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From:
Subject: Re: Solution to the identity of Iseult. wife of Hugh de Audley
Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 13:39:52 EST



In a message dated 1/26/02 7:49:19 AM, writes:

"medieval people kept track of their kinfolk out to the 5th degree, no doubt
to satisfy religious authorities who prohibited marriages within the 5th
degree." -Douglas Richardson

"Well, I wouldn't go so far as to call this a general rule. But certainly
this is the limit of most contemporary discussion of medieval genealogical
relationships that we can find today." -Nat Taylor >>

If, in general, the medieval folk knew their ancestors back to the 5th degree
because they needed to known this so that they would not fall into prohibited
marriages, what does this tell us about the validity of traditional oral
pedigrees? One point, for a believer, is that to lie or misrepresent such a
connection might fool man but I assume that they believed that it would not
fool God.

Of course, if everyone 'knew' their ancestors back 5 degrees, we would have
had a complete record had so much of it not been lost. Some was lost through
deterioration of the written records and some was lost through the lack of
necessity to remember orally back more tha five degrees. Any comments?

- Ken

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