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Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 1998-11 > 0910020775


From: <>
Subject: Re: Taliaferro
Date: 2 Nov 1998 07:32:55 -0800


In a message dated 11/1/98 6:54:24 PM, writes:

<<Tallifer was anything but an individual nickname which appeared in several
unrelated lineages (remember the tradition which assigns this name to the
first Norman into battle at Hastings). >>

Pons Tallifer ... the minstrel warrior who asked to strike the first blow at
Hastings and died in the process. I have never considered him an unrelated
person, but that the entire branch descended from a common ancestor. I have
always assumed he was a distant cousin of Isabella and her father.

I cannot argue the lack of surnames, but it always seemed to me that this was
one of the first attempt to use a surname, since several people referred to
themselves as such. It does not surprise me that contemporary documents do not
use the name, as surnames were not common and no one used them. I think we can
say the same about the Plantagenets. They called themselves by this name but
others did not, as a surname was not a proper form of address at this time. It
was not long after this time that surnames did come in use, so I still think
we have the prototype of a surname in families like the Tallifers, the
Plantagenets, the Talybois, etc.

- Ken

Kenneth Harper Finton
Editor/ Publisher
THE PLANTAGENET CONNECTION

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