# I'm descended from Henry II of England! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 5, 2007, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-descended-from-henry-ii-of-england/406911 "2007-06-05T23:09:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-descended-from-henry-ii-of-england/406911/1 "2007-06-05T23:09:13Z")
I’ve been tracing my ancestry for the last three years, and have never found anyone other than the usual lot of agricultural labourers (and one TV actor in the 1960’s and 70’s who was my first cousin, but never mind that). But last week I made the sort of breakthrough that most amateur genealogists only ever dream of, and proved beyond reasonable doubt that I am the 26-greats grandson of King Henry II of England (reigned 1154-1189). He was the king who had Archbishop Thomas Becket killed in Canterbury Cathedral, though he probably didn’t mean for anyone to actually kill him. He owned more land in France than the French king. He invented the concept of criminal law. I wouldn’t describe myself as particularly monarchist, but I couldn’t help being dead chuffed at this. Mundane and pointless, yes. But I don’t care. I want to tell someone. You lot will do. ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-descended-from-henry-ii-of-england/406911/2 "2007-06-05T23:13:42Z")
[QUOTE=Alive At Both Ends] I’ve been tracing my ancestry for the last three years, and have never found anyone other than the usual lot of agricultural labourers (and one TV actor in the 1960’s and 70’s who was my first cousin, but never mind that). But last week I made the sort of breakthrough that most amateur genealogists only ever dream of, and proved beyond reasonable doubt that I am the 26-greats grandson of King Henry II of England (reigned 1154-1189). He was the king who had Archbishop Thomas Becket killed in Canterbury Cathedral, though he probably didn’t mean for anyone to actually kill him. He owned more land in France than the French king. He invented the concept of criminal law. I wouldn’t describe myself as particularly monarchist, but I couldn’t help being dead chuffed at this. Mundane and pointless, yes. But I don’t care. I want to tell someone. You lot will do. [/QUOTE] Through which child are you descended? Is it a legitimate line or not? If legitimate, you are also descended through Eleanor of Aquitaine (not the Doper) who is a pretty amazing historical figure herself. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-descended-from-henry-ii-of-england/406911/3 "2007-06-05T23:16:19Z")
I wonder how many living ancestors any individual from the twelfth century has? Pretty cool that you managed to trace back that far though. Was it made easier when you hit some aristocracy or landed gentry whose tree was relatively easy to find? ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-descended-from-henry-ii-of-england/406911/4 "2007-06-05T23:17:59Z")
William de Longespee, 3rd Earl of Salisbury. Not legitimate, but he was recognised by Henry as his son. Struan - yes, I was tracing routine ancestors back when I found an ancestor who was a member of a noble family. After that it was easy to get back to royalty, most of those family trees are online. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-descended-from-henry-ii-of-england/406911/5 "2007-06-05T23:48:18Z")
[QUOTE=Struan] I wonder how many living ancestors any individual from the twelfth century has? [/QUOTE] None. Living descendants are another story, though 😛 [This guy](http://humphrysfamilytree.com/famous.descents.html) says “It’s been said that all English descend from Edward I”. Edward I was a descendant of Henry II (specifically, his great-grandson), so probably most people with English ancestry descend from Henry II. I don’t think there’s much reason to think that Henry II would be unusual for the twelfth century in terms of living descendants today, though there are of course a few people from then who have no living descendants now. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-descended-from-henry-ii-of-england/406911/6 "2007-06-05T23:52:41Z")
[QUOTE=Anne Neville] None. Living descendants are another story, though 😛 [/QUOTE] Fuck! :smack: I rephrased that sentence a couple of times too, and never noticed the glaring error. ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-descended-from-henry-ii-of-england/406911/7 "2007-06-05T23:58:24Z")
[QUOTE=Anne Neville] [This guy](http://humphrysfamilytree.com/famous.descents.html) says “It’s been said that all English descend from Edward I”. Edward I was a descendant of Henry II (specifically, his great-grandson), so probably most people with English ancestry descend from Henry II. [/QUOTE] Well yes, I know that (I think Cecil did a column on the subject which I’m too lazy to find just now), but very few people can actually \*prove \*a line of descent. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-descended-from-henry-ii-of-england/406911/8 "2007-06-06T00:03:10Z")
Coooooooooooooooool. 🆒 🆒 I bow in your presence, Majesty! (One of my great-great-somethings was a Governor General of Canada, and I apparently may or may not have a title, but I’m too lazy to go and find out. :D) ---
**Author:** ![Capatalist\_Lion\_Tamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71c47a/32.png) [@Capatalist\_Lion\_Tamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capatalist_Lion_Tamer)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-descended-from-henry-ii-of-england/406911/9 "2007-06-06T00:05:05Z")
[QUOTE=Alive At Both Ends] I’ve been tracing my ancestry for the last three years, and have never found anyone other than the usual lot of agricultural labourers (and one TV actor in the 1960’s and 70’s who was my first cousin, but never mind that). But last week I made the sort of breakthrough that most amateur genealogists only ever dream of, and proved beyond reasonable doubt that I am the 26-greats grandson of King Henry II of England (reigned 1154-1189). He was the king who had Archbishop Thomas Becket killed in Canterbury Cathedral, though he probably didn’t mean for anyone to actually kill him. He owned more land in France than the French king. He invented the concept of criminal law. I wouldn’t describe myself as particularly monarchist, but I couldn’t help being dead chuffed at this. Mundane and pointless, yes. But I don’t care. I want to tell someone. You lot will do. [/QUOTE] If illegitimate, you should join the [Descendants of the Illegitimate Sons and Daughters of the Kings of Britain](http://www.royalbastards.org) . Otherwise known as the “Royal Bastards”. It is great fun to have that certificate on your wall. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-descended-from-henry-ii-of-england/406911/10 "2007-06-06T00:06:02Z")
[QUOTE=Alive At Both Ends] Well yes, I know that (I think Cecil did a column on the subject which I’m too lazy to find just now), but very few people can actually \*prove \*a line of descent. [/QUOTE] Definitely. I’m not saying that it isn’t cool that you can prove a line of descent- it definitely is. I just find the whole common-ancestor thing fascinating, too. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-descended-from-henry-ii-of-england/406911/11 "2007-06-06T00:22:05Z")
I’m descended from Adam! And Niall of the Nine Hostages, of course. DNA tests proved it, but one in twelve Irishmen are. > **[The Line of Ir - Irish Pedigrees](https://www.libraryireland.com/Pedigrees1/Ir.php)** > > The Line of Ir, from 'Irish Pedigrees, or the Stem of the Irish Nation', by John O'Hart But I am descended from Ir, it seems, through Iomhar. > **[Reynolds (No.1) family genealogy - Irish Pedigrees](https://www.libraryireland.com/Pedigrees1/Reynolds1Ir.php)** > > Reynolds (No.1), from 'Irish Pedigrees, or the Stem of the Irish Nation', by John O'Hart If you keep following that back, you get to the stem of the Irish Nation. > **[The Stem of the Irish Nation - Irish Pedigrees](https://www.libraryireland.com/Pedigrees1/Stem.php)** > > The Stem of the Irish Nation, from Irish Pedigrees; or the Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation, by John O'Hart Ir’s father, Milesius, who chased the Danan out of ireland, is listed as 36th on that list… 36 generations from Adam. The point at which this genealogy goes from fact to fiction is… something a little hard to figure out. There’s circumstantial evidence someone existed who might have been Milesius. Which means that my ancestors were the ones that kicked the faeries underground. Yep. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-descended-from-henry-ii-of-england/406911/12 "2007-06-06T00:29:36Z")
[QUOTE=Caricci] Through which child are you descended? Is it a legitimate line or not? If legitimate, you are also descended through Eleanor of Aquitaine (not the Doper) who is a pretty amazing historical figure herself. [/QUOTE] Not to mention that Henry II must be traceable for hundreds of years before that, going all the way to Hrolf the Dane, ancestor of William the Conqueror. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-descended-from-henry-ii-of-england/406911/13 "2007-06-06T00:58:03Z")
Congrats, O kinsman! My last ruling English king ancestor was [Edward I](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_I_of_England) via his daughter, Joan of Acre. I once worked it out that Prince Charles and I are 26th cousins, 4 times removed. 😉 Ah, the romance of pedigree! ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-descended-from-henry-ii-of-england/406911/14 "2007-06-06T01:04:02Z")
What’s it gonna take to score a knighthood my Royal Highness ? Thought I better start with a little brown nosing . We’ll move on to the bigger stuff later. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-descended-from-henry-ii-of-england/406911/15 "2007-06-06T01:24:19Z")
[QUOTE=Omegaman] What’s it gonna take to score a knighthood my Royal Highness ? Thought I better start with a little brown nosing . We’ll move on to the bigger stuff later. [/QUOTE] Getting one over those dastardly French is a pretty safe bet for an Earldom, at the very least. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-descended-from-henry-ii-of-england/406911/16 "2007-06-06T01:33:08Z")
I’m descended from Sir Humphrey Gilbert, half-brother to Sir Walter Raleigh (they shared the same mother) and discoverer of Newfoundland. I believe he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I for his efforts at slaughtering the godless Irish. Supposedly, the pathway up to his tent was lined with the skulls of those he had had executed. Of course, I have lots of Irish in me, too, especially on my mother’s side. The Gilbert surname in my line lasted to my great-grandmother; it was she who, in the 1870s, married the man carrying my surname today. That surname has been traced back to 1690 Switzerland, the Basel area. I’ve been there and met descendants of the family who did not emigrate to the New World. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-descended-from-henry-ii-of-england/406911/17 "2007-06-06T01:36:16Z")
Congratulations! You might want to avoid the phrase, “Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?” 🙂 I just finished reading the book by Bryan Sykes published in Canada under the title of [Saxons, Vikings and Celts](http://www.amazon.ca/Saxons-Vikings-Celts-Bryan-Sykes/dp/0393062686/ref=pd_bowtega_3/701-6092165-4875503?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181093489&sr=1-3) and in the UK under the tilte of Blood of the Isles. It’s quite fascinating on the subject of the ancestry of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales based on mitochrondrial and Y chromosome DNA analysis. It’s very interesting on the subject of the relatively small ancestor pool. O/T, I find the general deep ancestry subject interesting, and I think it was one of Sykes’ other books that referenced the huge ripple that Genghis Khan caused in the DNA pool in Asia as determined through Y chromosome analysis. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-descended-from-henry-ii-of-england/406911/18 "2007-06-06T04:00:10Z")
[QUOTE=Struan] Getting one over those dastardly French is a pretty safe bet for an Earldom, at the very least. [/QUOTE] I’m not settleing for a French one . That’s no good . Have you ever held a piece of steel crafted by the French in your hand? My, My , My it looks like little kids made it. No thanks. I’ll wait. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-descended-from-henry-ii-of-england/406911/19 "2007-06-06T04:05:02Z")
[QUOTE=Omegaman] I’m not settleing for a French one . That’s no good . Have you ever held a piece of steel crafted by the French in your hand? My, My , My it looks like little kids made it. No thanks. I’ll wait. [/QUOTE] You misunderstand. Foiling a French plot is a sure way to get a British Earldom. And don’t knock French engineering - the TGV is way better than us Brits have ever managed. ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-descended-from-henry-ii-of-england/406911/20 "2007-06-06T05:30:53Z")
Aha! And when will Your Majesty upend the lot of Latter Day Lancastrians, Yorkists usurpers, Tudors, Stuarts and Hanovarians, and restore the glory of the Avegin Plantagents? On that day when Betty Saxe-Coburg and her lot are sent packing, I hope you will remember those who fawned on you early and often. I, for one, welcome our new Plantagenet overlord. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-descended-from-henry-ii-of-england/406911.md?page=2)