January 2006:  Link to full contents list for this issue. 

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• Royal Genealogy and the Gothic Thesis in Medieval Iberian Historiography (by Andrew Devereux)

Winner of the 2005 Charles F H Evans award

This paper examines claims of dynastic continuity linking the monarchs of medieval Castile to the earlier Visigothic kings of Hispania, arguing that the unlikely choice of the Visigoths as progenitors allowed medieval chroniclers to develop a biblical and providential model against which to frame Castilian history. This historiographical theme was deployed as a means to explain the Muslim conquest of large parts of Iberia as well as to prophecy the eventual success of the Castilian “reconquest”.

• Some Internet Resources for Medieval Genealogy  (by Chris Phillips)

The author's regular update for readers of Foundations, concerning Internet resources available to medieval genealogists.

• The Political Role of Solomon, the Exilarch, c.715-759 CE (part 1)  (by David H Kelley)

This two-part article treats the hereditary Jewish rulers known as Exilarchs, claimed as male-line descendants of King David. Part one discusses methodology and reviews 19th and 20th century scholarship on the history and genealogy of the Exilarchs. It then treats the seventh-century Exilarch Bustanai, his two wives (one Jewish and one a Persian princess), and their descendants. All this is background for part two, which will discuss the political role of the eighth-century Exilarch Solomon.

• Thomas Ellis, Gentleman and Merchant, Alderman and Mayor of Doncaster  (by John M Ellis)

Born at the very end of the medieval period, Thomas Ellis was a philanthropist who was active in local affairs and business in south Yorkshire. The author has researched the surviving records to create a prosopographical account of his life and work.

• The Five Odards: Their role in Northern England and Scotland in the 12th Century and some of their Descendants  (by MichaelAnne Guido)

At the beginning of the twelfth century there were five separate men named Odard who played a prominent role in Northern England and Scotland. This article will look at these men and their descendants who included: Sir Christopher Seton, the Viscount family, as well as the families of Horton, Swinton, Warwick, Bonkyl and others.

• A Vignette of the Family of Chiche of Canterbury and Other Parts of Kent (by Kenneth W Jacob)

The family of Chiche of Canterbury, Kent (12th-16th centuries) epitomizes the rise and fall of many within Kentish society in that period. A number of them were moneyers of the Canterbury mint in the 12th and 13th centuries, rising to the rank of gentry before this branch of the family disappeared from prominence.