Janet's Genealogy

Medieval sites

The medieval period is loosely defined for the purposes of this group as the period extending from the breakup of the (Western) Roman Empire until the time public records (such as church, tax, and census records) relating to the general population began to be kept. This period would extend roughly from AD 500 to AD 1600, but these limits are not intended to exclude related topics of discussion lying outside of these boundaries, e.g., royal or noble genealogy in earlier time periods....

This some the Medieval sites for my family that I found on the net.

There will other facts that are related to my family in the Medieval times.

Common Welsh Surnames

Games - rare surname derived from the Welsh word gam or cam "crooked" or "bent". It was usually added to personal names for description. This name in America became Gaines

Gough - derived from the Welsh word goch or coch "red", "one with red hair or a red complexion." Gogh, Goch, Goff, Goudge, Goodge, Gooch.

Griffiths - from the Old Welsh name Grippiud, which became Gruffudd. Modern Welsh is Gruffydd. It was frequented as a name of Welsh princes and leaders. Old documents show it commonly abbreviated as Gr'. Griffith, Griffin, Griffies, Griffis, Guto, Gruffydd, Gruffudd.

Gunter - from a German personal name meaning "battle-army"; it came to Wales with Peter Gunter, a follower of Bernard de Neufmarche.

Havard - brought to Wales when Bernard de Neufmarche gave the manor of Pontwilyn to Sir Walter Havard, recorded by historians as Walter Havre de Grace

Herbert - a surname that includes the earls of Pembrokeshire and Powis as bearers; it is most prominent in Cardiganshire and Radnorshire.

Hopkins - an English surname adopted in Wales; derived from the dim. Hob (Robert) and the ending kin. A commonly listed name in the 17th C. in Glamorgan. Hopkin, Popkin, Popkins

John - a biblical name that came as the Latin Johannes and became Welsh Ieuan. John was used after the Normans arrived. It frequently written as Sion or Shone since the letter "j" is absent from the Welsh alphabet. Evans, Shone, Jones (son of John).

Jones - "son of John"; possibly derived from both John and James. Jone.

Llewelyn - ancient Welsh personal name and popular name of medieval princes. Some sources say it derives from British names Lugobelinus and Cunobelinus; while others say it derives from Welsh llew "lion." 15th C. documents show the nickname Lleo. Flello, Flellos, Hillin, Hilling, Lello, Lellow, Lewelin, Lewhellin, Llewelin, Llewellin, Llewelling, Llewellyn, Llewelyn, Llewheling, Llewhellin, Llewhelling, Whellin, Welling, Wellins.

Mortimer - from an influential Norman family who lived in medieval Wales.

Rees - from medieval Welsh personal name Rhys, the name of several leaders and princes. Creese, Preece, Resius, Rheseus, Rhys, Rice, Riceus.

Rowlands - from German personal name Roland, from hrod "fame" + land "land," brought by the Normans. Rowland.

Taylor - an English occupational name; listed as the 4th most common name in England in Wales in 1853.

Vaughan - derived from Welsh Scottish Surnames

Boyd - Bod, Bhoid, or Boid. Possibly derived from the placename Bute.

Crawford - from the barony of Crawford in the upper ward of Clydesdale. Sir Archibald Crawford of Loudoun's sister married Malcolm Wallace and was Sir William Wallace's mother. Archibald was murdered during a banquet by the English.

Dunbar - ancestry traced to Crinan the Thane, and Seneschal of the Isles, father of King Duncan I and Maldred. Maldred's son Gopatric, was deprived of his earldom by William the Conqueror, so he fled to Scotland and made the earl of Dunbar by King Malcolm III

Gregorson - associated with Clan MacGregor.

Gregory - associated with Clan MacGregor

Gunn - Guinne. Either descended from Gunni, grandson of Sweyn Asleifsson, the Ultimate Viking (d. 1171, Dublin); or they were Pictish, and from the Welsh word gwynn. A warlike clan who held Caithness and Sutherland in the north, and constantly feuded with the Keiths and MacKays. During the Highland Clearances in Sutherland, many Gunns emigrated to New Zealand and Canada. Ganson, Galdie, Galle, Gaunson.

Stewart - Sti�bhart, Na Sti�bhartaich (Stewarts). The Royal House of Steward has a family tradition that they are descended from Banquo, thane of Lochaber; but the family has been traced to Alan, Seneschal of Dol, a Celtic noble and are basically a Lowland family. Alan's third son, Walter Fitz Alan was High Steward of Scotland under David I. Walter's grandson, Walter, adopted the title Steward as a surname. Bruce's grandson, Robert Stewart, was the first of the Royal House of Stewart. Prince Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie), son of James Francis (the Old Pretender), is the best known of the family. His uprising was ended at Culloden Moor in 1746, and he died in Rome in 1788. Stewart was changed to Stuart after Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. Stuart, Steuard, Steuart.

Stirling - first appears as a surname in the 12th C. John Stirlin of Moary swore fealty in 1291, and the Stirlings of Keir were established there in the 12th C.

Celtic Male Names of Scotland

Athol - transferred use of the name of a Perthshire district, seat of the dukes of Atholl. The placename is thought to derive from the Gaelic ath Fodla "new Ireland." Atholl, Athole

Barclay - Scottish, Irish; transferred use of the Scottish surname, which was taken to Scotland in the 12th C. by Walter de Berchelai, who became a chamberlain of Scotland in 1165. Probably derived from Berkeley in Gloucestershire, which is from OE beorc "birch tree" + leah "wood or clearing"; "birch tree meadow." In Ireland, its been anglicized in the form of Parthal�n. Berkeley.

Bruce - (Fr) "woods"; derived fr. a surname based on the place name, Braose (now Brieuse) in Normandy, and brought to Scotland by the Normans; most famous Bruce was Robert Bruce, King of Scots from 1306-29, who liberated Scotland fr. English rule at the Battle of Bannockburn.

Gregor - Gaelic Griogair (GRI-kuhr) Gaelic form of the name of St. Gregory of Tours, France; name was brought to Scotland by the Norman French and widely used in the Middle Ages, and meant "vigilant"; derived from greigh "a flock or herd"; all forms of this name were officially banned for most of the 17th and 18th C.'s for alleged misdeeds of some clan members. Gregory - (Gr) "vigilant."

Gunn - from the Norse-Viking word for "warrior"; possibly "white."

Niall - (NEEL or NYEE-all) An Old Irish name, prob. derived from nel "cloud"; or "champion." Clan MacNeill traces its ancestry to Anrothan, an Irish prince who married a Scottish princess in the 11th C. Anrothan was descended from Irish high king, Niall Naighiallach (Niall of the Nine Hostages), who was claimed as ancestors also by the Irish O'Neill's.

Celtic Male Names of Wales

Ap- - one of the prefixes used to denote "son of", as is "O" in Ireland and "Mac" in Ireland and Scotland

Griffin - (GRIFF-in) from the mythological beast. From Welsh cryf "strong" + udd "lord." Several medieval rulers bore Gruffudd, a variant.

Griffith - (GRIF-ith) from Welsh cryf "strong" + udd "lord"; possibly also "red-haired." Gruffudd, Gruffydd.

Griflet - name of one of the first Knights; King Arthur accepted him even though he was very young.

Llywelyn - (lhu-WEL-en) from Welsh llwy "leader, steerer" + eilun "image." Nicknames Llelo (LHE-loh) and Llew (LHE-oo), which is also Welsh for "lion."

Morgan - (MOHR-gahn) from Welsh mor "sea" or mawr "great, big" + can "bright" or cant "circle" or geni "born." Could mean "big circle", "bright circle", "bright sea", or "sea-born"; or "dwells near the sea." Male or female name. Most famous Morgan is probably Morgan la Fee, King Arthur's half-sister and famed sorceress. Morcan, Morgant (MOHR-gahnt). Celtic Male Names of Brittany

Alan - (AH-lan) Introduced to England by the Breton contingent of William the Conquerer's forces. St. Alan was a 6th C. bishop of Quimper

WELSH PATRONYMICS

John/ Jones - from the English name, John which was adopted in Wales after the Norman invasion

William ap Thomas

The Misty Origins of the Barclays

and

The Misty Origins of the Barclays

THE GOLDEN FALCON

Hereditary titles

The de Braose

the de Chaumont family

Medieval Rules and Rituals: Love and Marriage

Burke's Peerage & Gentry Today

Some notes on medieval English genealogy" are at:

Some notes on medieval English genealogy

Some corrections and additions to the Complete Peerage" section, at:

Some corrections and additions to the Complete Peerage

Genuki site

The tendency towards Virginia having the highest proportion of immigrants descended from traceable medieval lineage is hardly surprising considering the calibre of the subscribers/shareholders in the Virginia Company of London. One only needs to read the names listed in the Second Charter of May 23 1609 and the Third Charter of March 12 1612 to gain the impression that they derived from aristocratic, armigerous and the mercantile classes who had the highest likelihood of Plantagenet ancestry. We only have to add their own family connections to increase the numbers of those interested in exploiting a new source of wealth, to create a great genetic pool by which the medieval lineages migrated from England to the US.

The University of Oklahoma Law Center

and The University of Oklahoma Law Center

Tony Belmonte's Historical Atlas of Europe & the Middle East

"The Purpose of Domesday Book: a Quandary", by William E. Kapelle (1992)

The Purpose of Domesday Book: a Quandary

"Domesday: the Inquest and the Book", text of a lecture by David Roffe

Domesday: the Inquest and the Book

Magna Carta

the Gen-Medieval List archives

Addenda to Les Anc�tres de Charlemagne

The Domesday book

MAXIMILIAN GENEALOGY

Paul B. McBride's Genealogy

There is more to come

Email me

Janet at [email protected]