The Royal descendants of the Erlach family
The von Erlach family was a recognized pillar of the Swiss city of Bern, and a statue of Rudolf (born 1299 in Bern, died in 1360) stands to this day as a reminder of the unique status of this dynasty. Rudolf was the son of Urlich the First and Ulrich the Elder. A descendant of […]
Lessons from Genealogy
Genealogy may seem like a futile exercise, as Gandalf explains about the decline of Gondor, in the Lord of Rings: The old wisdom born out of the west was forsaken. Kings made tombs more splendid than the houses of the living and counted the old names of their descent dearer than the names of their […]
Other Family Lines
Every human being is the result of countless (but finite) generations of parents, and the number of ancestors is easily computed: 8th generation -200 (years ago) ancestors: 256 9th generation -225 ancestors: 512 10th generation -250 ancestors: 1,024 11th generation -275 ancestors: 2,048 One is almost certain to find “interesting” lines of ancestry, which become […]
The Instructions of St Vladimir II Monomakh to his children
Note: this text is often ascribed to St Vladimir the Great of Kiev; it was in fact written by his great-grandson Vladimir II Monomakh) I, wretched man that I am, named Vasilii at my baptism by my pious and glorious grandsire Iaroslav, but commonly known by my Russian name Vladimir, and surnamed Monomakh by my […]
