European History in your Genealogy
By Jeannette Holland Austin
Sooner of later the genealogist links into an European monarchy. A large percentage of Americans trace their ancestors to the Royal
House of Great Britain. Once that lineage is established, one notices that they also descend from other European royals as well as nobolity.
This means that your ancestors were very much a part of history as all nobility interlaced with political affairs and was in service of the king.
Thus, there is some good excellent information available on their lifestyles and escapades. To find this information one needs to read the history books and
biographies with a special observance of the index of names. This insight will help in explaining subsequent events which occurred within the families.
For instance, a legend in my own family (Holland) was that a recent ancestor was illegitimate. I searched generations. I mean generations, before I found
that person in 1500's. Henry Holland, a member of the nobility from dating from 1300s was intwined in the royal politics of England. He suffered a loveless marriage
which resulted in a love affair with a commoner. The woman bore him two children which were excluded from the noble House of Holland. A class
conscious society labeled the Holland boys as being "the legitimate sons of a nobleman". Common knowledge and recent enough in memory,
the story must have gone with the emigrant to Jamestown, Virginia in 1624 and carried itself down through the centuries in family lore.
Such background information helps the genealogist to understand what element of family legends, if any, have any truth to them. Taking into account the
history, helps determine what records to research.
I descend from Edward I of England through Sir Thomas de Holande who married Joan Plantagenet, the granddaughter of Edward I. Because of this and interlocking marriages with other nobility,
an investigation of the index of any historical biography usually turns up a name or two, with some interesting family information.
Remember, William the Conqueror (1066) brought the Norman (French) blood into Great Britain, taking one through more royal houses.
The following books (in the public domain) are presented by www.georgiapioneers.com for your reading. Additional genealogy and history books are online at
www.genealogy-books.com
History of King Charles II of England
Irish Monarchy: King Heremon by Jeannette Holland Austin
King Alfred of England: Makers of History
Queen Victoria: Great Britain and Her Queen
Heraldry