| Many people believe that all of their
ancestors originally came from one particular
country. Even though they may be 100% correct
about some of their ancestors, they are unaware
of the bigger picture.
When viewed within a
2,000 year time frame, it appears impossible to
have ancestors from Ireland and not have
ancestors from Italy, or to have ancestors from
Scotland and not have ancestors from Turkey, or
to have ancestors from Portugal and not have
ancestors from Russia, etc.
For instance look back just 1,000 years to the
family of Jaroslaw I Vlasimirowitsch, Grand Duke
of Kiev. In 1009 he married Ingegard of Sweden.
Without looking further back, we at least know
that all nine or so of his children have both
Russian and Swedish ancestry.
Within just a couple of centuries, his six
sons had descendants scattered throughout all
points of Europe, and probably well into Asia.
But let's look at just the three daughters.
One daughter married Andreas I, King of
Hungaria. Their daughter married a king of
Bohemia, and had children. So in just a few
generations their children have at least Russian,
Swedish, Hungarian, and Bohemian ancestry.
Another daughter married Harald Hardrada, King
of Norway. Before 1400, she had descendants in
Alencon, Anhalt, Aragon, Athens, Austria, Bar,
Bavaria, Bohemia, Bourbon, Brabant, Brandenburg,
Brittany, Brunswick, Burgundy, Calabria, Castile,
Constantinople, Cracow, Cyprus, Denmark, Durazzo,
England, Estonia, Exorica, Flanders, France,
Galacia, Gandia, Germany, Gravina, Grubenhagen,
Hainault, Hapsburg, Hessen, Holland, Holstein,
Homberg, Hungary, Ingolstadt, Kalisz, Lorraine,
Luxemburg, Majorca, Mecklenburg, Molina, Moncada,
Monferrat, Monthemer, Morea, Naples, Narbonne,
Nassau, Navarre, Norway, Novgorod, Orleans,
Palatine of Rhine, Perche, Perigord, Poland,
Pommern, Poznan, Provence, Ribagorza, Rugen,
Russia, St. Pol, Savoy, Saxony, Schleswig,
Scotland, Serbia, Sicily, Slavonia, Sweden,
Taranto, Thessalonica, Toledo, Tortosa, Toulouse,
Urgel, Valencia, Valois, Vienna, Waldeck,
Wroclaw, and many other places.
But by comparison, a much larger
high-probability intersection was created by the
other sister. She married Henri I, King of
France. The probability of passing through this
one intersection multiple times if you follow
your ancestral trails long enough must be
amazingly close to 100%.
As a rule of thumb, it's usually true that
kings begat kings. But quite often, it's equally
true that kings begat many other children, who
begat many other children, who begat many other
children, etc. The royal genes spread profusely
throughout the general populations of many
countries within several centuries.
At the time the small number of Mayflower
families began creating their estimated
30,000,000 descendants living today, how many
families throughout Europe were creating
descendants of Russian couple Jaroslaw I
Vlasimirowitsch, Grand Duke of Kiev, and Ingegard
of Sweden? Tens of Thousands? Hundreds of
Thousands? More?
While traveling along all of your own
ancestral trails that will lead you back to
Jaroslaw I Vlasimirowitsch, Grand Duke of Kiev,
and Ingegard of Sweden, it seems inevitable that
you will pass through every country in Europe.
|
