“Everyone is descended from william the conqueror”

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I’ve heard this before and wondering how true it is.

Because I’ve just traced one branch of my family back that far. Henry 3rd is my 21x great grandfather according to everything I’ve found. I can go further back than William the conqueror to various noble men of Normandy and Rollo the Viking.

@merrymouse

www.scientificamerican.com/article/humans-are-all-more-closely-related-than-we-commonly-think/

According to this, it’s possible to be a direct descendant but have no genetic link.

Interesting article. Though I can’t find Charlemange yet in my family tree. But I am related to one of the Louis’s of France, maybe Louis the 8th….maybe I need to investigate some of the branches more.

The thing about looping is also correct. So I’m related to Prince Charles because the Queen is something like my 23rd cousin twice removed. But I’m also related to Prince Phillip through his mother and the danish and Greek royal family.

For people with European heritage, everybody who lived a 1000 years ago or more is either their ancestor or the ancestor of no one because their line of descent has died out. We are all direct descendants, how can you be anything else. Think of a historic figure whose line has survived and they are your ancestor, Alfred the Great, Brian Boru etc. At the most, everyone in the UK is your 26th cousin, but probably much closer.

Descent rapidly becomes meaningless as we are all amazingly inbred. You share no DNA with half of your ancestors from as recently as 350 years ago. By the time you get to 1000 years you probably share very little DNA. We are all related to each other abd i think that is wonderful.

One of my friends has done a family tree and we’ve realised that we have a common ancestor from about 400 years ago. So that’s nice and unexpected

I am doing an online genealogy course at the moment and it has the following paragraph in which is of interest to this thread maybe:

"Many individuals claim to be descended from those who fought with William the Conqueror. There are two reasons to doubt this; firstly, very few had hereditary surnames by 1066. Secondly, there is much dispute over the Battle Abbey Roll, purportedly a list of those who were present at Hastings, but produced many years after the event and believed to have been added to later. There is in fact only one surname for which a probable line of descent can be traced to the present day: MALET. The Domesday Book, surveyed 1085-
1086, does include some hereditary surnames."

I think it is arguing that no-one really used surnames until later, so it would be very hard to prove a link I think, evan if there is one.

@Saker

You are correct, we are all descended from the likes of Charlemagne, Alfred the Great etc, the problem is that fir the overwhelming majority of people the records don't exist to prove it.
Out of interest, what is the online course you are doing

It is this one from the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies. It is the second in a series of 3. I can recommend it to anyone interested.
Broadening your family tree.

@Mufflette

Not rare to be a direct descendant (as other have said, we mostly all are), but most people won't have done the work to be able to show it!

Surely we are all direct descendants of someone?

If your family have a habit of marrying other members of the family you obviously make faster progress towards a single ancestor eg the Queen and Prince Philip were cousins , I think great grandchildren of Victoria, which is why if you go down the line of succession you get to Danish monarchy

I'm very sceptical about this for two reasons

Pedigree collapse. Meaning our ancestors often married cousins, especially prior to industrialisation. This skews the maths.

Social class. That it was extrmeley difficult to marry outside your social class. That 80% of people were labourers, agricultural & later industrial, so it was very unlikely that they even met a member of the aristocracy or ruling elite in their whole lifetime, never mind marry into them.

There is no doubt about it. It has been demonstrated to be true both genetically and through mathematical modelling, Danny Dyer being the perfect example. Check out 'A brief history of everyone who ever lived' by Adam Rutherford, a brilliant book that explains it all.

Hello,
Your post concerning William the Conquer interested me. Some time ago relative told be she had traced us back to being the 32nd great grandchildren. I think this was through the Bassets, does that mean anything to you?
Thanks