CREATESPACE The Ancestors of James E. Conway: Volume III

This work, in three volumes, takes the documented ancestry of James Edward Conway from his Gateway Ancestor, Anne Couvent, to notable historical figures in medieval history. To name just a few, in these pages you will find King Henri Capet of France, Charlemagne, Alfred the Great, Kenneth MacAlpin, William the Conqueror, St. Margaret of Scotland, King Henry II and his queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, the semi-legendary Viking leader Ragnar Lodbrok as well as documented Vikings such as Harold Fair Hair, and Rollo the Dane, with many other kings and queens of medieval Europe. The document ends with Merovech who fought Attila the Hun in 451 A.D. and with Cerdic of Wessex, the earliest documented ancestor of the English royal line. The three volumes each contain more than 400 pages of narrative text with hundreds of unique footnotes and references. The references that I have used in most cases are the same as those used by hereditary societies to track the ancestry of their applicants. ORGANIZATION: This book begins with John Conway in generation 1, as person number 1. Generation 2 consists of his parents as persons 2 and 3. Generation 3 shows his four grandparents as persons 4, 5, 6, and 7 and so forth. To find any person’s father, double their number. To find that person’s mother, double their number and add 1. This follows the numbering pattern on a standard pedigree chart and is known as an ahnentafel pedigree. COATS OF ARMS: Where possible, I have shown the historical Coats of Arms associated with each individual. Daughters typically have the same Coat of Arms as their father. Some notable exceptions are queens, as they typically carried both the Coat of Arms of their father and their husband in pale, or on the same shield, split vertically. Heraldry can tell the story of a lineage all its own. In some cases, the pedigree goes back before the age of heraldry. For example, it is doubtful that Charlemagne carried the shield shown beside his name. It is, however, the Coat of Arms that has been attributed to him. In other cases, such as the early Viking ancestry of some of the ancestors in this book, I have attributed a Coat of Arms to bring attention to the line. In some of the earliest cases, the history goes back to recited tales of lineage. At this point documentation ceases and tradition begins. Where these can be found in reference material, I have included them. One must realize that documents from the Dark Ages, were not up to the modern standards of the 21st century. When there is a standard English usage, I have followed that. William the Conqueror is used and not Guillaume le Conquérant. Frederick is used rather than Friedrich. I use Alfonso and Pedro rather than Alphonse and Peter for Spanish names. Total consistency, alas, is not possible and probably not desirable in a work spanning several languages and more than a thousand years. Place names appear in a broadly recognizable form or in their modern forms. All calendar dates have been modified to reflect the new year beginning on 1 January. In the footnotes, Arabic numerals after book titles refer to page numbers unless noted otherwise. Surnames were not commonly used in the early Middle Ages. Generally, people were known by the places where they were born, or by their father’s name, or the lands they owned such as Brabant or Artois. In England the term de is frequently used. In the index, for example, surnames alphabetize without the article de, Fitz, of, etc. You’ll find de Montfort, de Coligny, and de Montbel listed under Montfort, Coligny, and Montbel. Many people have no surname at all, especially the wives of many notables. Often, they are listed by their given names at the beginning of the index. Patronymics were often used. In Norway, Olafsson means son of Olaf. In Scotland, MacDonald means son of Donald. In England, Fitz Osbern means son of Osbern. In Ireland, O’Neill means son of Neill. In Spain, Martinez means son of Martin.