A FAMILY TREE WHICH APPEARS TO SHOW MY DESCENT FROM THE ROMAN EMPEROR VALENTINIAN =================================================================== I have always been told that there are no authentic genealogical links with the Roman Empire - that is, that no European family can trace an authentic descent from any Roman family. The following table, however, appears at Homer James's website (http://homepages. rootsweb.com/~pmcbride/james/toc.htm). The table claims a descent from the Emperor Valentinian I to King William I of England. Since William I is my 27-times great- grandfather, this would make me a descendant (a 51-times great- grandson) of Valentinian. See some comments on this at foot of the table. VALENTINIAN I Roman Emperor 364-75 = Justina | | Galla = Theodosius I | Emperor 378-95 | Eudoxia = Arcadius | Emperor 395-408 | Theodosius II Emperor 408-50 = Eudoxia Gaiseric | King of the Vandals | 428-77 Licinia Eudoxia = Valentinian III | | Emperor 425-55 | | ----------------- | | | Huneric = Eudoxia King of the Vandals | 477-84 | | Amfleda = Hilderic | King of the Vandals | 523-30 | Frode VII = Hilda King of Denmark | 522-48 | | Halfdan III 548-580 King of Denmark | Rurik Slyngebard King of Denmark 580-588 | Ivar Vifadme King of Denmark and Sweden 588-647 | Harald Hildetand King of Denmark and Sweden 647-735 | Sigurd I Ring King of Denmark and Sweden 735-756 | Ragnar Lodbrok King of Denmark and Sweden 756-794 | Sigurd II King of Denmark and Sweden 794-830 | Horda Knut King of Denmark (died 874) | Frotho King of Denmark 874-75 | Gorm Ensk King of Denmark 875-83 | Harold Parcus | Gorm "the Old" King of Denmark 883-941 | Harold I Bluetooth King of Denmark 941-991 | Gunnora = Richard I of Denmark | Duke of Normandy | 942-66 | Richard II Duke of Normandy | 966-1026 | Robert I Duke of Normandy | 1026-35 | Matilda of Flanders = William I | Duke of Normandy 1035-87 | King of England 1066-87 | ----------------------------------------- | | William II Matilda = Henry I 1087-1100 | (1070-1135) | King of England 1100-35 | Geoffrey Plantagenet = Matilda Count of Anjou (1113-51) | (1102-67) | Henry II (1132-89) King of England 1154-89 = Eleanor of Aquitaine | (1121-1204) | ------------------------ | | Richard I John 1189-99 (1166-1216) King of England 1199-1216 = Isabella of Angouleme | (1180-1245) | Henry III (1206-72) King of England 1216-72 = Eleanor of Provence | (1223-91) | Edward I (1239-1307) King of England 1272-1307 = Marguerite of France | (1279-1317) | Edward II (1284-c1327) King of England 1307-27 = Isabella of France | (1223-91) | Edward III (1284-c1327) King of England 1327-77 = Phillipa of Hainault | (1223-91) | ----------------------------------------------------------- | | | Edward Lionel, Duke of Clarence John of P of Wales (1338-68) Gaunt = Joan of Kent = Elizabeth de Burgh = Blanche | | (died 1363) | Richard II | Henry IV 1377-99 Phillipa of Clarence 1399-1413 (1355-82) = Mary = Edmund Mortimer, | Bohun | Earl of March | | (died 1381) Henry V | 1413-22 Elizabeth Mortimer (1371-1417) = Henry, Lord Percy | (1364-1403) | Henry Percy 2nd Earl of Northumberland (1393-1455) = Lady Eleanor Nevile | | Henry Percy 3rd Earl of Northumberland (1421-61) = Eleanor, Lady Poynings | (1432-83) | Lady Margaret Percy (1461-1524) = Sir William Gascoigne | (1459-1507) | Elizabeth Gascoigne (1504-79) = Sir George Talboys | | Cecilia Talboys = William Ingilby | | John Ingilby (died 1608) = Anne Gale | | Thomas Ingilby (1564-1622) = Anne Lawson | | John Ingilby (died 1648) = Mary Lake | | Sir Charles Ingilby (1644-1719) = Alathea Eyston | | Thomas Ingilby (1684-1729) = Elizabeth Husband | | Elizabeth Ingilby (1718-55) = James Carr | | William Carr (1747-99) = Fidelia Bulcock | | George Carr (born 1791) = Sarah Midgley | | William Carr (1823-82) = Martha Binns | | James Carr (1850-1920) = Mary Spencer | | William Carr (1883-1966) = Lenora Eddington | (1894-1970) | James Carr (born 1924) = Anne Chenery | (born 1926) | Adam Carr (born 1953) I make no claim that this table is authentic. My confidence in it is not helped by its author's attempt to take the line back to Constantine the Great by asserting that Constantius III was the son of Constantius II, a claim which any textbook will disprove. Nevertheless, having done some checking on the links in this table, I have found only one "weak link," that between the Danish royal house and the Norman ducal house. This link depends on Gunnora being a Danish princess. Todd A Farmerie writes (http://www.algonet.se/~anderzb/genea/ medieval/gunnor.htm): "The parentage of Gunnora is unknown... She has been claimed as daughter of the Danish royal family, but there is no evidence for this, and the context of her coming to the attention of Richard I and the family's subsequent rise to power militates against her being a royal daughter." But the Dailey Family Database (http://freepages.genealogy. rootsweb.com/~cdailey/Dukes%20of%20Normandy.htm) says: "Richard I, 'the Fearless', Duke of Normandy... Married... (3) Gunnora de Crepon, Denmark, Duchess of Normandy... Daughter of Harold Bluetooth and Grythe Olafsdotter." The two most improbable weddings in the table, that of Eudoxia, daughter of Emperor Valentinian III, to Huneric King of the Vandals, and of Frode VII of Denmark to the Vandal princess Hilda, appear to be authentic. These two links are necessary to a descent crossing the barrier between the ancient and mediaeval worlds. The real problem with this descent is that the alleged line of Danish kings before Gorm the Old (833-940) is very conjectural. Brian Thompsett writes: "Many historians regard much of the genealogy at this point to be purely legendary, or even mythical." There was no Kingdom of Denmark until the 9th century, so these "kings" were at most Viking chieftans. It is therefore unlikely that the descent from Hilda to Gorm can be authenticated.