Descent from antiquity
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In European genealogy, a descent from antiquity (DFA or DfA) is a proven unbroken line of descent between specific individuals from ancient history and people living today. Descents can readily be traced back to the Early Middle Ages, but beyond that, insufficient documentation of the ancestry of the new royal and noble families of the period makes tracing them to historical figures from antiquity challenging. Though the subject of ongoing effort, no well-researched, historically-documented generation-by-generation genealogical descents are known to exist in Europe.
Past claims
The idea of descent from antiquity is by no means new to genealogy. Hellenistic dynasties, such as the Ptolemies, claimed ancestry from deities and mythical figures. In the Middle Ages, major royal dynasties of Europe sponsored compilations claiming their descent from Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, and in particular the rulers of Troy (see also Euhemerism). Such claims were intended as propaganda glorifying a royal patron by trumpeting the antiquity and nobility of his ancestry. These lines of descent included not only mythical figures but also outright invention, much of which is still widely perpetuated today.
Current efforts
The distinguishing feature of a DFA compared to such traditional pedigrees is the intent to establish an ancestry that is historically accurate and verifiable in each generation of the descent, setting the DFA apart from the legendary descents found in medieval genealogical sources and from modern
The phrase descent from antiquity was used by
No European DFA is accepted as established. The outlines of several possible ancestries that could become DFAs have been proposed, but they each lack crucial evidence. Nonetheless, the pursuit of DFAs has stimulated detailed inquiry into the prosopography of ancient and early medieval societies.
See also
- Descent from Genghis Khan
- Family tree of Confucius in the main line of descent
Notes
- The Critical Review. 23: 298.
References
- I. Moncreiffe of that Ilk & D. Pottinger, Blood Royal, (Nelson, London, 1956).
- T. S. M. Mommaerts-Browne, 'A Key to Descents from Antiquity', Journal of Ancient and Medieval Studies III, (1984–85) 76–107
- Walter Pohl, in Walter Pohl, et al., eds., "Genealogy: A Comparative Perspective from the Early Medieval West", in Meanings of Community across Medieval Eurasia: Comparative Approaches, Brill, 2016, JSTOR 10.1163/j.ctt1w76w6c.15
- N. L. Taylor, "Roman Genealogical Continuity and the 'Descents from Antiquity' Question: A Review Article", The American Genealogist, 76 (2001) 129–136. Also available at Roman Genealogical Continuity
- A. R. Wagner, "Bridges to Antiquity" in Pedigree and Progress: Essays in the Genealogical Interpretation of History (Phillimore, London, 1975)
External links
- Media related to Descent from antiquity at Wikimedia Commons