Are you, one of those who would like to trace your ancestral lines back a thousand years or more? Or, are you one
of those whose genealogical ambition is to trace back to Nobility or Royalty? Perhaps you would be more interested
in a family coat of arms. Heraldic shields and replicas did serve several purposes centuries ago. Primarily they
distinguished a soldier or armed knight in the service of a King, from those of rival Kings. The records in this
volume span the time and generations to the years when Europe had many Kings, Queens, Princes, Princesses, Lords,
Dukes, Earls and others who claimed Noble blood. However no direct connection in the last ten generations, or about
260 years, are to be found here. It is necessary to go back many additional years, to claim relationship to the
Nobility or Royalty.
This is not easy. The biggest difficulty is that in the middle ages, vital statistical records were never kept
by or for the common people. Most of them were illiterate. For centuries, only those things of greatest importance
were recorded by anybody. It had to be on parchment or vellum. The few records that were kept did not include vital
statistics of the common people. Paper was a Chinese invention of the 6th century AD, but it was unknown in Europe
until after the Crusades in the 12th and 13th centuries. A few good statistical records were made by some of the
Church Ecclesiastics, but many of these were destroyed or lost.
Another difficulty in searching for early ancestors is the hopeless confusion of names. In those early years most
of the people had a single name, Peter, John, James, Ruth, Mary etc. There was little need for more. Surnames became
useful and necessary to Europeans in the 12th to 15th centuries, as people moved about more in commercial activities,
and with the great cultural awakening. Surnames appeared first in northern Italy during the 12th century, and spread
from there all over Europe, quickly in some areas, slowly in others. Turkey did not change until the 1930's.
Let us go back ten generations or about 260 years. Each of us has the following number of pro-genitors.
Generations back
progenitors 1
2 parents 2
4 grand-parents 3
8 great-grand-parents 4
16 great-great-grand-parents, or 2 great-grand-parents 5
32 great-great-great-grand-parents, or 3 great-grand-parents 6
64 great-great-great-great-grand-parents, or 4 great-grand-parents 7
128 5 great-grand-parents 8
256 6 great-grand-parents 9
512 7 great-grand-parents 10
1024 8 great-grand-parents - that was about 260 years ago
Go back another 10 generations, - results are:
20 Centuries back 1,046,576 18 great-grand-parents - that was about 520 years ago.
Once more go back another 10 generations, - results are:
30 Centuries back 1,073,741,824 28 great-grand-parents - that was about 780 years ago, or about 1200 AD.
How can that be, more than a billion 28 great-grand-parents, - progenitors - most of them living in Europe or
the British Isles in year 1200 AD? But there were not near that many people living in all of Europe and the British
Isles. Look at the following population figures, which include all of Europe, Russia and the British Isles. They
are careful estimates by historians and are found in the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Total population estimate.
200 AD 34,000,000
500 AD 20,000,000
1200 AD 50,000,000 A billion short of those needed
1650 AD 100,000,000
But we must have 1,073,741,824 progenitors about the year 1200 AD, or we would not be here.
Last Updated
July 24 2001