My medieval ancestors were Spanish royalty.

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fernandoiii

Ferdinand III King of Castile (1100s), one of my ancestors.

Last night I worked my family tree back through the 800s (through my maternal grandfather’s side) and found out some of my ancestors were Spanish royalty! They settled in France in the late 1000s and 1100s and eventually migrated to England.

I never knew I had Spanish ancestry. I knew there was French in my background because one of my aunts used to be really into genealogy before she died and found out about the French ancestors, but she probably didn’t go back any farther to find out they originally came from Spain. This is only one line of the family tree though — so far, I was able to go back the farthest on that line because the record-keeping was so good. Maybe they kept better records for the royals though.  This is the most interesting finding so far.

Ancestry.com is addictive af. It’s keeping me up late when I should be sleeping!

This is a fabulous distraction from all the politics and news I’ve been so obsessed with.  I think it’s a healthier obsession — even though I’m still following the news too.

14 thoughts on “My medieval ancestors were Spanish royalty.”

    • Sign up on Ancestry.com. It’s easier than I thought. I only signed up 3 nights ago with no information beyond my grandparents and went back this far already through my maternal grandfather. It’s a little confusing to navigate at first but once you catch on, it’s really easy.

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  2. Thanks for sharing about your findings, its very interesting. Can I ask how much you ended up paying for this service?

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  3. That’s awesome!!! I had my DNA tested and learned I am part Scandinavian and Japanese. It was a big shock to me since I am African-American…lol so now I am in the process of searching for my ancestors too.

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  4. I adore Ancestry.com. I completed my family genealogy that my father had worked on for thirty years. He did it the hard way, traveling to different states and countries and looking up written records. I got the job done with the online tools. Discovered the “horrible family secrets”..one gggp was a mulatto on a census (gee, no we are pure white according to my idiot brother) and a Jewish forbear from Spain that emigrated to France during the inquisition. Dad would have been proud of that ancestor as he thought “the Jews were educated and cultured when my ancestors were running naked and painting themselves blue”. What’s really great is finding relatives that are still living and being able to contact them. Oh, and Ruby? It is free for the first month. then there are a variety of payment plans and options. starting around 10 dollars a month last time I looked.

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  5. See? I told you everybody has royal blood eventually. 😀 That’s around the same time my ancestors were ruling Scotland. Yet by the time I came around, the family was common people/farmers living in Michigan. 🙂

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    • There’s a rumor that I’m also related to William the Conqueror, but it can’t be on this line since I’ve gone back farther than 1066 (or the 1000s in general) and that far back, this part of the family line hadn’t arrived in the British Isles yet — so if that’s true, it must be through another ancestor. Supposedly it’s also down my maternal grandfather’s line. But some branches haven’t been completed yet. There’a another rumor I’m related to Pocahontas (Powhatan tribe). That would be on my dad’s side, if it’s true. I have a lot more work to do.

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  6. Mine too 😃😃😃 and my last name written on one of the most antique colonial churches of the city 😜😜😜.

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