teutonic Kings, the legendary descent of Kushite and Zagwe dynasties from Moses, several detailed Davidic lineages, Attila the Hun's ancestry and much much more, all due to Hughes. Thank you, David!
Dim I Nticoudis also deserves special thanks: he has contributed many hours of his time adding to (and correcting) my ancestors from the ancient world and Greek mythology.
One thing that makes genealogy fun is learning about the past in a roundabout way. I'm in such a hurry that I seldom record dates and months, just keeping the year, and don't bother with cause of death unless it catches my eye, yet I noticed many Scottish nobles dying at Flodden on Sept. 9, 1513. Checking some data at home, I found several more men in my database where I had recorded just ``d. 1513'' but who actually died on Sept. 9. (I also found one who died Sept. 10 from wounds suffered the day before.)
At least 37 individuals in my database were slain at the Battle of Flodden Field. (When I first prepared this section there were only 27, but Lady Di has many thousands of ancestors from that era, and it's taking me a long time to complete her pedigree.) England was at war with France at the time, and Scotland, an ally of France, raised an army of 100,000 to invade England. 70,000 of this number deserted before Battle and 10,000 were slain or wounded by the English army who met them near the border at Flodden Field, in Northumbria. The English, led by Thomas Howard, poss. my 13-great grandfather, enjoyed a resounding victory. Twelve Scottish Earls perished that day, along with their leader, King James IV.
Much of my best information is e-mailed to me by people who browse my site. It was Jeanette Forbes-Hood O'Reilly who pointed out that James IV King of Scots was the last British King to die in battle.
I checked my database and home records looking for other Battles that showed up as the cause of death of several individuals. (The following table should not be viewed as ``statistically significant.'' Because of my ancestry, this database emphasizes late medieval Scotland. Also, many battle deaths who show up in other databases don't make it into mine, for the simple reason that the early death prevented them from having living descendants.)
Ralph Bigod and his son John both fell at the Battle of Towton; John's grandson John fell at the Battle of Flodden Field. The English throne had no gratitude: that John's son Francis (possibly my 14-great grandfather) became a Puritan and was hanged for treason.
Edmund Earl Stafford fell at the Battle of Shrewsbury; his son Humphrey (1st Duke of Buckingham) fell at Battle of Northampton. His son Earl Humphrey II fell at Battle of St. Alban's. Earl Humphrey II's son Henry and grandson Edward (2nd and 3rd Dukes) were both executed for treason. (Both sought the English crown for themselves.)
King Robert I of France was born in 866, the same year his father Robert Fortis fell at the Battle of Brissarthe. One source shows King Robert's mother, Adelaide of Tours, also dying on Sept 15, 866, without explanation. Probably an error, but remind me to check into it.
This section was prepared for Version 2 of my database. But the database continues to grow; Version 3 is 15% bigger, and has probably been uploaded by the time you read this. At last count, there are 33 individuals in the database who died at the Battle of Flodden Field. Compiling this database is mostly a dry statistical chore, but one can almost sense the grief in Scotland on September 9, 1513. For example, Isobel Hoppringil lost both her husband and her oldest son at Flodden Field (her son isn't in my database: he went to his death unmarried).
There are many excellent sites on the Internet related to King Arthur of the Round Table and his genealogy, but I've prepared a brief summary of Arthur's possible identity.
A few years ago, I wrote ``King Arthur seems to have no living descendants.'' Boy, was I wrong! King Arthur had fifty children, supposedly, by three Queen Guineveres and many lovers; his agnatic descendants include the Campbell clan and King Henry VII.