Medieval Family Trees

Researching family history can produce lots of surprises. I knew from previous research that there was a family connection to Charlemagne via Matilda of Flanders, the wife of William the Conqueror (William I of England). I have recently been researching these links in more detail.

Then in August 2026 the Lennox Ark Facebook page published a chart showing two family trees of William the Conqueror. One showed connections from Rollo the Viking to William on one side of the chart while the second showed connections from Charlemagne to William. Our family therefore has two family trees linking to Charlemagne. Researching some of the people mentioned on these trees sometimes showed different information as often little information is available. However the post provided a good starting point.

As well as family tree links to Charlemagne, Matilda of Flanders' family tree has direct links to the English king, Alfred the Great. 

Alfred the Great's family tree also has direct links to the Empress Matilda (granddaughter of Matilda of Flanders) and the Plantagenets via marriages between English and Scottish royalty. 

In the 1950s I was told that one of our family trees had links to Robert the Bruce of Scotland. When I eventually checked this story myself it was possible to trace the family tree to the early kings of Scotland. Because of the intermarriage between members of royal families it was also possible to link the family tree to the Plantagenets in England via James I of Scotland who married Lady Joan Beaufort (the granddaughter of John of Gaunt (a son of Edward III of England).

Once you locate direct family tree links to English or Scottish kings it is therefore probable that this is just the beginning of locating links to other British or European families. An article in The Guardian discussed this topic - So you are related to Charlemagne? - The Guardian 24 May 2015 .  

One thing I have learned when doing family history research is that, as well as the fun of exploring family trees to locate relatives shared with thousands and thousands of other people, you also can learn a lot about history of the countries and times when they lived. Family history research can also be addictive and never ending.