Genealogy In Medieval Europe

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GENERAL GENEALOGY STUFF
Genealogy served an important legal, cultural, historical and social function in medieval Europe. Genealogical narratives of history were an expression of social memory that developed in medieval period. As described by Gabrielle Spiegel, French chronicles used genealogical history in a series of biographies linked by hereditary succession to narrate a history based on generations, not a calendar or annalistic notion of time. The use of genealogies in historical narratives in France appeared at the same time as the noble families began to organize and envision themselves into ‘vertical structures’ based on a hereditary lineage. This suggests that genealogical constructs of historical narratives were a reflection of social developments. The social and cultural evolution of how prestige and …show more content…

The longer the lineage of descent, then stronger the argument for legitimacy. Howard Bloch identified a development in Medieval Europe where the possession of land shifted from a ‘horizontal’ ownership between family members, to a more ‘vertical/temporal’ system, where the land is kept as one whole and ownership is transferred on the principle of primogeniture. The relationship between land and the family that possessed it changed gradually from one that was orientated more towards kinship groups and patrimony to one that was centred on indivisible ‘family lands’, which fostered a line of descent of individual land holders. Thus ‘length of time became associated with prestige’. The further back a family’s forebears could be traced, the more a family was regarded as older and established. This, combined with demonstrating dynastic prestige through legendary ancestors, is a powerful motive for the pedigree to extend all the way back to Noah. Moreover, the use of myths to explain the origins of a people and their rulers was widespread in medieval Europe. Canterbury MS 1 is part of a long tradition of genealogical narratives

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