GENEALOGY

the study of family origins and history. Genealogists compile lists of ancestors, which they arrange in pedigree charts. In forms varying from rudimentary to the comparatively complex, genealogy is found in all nations and periods. Genealogy is international in its scope and interest and, though now principally confined to European and American countries, has been studied in all civilized parts of the world. Wherever there has been a hereditary monarchy or aristocracy (e.g., China and Japan), genealogy has been a necessity as well as a pastime. In Muslim countries descent from the Prophet Muhammad and claims on the caliphate have always had a political as well as a religious significance. In non-Christian countries the frequent practice of polygamy, the legal status given to concubinage, and the habit of adoption (as in India) have added problems of their own. Because genealogy is an international science, attempts have been made to secure a uniform system of signs and abbreviations for universal use in constructing pedigrees. The first International Congress of Heraldry and Genealogy, held in Barcelona in 1928, greatly helped to stimulate interest on a worldwide basis. Many countries now possess societies for promoting genealogical research, and some have even established university professorships in it. The genealogist needs to have some knowledge of paleography, to help him decipher ancient records (e.g., parish registers and rolls, like the so-called Roll of Battle Abbey), and of chronology, so that he can recognize variations in the calendars and assess regnal years, etc. A knowledge of older languages such as Latin, as well as of the modern languages, is especially helpful. Old deeds, charters, seals, coins, medals, banners, tapestries (for example, the Bayeux tapestry), paintings, tombs, gravestones, and monumental tablets such as brasses may also provide valuable information. Genealogy no longer concerns itself exclusively with the lineage of the highly placed but has an equal concern for all sorts and conditions of people. It furthermore possesses a genetic interest insofar as certain abilities and characteristics tend to repeat themselves in successive generations. Oral traditions were of prime importance in the early days of civilization. Without written records, memory, along with such mnemonic devices as rhymes, was relied upon to provide a history. Genealogical information was orally transmitted most often as a list of names, as in the lineages of the ancient Irish kings. Sometimes outstanding events were also featured in such lists. The long Oriental genealogies concern only great persons or princes. It is impossible to determine if the genealogies of the ancient families of India, which trace the descent of Indian princes from the earliest centuries, are fabricated because the genealogies are all that is known. In Africa another claim to a very long descent, that of the former emperor of Ethiopia, cannot be verified. The emperor was said to have descended from King Solomon's marriage to the Queen of Sheba; but, because this oral tradition was recorded over 15 centuries ago, there is no documentary proof. The Old Testament contains many genealogies that have the purpose of showing descent from Adam, Noah, and Abraham. When these genealogies became part of the Jewish scriptures, the keeping of family records was reinforced by the concept of racial purity. Among the Gentiles, the idea of divine origin was manifested in the fables about heroes whose paternity was almost always ascribed to the gods. In Greek and Roman genealogies great men were usually begotten by gods or mortals that had become divine. Early written family records originated in the ancient Mediterranean area, where the oral genealogies became poems and histories. But the invention of writing did not yet render genealogy a science. Writers dealt with genealogy either incidentally or out of concern with the lineage of their gods. The recording of regal traditions began in the early Middle Ages. The first chroniclers were monks who documented the oral pedigrees of their kings. From approximately 1100 to 1500, genealogists concentrated on the pedigrees of noble and royal lines. Claims to a throne often involved genealogical trees, as when the death of Scotland's Alexander III in 1286 and of his direct heir, Margaret the Maid of Norway, in 1290 brought out a dozen claimants to the Scottish crown. Sometimes the truth was stretched for political purposes, but, in general, medieval European records are genealogically accurate. This is due to their primary purpose, which was to record land transactions, taxation, and lawsuits and not to provide genealogical information. This period was also characterized by the appearance of pedigrees of common folk. Attention to pedigree became particulary important in the transition from serfdom to villenage, when a man would try to show that he was not a villein and the bailiff would try to prove that he was. It was only in the latest period in European genealogical history, from 1500 to the present, that records that included most ordinary people were begun. The emergence of a powerful mercantile and business community and the rise of the middle classes contributed to the proliferation of records. The Reformation's emphasis on individual religion and the Renaissance monarchs' desire for greater information about their subjects also led to the increased importance of keeping records and tracing ancestry. In modern genealogy, professional genealogists are concerned with a large number of family histories and broad principles of genealogical research. the study of family origins and history. Genealogists compile lists of ancestors, which they arrange in pedigree charts or other written forms. The word genealogy comes from two Greek wordsone meaning race or family and the other theory or science. Thus is derived to trace ancestry, the science of studying family history. The term pedigree comes from the Latin pes (foot) and grus (crane) and is derived from a sign resembling a crane's foot, used to indicate lines of descent in early west European genealogies. Chart pedigrees, familiar to most people from school history books, include arrow shapes, parallel lines, a crinkled line denoting illegitimacy, and the sign = denoting marriage. Genealogy is a universal phenomenon and, in forms varying from the rudimentary to the comparatively complex, is found in all nations and periods. In this article the history of genealogy is outlined, followed by an account of the work of modern genealogists, professional and amateur, and as organized in associations. Additional reading For an outline of the sources and methods of procedure, see L.G. Pine, Heraldry and Genealogy, 4th ed. (1974). Also useful is A.J. Willis, Genealogy for Beginners, 3rd. ed. (1976). J. Unett, Making a Pedigree, 2nd ed. (1961), contains information on medieval records. G. Hamilton Edwards, In Search of Ancestry (1966), is a larger work with more detail, especially on naval and military sources. On American genealogy, see G.H. Doane and J.B. Bell, Searching for Your Ancestors: The How and Why of Genealogy, 5th ed. (1980); and J.S. Sweet, Genealogy and Local History: An Archival and Bibliographical Guide, 2nd rev. ed. (1959). See also L.G. Pine, American Origins (1960, reprinted 1980), on sources for genealogical research in Europe, and The Genealogist's Encyclopedia (1969). A good starting point in genealogical quests is P. William Filby, American and British Genealogy and Heraldry: A Selected List of Books, 3rd ed. (1983).