by Don C Stone and Charles R Owens

Winner of the 2010 Charles F H Evans award

In most printed histories and reference works the first wife of Byzantine Emperor Isaakios II Angelos is described as unknown. She had married Isaakios, borne him several children, and died, all before Isaakios became emperor. In Section 1 we review evidence relating to the name of this first wife and some relationships that might involve her, concluding that she is very likely the daughter of Demetrios Tornikes, logothetes of the dromos (foreign minister) of emperors Isaakios II and Alexios III. In Section 2 we present a genealogical sketch of the Tornikes family, noting biographical details that further support this parentage.

by Andrew B W MacEwen

This paper rehabilitates the traditional year of Sir James the Steward’s birth, names his first two wives, explains the late date of his third marriage to Giles de Burgh, and provides information about their four known children. It posits a double marriage alliance between the Stewarts and Comyns about 1240, clarifies the date of birth of Robert II, and establishes the circumstances of his mother’s death in 1317. It incidentally brings forward some overlooked information on the Muschamp family and shows when Sir William, earl of Mar, actually died. Lastly it draws together what little is known concerning Sir Nicholas Campbell (d.1305), whose representation passed to the Lochawe branch.

by Andrew B W MacEwen

The author offers additions and corrections to his Keith and Gordon notes published in the Tribute to Charles Evans. Three Keith obits have survived in a little known source. The original readings are restored to several passages of the text.

by Michael Andrews-Reading

This brief paper looks at suggested identifications of the mother of Sir John Hawkwood, the 14th century English knight who made his name and fortune as a mercenary in Italy, and proposes that one of them is supported by other contemporaneous documentation.

by Paul Martin Remfry

This paper is based on the talk given by the author at the Annual Meeting of the FMG in London on 31 October 2009. He discusses the evidence supporting the relationships of the first two Mortimer lords of Wigmore in the Welsh marches.

by Charles Clifton Chancey

Evidence for a line of hereditary viscounts of Abbeville, Pont-Remy and Canchy exists in the cartularies of Ponthieu, Normandy, and Artois in northern France. The evidence points to an origin sometime during the first decades of the 11th century, with suzerainty over parishes and estates scattered between the Bresle and Canche rivers. This article reviews the charter evidence and suggests a possible pedigree.

by M Sjöström

The present study assesses family legends in the process of critical reconstruction of some lineages through the 1400s-1500s. Landed inheritances in Vehkalahti are the principal basis for the genealogical reconstruction, these families sharing a common feature: both lineages held allodial land both in Hietakylä of Pampyöli and in Reitkalli of Vehkalahti. Many relevant family connections are revealed by analysing the lands and inheritances of one lady, Kirsti (born bef. c.1495, d.c.1553) and her close relations - reconstruction reveals her as a scion of the Vilken lineage. The study concludes that in the Vilken lineage, there must have existed during the 1400s two equal brothers, one being ancestral to the aristocratic family of the Horn of Kankainen and the other being direct forefather of the still-surviving Husgafvel family. The article argues that knight Henrikki Laavunpoika (progenitor of the said prominent family of Kankainen, including several notables such as five field marshals surnamed Horn), was the son of that lady Kirsti whose mother was Matleena Niilontytär of Poitsila. Conclusions are drawn about the chronology and inheritances of main representatives of the two early-branched lineages, the Junkar and the Vilken, which are one of the earliest surviving families in Finland, whose earliest attested ancestor flourished in the last decades of the 1300s.

by Jeremy Goldsmith

Heraldry, the study of coats of arms, can be of assistance to the medieval genealogist. The major sources of seals, rolls of arms, and sepulchral monuments are here considered, with reference to their use in corroborating the genealogical evidence disclosed by conventional documents. Paper based on a talk given at the FMG AGM in October 2010.

by Olivier Mistral

translated from French by Patrick Evans

For many years work in France by Karl Werner, followed by that of Christian Settipani, has shed considerable light on the status of the Robertians, particularly as regards their ancestry, which is probably linked with a large clan which for its part contributed to the rise of the Carolingians. Whatever the case, their family has its origins along the Rhine and is closely related to the Carolingians and to the family of Queen Ermentrude, first wife of Charles the Bald. Starting from the work of Christian Settipani in his book on the Robertians, I attempt to clarify various hypotheses concerning this family for the period between Robert the Strong and Hugh Capet. Adelaide, wife of Robert the Strong, is thought to be related both to the family of Adalard the Seneschal and to the family of Empress Hildegarde. Teodrade, wife of King Odo [Eudes], is considered to be related to the Rorgonides. Adelaide, wife of Hugh Capet, is probably not from the family of the Counts of Poitiers, but could be a relative of the Counts Roger/Hugh, descended from the Unrochides.

  view original complete article in French