The Polk Ancestors in Europe
A. The Polk Ancestors in Europe
1. The Etta Gateway
2. The Egidia Connection
3. The Annabel Portal
4. The Isabelle Openings
5. Royalty in the Polk Ancestry Line
6. Heroes and Villains in the Polk Ancestry Line
B. Polk Ancestry Before the Common Era
1. Roman Empire in the Polk Ancestry Line
2. The Mary Magdalene Conundrum
3. Greek Gods
Appendices
1. Ancestry Math
a. Cousin Math
b. Great Grandfather Math
c. Generations Math
2. Authenticity
This report was prepared for the benefit of the descendants of Richard
A. Stanford and his brother, David J. Stanford. At mid-2019 I would have
been hard pressed to identify any of my ancestors preceding my great
grandparents. Using the MyHeritage.com search engine that can access the
MyHeritage and other ancestry data bases, it has been possible to trace
several Stanford Family ancestry lines back in time to before the
Common Era (i.e., the BC era). All ancestry records referenced in this
report may be accessed and viewed at the Stanford Family MyHeritage
website:
https://www.myheritage.com/site-family-tree-608792221/stanford?rootIndivudalID=1500006&familyTreeID=1
An ancestry tree and accompanying commentary is a form of story telling.
It is the story that we tell ourselves about ourselves and whence we
came. An ancestry story can be revealing, or it can be told to hide
essential truths. An ancestry story can amuse and entertain, or it can
be terminally boring. It can reveal national heroes or horse thieves
among the relatives. It can surprise, and it may even shock to discover
who is up one’s family tree. Ancestry research educates with respect to
language, culture, history, geography, economics, mathematics, and even
theology. Often it is possible to find more information about an
ancestor by “Googling” the name on-line. Ancestry research is factual,
but it may become fiction if the researcher is tempted to extend the
story beyond what can be confirmed. All of these possibilities surface
in the telling of the Stanford Family ancestry story.
Ancestry of course descends through time which progresses linearly from
earlier dates toward the present, but ancestry research necessarily
"ascends" from the present back in time. An ancestry line search is
conducted record-by-record by identifying a subject's parents and then
checking the information in the parents' records to confirm that the
subject indeed is their child. The parents then become the subjects in
the next step. This process may continue stepwise until a dead-end is
reached, i.e., when neither parent of a subject is identified. When a
dead-end is reached in one subject's ancestry line, it often is possible
to shift to the spouse's ancestry line to continue tracing ancestry.
While ancestry research typically is conducted by tracing paternal
ancestry lines, maternal ancestry lines have turned out to be crucial to
Stanford Ancestry research. In the ascending ancestry research process,
four women have served as ancestry portals to Viking, Celtic, and
continental European ancestry lines: my grandmother Etta Avarilla Polk,
my 8th-great grandmother Annabel Stewart, my 14th-great grandmother
Egidia Stewart, and my 17th-great grandmother Isabell de France.
This is an interim report because it never will be finished. Richard's
and David's descendants are invited to revise, correct, and extend the
contents of this report as new information and vehicles of analysis
become available to them.
Richard A. Stanford, January 21, 2020
1. The Etta Gateway
Ancestry of course descends through time which progresses linearly from earlier dates toward the present, but ancestry research necessarily "ascends" from the present back in time. It is in this sense that my maternal grandmother, Etta Avarilla Polk, is the Stanford Family gateway to Viking, Scottish, Celt, and continental European ancestors. The Polk Family Ancestry Tree displays the range from Richard Alexander Stanford (1943- ) to Robert Bruce Pollock III (1625-1703) who immigrated from Scotland to Maryland and became Robert Bruce Polk III.
The Polk ancestry line stretches back in time through the Danish Viking
era to Uwald or Zuwald, born around 143 AD. Chart 4 shows the sequence
of Vikings in the Polk ancestry line. An arrow (---^) indicates a shift
to the ancestry of a spouse or partner. All entries not denoted by (f)
are males.
While the ancestry records of most royals are well-enough documented
that their records can be authenticated, few of the records for
non-royals that are more than a couple hundred years back in time are
likely to be satisfactorily documented. Many of the ancestry records
included in subsequent listings come from MyHeritage "smart matches"
rather than "record matches." Record matches, found in data bases that
the MyHeritage search engine accesses, are likely to be documentable;
smart matches, found in other ancestry trees, may not be documentable
and thus may be less reliable. In Chart 4, names marked with an asterisk
(*) are record matches.
Chart 4. Vikings in the Polk Ancestry Line
Denmark
Uwald? "Zuwald?" (143 - ?)
Odin Fritzuwaldsson (162 - ?)
Skjoldur Odinsson (190 - ?)
Fridleif Skjoldsson (215 - 237)
Frodi ("Fredegod") Fridleifsson, King of Zealand (island in Denmark) (237-302)
Leif "Herleif, Hærleif" Frodasson, King of Skjaelland (Zealand, Denmark) (259-337)*
Havard ("Havar, Håvard, håndramme") Herleifsson, Konge af Sjælland (Zealand, Denmark) (325-395)*
Frodi II Havardsen, King of Skjælland (340-368)*
Vermund ("The Wise, The Sage") Frodasson, King of Denmark, King in Skjælland (369-440)*
Olaf ("The Mild, The Humble, The Mighty") Vermundsson, King of Denmark (391-411)*
Dan Olafsson, King of Denmark (412-503)*
Frodi Dansson ("The Peaceful") (433-524)
Fridleif (a.k.a Fredleif, Friedleif, Friðleifur) Frodasson, King of Denmark (456-500)*
Frodi Fridleifsson (479-548)*
Halfdan ("the Tall", a.k.a. Halvdan, Healfdene, Frodesen, Frodasson, Gamle) Frodasson, King of Denmark*
Hroar (a.k.a. Ro, Roas, Roar, Hróarr, Hrothgar, Hroðgar) Halfdansson (530-620)*
Valdar Hroarsson, King Of Scania (Sweden) (547-612)*
Harald ("The Old") Valdarssøn, King of Denmark (568-610)*
Halfdan ("the Valiant") Snälle Haraldsson, King of Roeskilde and Maolda (590-650)*
Ivar Vidfamne Halvardsson, Kong 610-647)
Radbard Halvarsson (638-690)
Sigurd Hring Randversson, King of Fofnersbane (730-811)*
Ragnar (a.k.a. Loðbrok, "Hairy-Breeks") Sigurdsson, King of Denmark and Norway (765-845)*
Bjorn ("jærnsida", "Ironside") Ragnarsson (777-859)*
Erik Bjørnsson (799-829)
Edmund Anund I Eriksson (810-859)*
Erik Arsael Emundson (849-880)*
Bjorn ("the Old") Eriksson, King Of Sweden (868-956)*
Olof Ii Björnsson, Kung Av Sverige (886-964)*
Styrbjorn ("Strong") Olafsson, King of Sweden (930-985)*
Thorgils Styrbjornsson (967-1024)*
Hubert Fulbert William Tanner, Lord De Falaise (973-1017)*
Fulbert Saxon De Falaise (?-1073)
Scotland
Fulbert ("the Saxon") de Polloc (Barony of Pollock) (1073-1153)*
Robert de Pollock (1119-1208)*
Robert de Pollock (1152-1215)*
Thomas Henry de Pollock (1190-1260)*
Petrus ("Peter") de Pollock (1230-1298)*
Robertus de Pollock (1265-1330)*
John de Pollock (1299-1373)*
Bricius de Pollock (1337-1401)*
John de Pollock (1378-1445)*
Charles de Pollock (1420-1490)*
David de Pollock (1463-1543)*
John Pollock of that Ilk (1494-1564)*
Robert Bruce Pollock I (1559-1625*
Robert Bruce Pollock II (1595-1640)*
American Colonies and United States of America
Robert Bruce Pollock III (1625-1703)*
Robert Bruce Polk (1672-1727)*
Thomas Luke Polk (1703-1781)*
Thomas Luke Polk, Jr (1737-1799)*
Joseph Isaac Polk (1780-1859)*
Joseph Travis Polk (1818-1898)*
Wade Polk (1850-1925)*
Etta Avarilla Polk (1884-1966)* (f)
Irby Tapley (1879-1930)* ---^
Ruth Lucille Tapley (1910-1997)* (f)
Richard Alexander Stanford (1943- )*
Polk ancestry details may be viewed at https://s3.amazonaws.com/aws-website-rasecon-9bmt8/StanfordAncestry.html#EC1.
My 23rd-great grandfather, Fulbert Tanner de Falaise (978-?), was
chamberlain to William the Conqueror (Chart 23). My 32nd-great
grandfather, Ragnar "Lothbrok" Sigurdsson (765-845), King of Denmark and
Norway (Chart 24), is the principal character in the 2013 History
Channel dramatic television series "Vikings."
The so-called "Norman invasion" of the south coast of England at
Hastings in 1066 by William "the Conqueror" was launched from the
Normandy coast of France, but the Norman invaders were descendants of
Danish Vikings who had settled in Normandy by the early 10th century.
The story of the invasion is told by caricatures stitched into a
230-foot long, 20-inch wide "tapestry" that now is housed in a museum at
Bayeux, France (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayeux_Tapestry).
I have visited the "Bayeux Tapestry" museum several times while
accompanying Furman students on study-away programs in England and
France.
How did the Danish invaders get from the south of England to Scotland to
become "Pollocks"? To answer this question we have to go to Bretagne
and trace another branch of the Polk family ancestry.
Clan Pollock is an armigerous Scottish clan whose origin lies in a grant of land on the southern bank of the River Clyde, courtesy of King David I, to the sons of Fulbert "the Saxon" from Walter fitz Alan, the 1st High Steward of Scotland, in the 12th century. It is among the oldest recorded surnames in Scotland. The clan is a sept of Clan Maxwell. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_Pollock)
And how did the de Pollocks become Polks when Robert Bruce Pollock III
immigrated from Scotland to the Maryland shore? When a Scotsman says the
name "Pollock," he emphasizes the first syllable with a long "o" and
sort of swallows the second syllable. The story is told, whether true or
not, that when the Pollock immigrants arrived in Maryland, the first
Colonial official that they encountered prompted for the name and heard
"Polk," which he wrote on an immigration document. The Scottish Pollocks
were American Polks from that time onward (true of not!).
2. The Egidia Connection
Celts have been prominent in the Polk line of the Stanford Family
ancestry. Brutus "the Dardanian," immigrated from the Balkans to western
Briton (now known as Wales) at some time between 600 and 500 BC. By 450
BC his descendants had immigrated to central Briton, now England, and
eventually to the Cornwall region on the southwest coast. The Celts in
the Polk line then moved back and forth between Cornwall and Wales until
around 350 AD when their descendants immigrated to the northwest cost
of France to settle in Bretagne, now Brittany, in the vicinity of Dol in
the modern French Department of Ille-et-Vilaine. The following passage
from the Wikipedia entry on Dol de Bretagne takes up the narration:
Egidia Stewart is the connection of the Polk family to the Celts. She was the great granddaughter of Sir Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland (1292 - 1327), who married Marjorie Bruce (1297-1316), the daughter of Robert "The Bruce" (1274-1329). Chart 25 shows the MyHeritage ancestry around Egidia Stewart’s record.
The earliest Celtic Polk ancestor that can be identified is the Trojan
Priomos Podarcus, born around 525 BC. Chart 20 shows the Polk ancestry
sequence from Priamos Podarcus van Troje (525 BC) to Richard A. Stanford
(1943 AD).
The same word of caution issued in the previous section is necessary
here. While the ancestry records of most royals are well-enough
documented that their records can be authenticated, few of the records
for non-royals that are more than a couple hundred years back in time
are likely to be satisfactorily documented. Many of the ancestry records
included in subsequent listings come from MyHeritage "smart matches"
rather than "record matches." Record matches, found in data bases that
the MyHeritage search engine accesses, are likely to be documentable;
smart matches, found in other ancestry trees, may not be documentable
and thus may be less reliable. In Chart 20, names marked with an
asterisk (*) are record matches.
Chart 20. The Polk Family Celtic Ancestry.
Greece
Priamos Podarcus van Troje (ca 525 - ? BC)
Aeneas Van Dardanië (ca 412 - ? BC)
Julus Ascanius Aseanius (391 -373 BC)
Selys Hen Aseanius (ca 373 - ? BC)
Wales
Brutus of the Britans (ca 600 - 500 BC), "the Dardanian," immigrant to Wales
Camber Ap Brutus (ca 579 - 479 BC)
Gorbonian Ap Cymru (700 - ? BC)
Dyfnwal Hen Ap Gorbonia (ca 670 - ? BC)
Cyngen Bleiddud Ap Dufnwal (ca 630 - ? BC)
Asser Ap Cyngen (ca 600 - ? BC)
Bleiddud Ap Asser (ca 570 - ? BC)
Henwyn Ap Bleiddud (ca 530 - ? BC)
Cunedda Ap Henwyn (ca 500 - 450 BC)
Briton, Lloegria
Rhiwallon Ap Cunedda (ca 470 - 420 BC), King of Briton
Gwrwst Ap Rhiwallon (ca 430 - 390 BC)
Seisyll Ap Gwrwst (ca 400 - ? BC), King Of Lloegria (central Briton)
Cornwall, Britain
Antonius Ap Seisyll (ca 325 - ? BC), Duke of Cornwall
Aedd Mawr Ap Antonius (ca 340 - ? BC), Duke of Cornwall
Prydain Ap Aedd Mawr (ca 300- ? BC)
Dyfnarth Ap Prydain (ca 270 - ? BC)
Crydon Ap Dyfnarth (ca 215- 141 BC)
Eneid Capuir Ap Cerwyd (ca 170 - 112 BC)
Manogan Digueillus Ap Eneid (ca 135 - 72 BC)
Beli Mawr Ap Beli (ca 110 BC - ? ), "The Great" of the Druids of the Celtic Britons
Llud Nodens Ap Beli (ca 45 BC - ? ), Silver Handed King Of Britain
Tasciovanus Ap Llud, King of The Catuvellauni Tribe before the Roman conquest of Britain (? BC - 9 AD)*
Cunobeline of Britain (ca 10 BC - ca 40 AD)
Arviragus of Britain, King of Britain (ca 15 - 74 AD)
Wales
Marius Ap Arfyrag (40 - 125)
Eurgen Ap Marius (85-181)
Llewfer Mawr Ap Coellyn (102 - 181)
Aminadab Ap Joshua (136 - 187)
Meirchion Ap Owain (150 - 210)*
Cwrrig Goruc Mawr Ap Meirchion (180 - 215)
Gwrddwfin Ap Cwrrig, King of Wales (ca215 - ca300)
Einudd Ap Gwrddwfyn (250 - 328)
Gereint Caradoc Ap Einudd (265 - 340)
Bretagne, France
Roi Conan Meriadoc de Bretagne, "le Barbare" (360 - 421)
Gradlon Mawr de Bretagne, Le Grand (330 - 434)
Salomon Ap Gradlon de Bretagne (355 - 446)
Aldrien Ap Selyfan de Bretagne, King of Brittany (388 - 464)*
Erich "Eurech" Ap Aldrien, Duke of Brittany (447 - 478)
Cornwall, England
Budic Ii Llydaw De Cornuaille (460 - 544)
King Hoël Ier Mawr De Cornuaille (491 - 545)
Hoël I I Fychan de Cornouaille (520 - 600)
Alan Ier Le Blanc de Cornouaille (560 - 595)
Hoel Iii Ap Alan de Cornouaille (580 - 612)
Judicaël Ap Hoël de Cornouaille (602 - 658)
Alain de Cornouaille, Ii Hir ("the Tall") (630 - 690)
Gradlon Flam de Cornouaille (652 - 711)
Concar Cheronnog de Cornouaille (671 - 710)*
Judon Ap Concar (710 - 750)*
Constantine de Cornouaille (730 - 790)
Argant Dargentael (761 - 819)
Bretagne, France
Froamidus de Bretagne (690 - 762) ---^
Frodaldus de Bretagne (710 - 762)
Frotmund de Bretagne (735 - ?)
Frotharius de Bretagne (780 - ?)
Adelrad de Bretagne (810 - ?)
Frotbald de Bretagne (840 - 923)
Aliard de Bretagne (870 - 950)
Frotmund Vetules, de Dol et Bretagne (910 - 985)
Fretaldus Vetules (930 - 1008)
Frotmundus Vetules, de Bretagne (955 - 1052)
Flaald Fratmaldus, Of Dol (995 - 1064)
Alan Dapifer Fitzflaald (1020 - 1097)
Alan Fitzflaald, Senescal Of Dol (1046 - 1084)*
Scotland
Sir Alan Fitzflaad, Of Lochabar (1078 - 1144)
Walter FitzAlan, 1st High Steward of Scotland (1106 - 1177*
Alan FitzWalter, 2nd High Steward of Scotland (1150 - 1204)*
Walter Stewart, of Dundonald, 3rd High Steward of Scotland (1170 - 1241)*
Sir Alexander Thomas Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland (1214 - 1283)*
James Stewart, 5th High Steward of Scotland (1243 - 1309)*
Sir Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland (1292 - 1327)*
Robert Ii Stewart, Of Scotland (1316 - 1390)*
John Robert Iii Stewart, Earl of Carrick (1320 - 1406)*
Egidia Stewart (1338 - 1404) (f)
Bricius de Pollock (1337-1401)* ---^
John de Pollock (1378-1445)*
Charles de Pollock (1420-1490)*
David de Pollock (1463-1543)*
John Pollock of that Ilk (1494-1564)*
Robert Bruce Pollock I (1559-1625)*
Robert Bruce Pollock II (1595-1640)*
American Colonies and United States of America
Robert Bruce Pollock III (1625-1703)*
Robert Bruce Polk (1672-1727)*
Thomas Luke Polk (1703-1781)*
Thomas Luke Polk, Jr (1737-1799)*
Joseph Isaac Polk (1780-1859)*
Joseph Travis Polk (1818-1898)*
Wade Polk (1850-1925)*
Etta Avarilla Polk (1884-1966)* (f)
Irby Tapley (1879-1930)* ---^
Ruth Lucille Tapley (1910-1997)* (f)
Richard Alexander Stanford (1943- )*
3. The Annabel Portal
In Chart 3, my name, Richard Alexander Stanford (1943- ), at the very
bottom of the far-right column, serves as the base for describing all
other names on the chart. An arrow (--->) in the chart indicates an
ancestry line shift to that of a spouse or partner. While the ancestry
records of most royals are well-enough documented that their records can
be authenticated, few of the records for non-royals that are more than a
couple hundred years back in time are likely to be satisfactorily
documented. Many of the ancestry records included in subsequent listings
come from MyHeritage "smart matches" rather than "record matches."
Record matches, found in data bases that the MyHeritage search engine
accesses, are likely to be documentable; smart matches, found in other
ancestry trees, may not be documentable and thus may be less reliable.
In Chart 3, names marked with an asterisk (*) are record matches.
My father, Alexander Rupert Stanford (1907-1993), married my mother,
Ruth Lucille Tapley (1910-1997). Her father (my maternal grandfather),
Irby Tapley (1912-1930), married my maternal grandmother, Etta Avarilla
Polk (1884-1966). The Polk ancestry line includes numerous notables.
Bricius de Pollock (1337-1401), my maternal 14th-great grandfather,
married Egidia Stewart (1338-1404) whose 2nd-great grandfather by
marriage to Margery Bruce (1297-1316) was Robert the Bruce (1294-1329),
King of the Scots. Robert the Bruce is my 18th-great grandfather.
Egidia’s paternal great grandfather was Sir Walter Stewart, 6th High
Steward of Scotland (1292-1327). Walter Stewart is my 17th-great
grandfather. (See Appendix 2, Great Grandfather Math.)
Fulbert (Tanner) de Falaise (1024-1085) was chamberlain to William the
Conqueror (1028-1087). Fulbert is my maternal 23rd-great grandfather.
My 6th-great grandfather, Robert Bruce Polk (1672-1727), was brother of
William Bruce Polk (1664-1739). His 2nd-great grandson was U.S.
President James Knox Polk (1795-1849). President Polk is my 4th cousin,
four times removed.
Robert Bruce Polk III (1625-1703) is my 7th-great grandfather.* He and
Elizabeth Pollock (1699-1763) were siblings, so Elizabeth is my
7th-great aunt. Elizabeth married Alexander Hamilton of Grange
(1652-1730), who became my 7th-great uncle by marriage. His grandson,
Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804), was the first U.S. Secretary of the
Treasury. Alexander Hamilton is my 8th cousin, seven times removed.
Robert Bruce Pollock II (1597-1660), 2nd Baron of Ireland, my 8th-great
grandfather, married Annabel Stewart (1565-1648), daughter of James
Stewart (1533-1570), 1st Earl of Moray.* Annabel Stewart is the "portal"
through which the Stanford Family gained relationships to numerous
English, Spanish, French, and Jewish kings and queens. Chart 12 displays
a composite MyHeritage screen shot of Annabel Stewart's immediate
ancestry.
Chart 7 displays an array of Polk ancestry lines reached by the marriage
of Robert Bruce II to Annabel Stewart. Start at the bottom of the
far-left column and read upward, following the pointer arrows to other
columns. An arrow (---> or ---^) in the chart indicates an ancestry
line shift to that of a spouse or partner. While the ancestry records of
most royals are well-enough documented that their records can be
authenticated, few of the records for non-royals that are more than a
couple hundred years back in time are likely to be satisfactorily
documented. Many of the ancestry records included in subsequent listings
come from MyHeritage "smart matches" rather than "record matches."
Record matches, found in data bases that the MyHeritage search engine
accesses, are likely to be documentable; smart matches, found in other
ancestry trees, may not be documentable and thus may be less reliable.
In Chart 7, names marked with an asterisk (*) are record matches.
*The maternity of Captain Robert Bruce Polk III (1625-1703, "The Immigrant" to the American Colonies) is confusing because his father, Robert Bruce Pollock II (1597-1660), is recorded in family ancestry records as having had two wives, Jean Crawford (1600-1625) whom he married in 1620, and Annabel Stewart (1565-1648) whom he married in 1630. Family ancestry records indicate that Jean Crawford may have had as many as five children with Robert Bruce II before she died in 1625, the birth year of Robert Bruce III, suggesting the possibility that she died in childbirth. Several family ancestry records for Robert Bruce III indicate that Annabel Stewart was his mother, but the marriage dates suggest that she probably was his adoptive mother. Jean Crawford's ancestry is uncertain; family ancestry records suggest that she may have been the daughter of Hew (or Hugh) Crawford (1586-1621) and Elizabeth Stirling (1575-1616). Family ancestry records indicate that Annabel was the daughter of James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray (1533-1570), and Agnes Keith (1530-1588), who married Colin Campbell after James Stewart's death in 1570. Some family ancestry records indicate that Colin was Annabel's father, but he is more likely to have been Annabel's adoptive father. The ancestry connection of the Polk Family to English royalty is based on the presumption that Robert Bruce Polk III's mother (adoptive) was Annabel Stewart, and that Annabel's father was James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray.
4. The Isabelle Openings
Robert Bruce Pollock II's first wife and mother of this children was Jean Crawford (1600-1625). It is fortuitous to Stanford Family ancestry research that Robert Bruce Pollock II married his second wife, Annabel Stewart (1565-1640), who became the adoptive mother of Robert Bruce Polk III.
Annabel Stewart's great-grandfather, James Stewart IV (1473-1513), King
of Scots, a.k.a. "Iron Belt," married Margaret Tudor (1489-1541), Queen
of Scots, thereby merging English and Scottish thrones.
Margaret Tudor's 3rd-great grandfather, Edward II (1284-1327), married Isabelle de France (1292-1358), thereby linking the English and French thrones. Isabelle opens Polk ancestry research to several other continental European ancestry lines.
Isabelle de France’s grandfather, King Philippe III (Capet) de France
(1245-1285), married Isabelle d'Aragon (1247-1271), thereby linking the
French and Spanish thrones. Isabelle d’Aragon opens Polk ancestry
research to yet other continental European ancestry lines.
Margaret Tudor’s brother was Henry VIII Tudor (1491-1547), King of
England. Margaret’s niece, Henry VIII’s daughter by Catherine of Aragon
(1485-1536), was Mary I Tudor (1516-1558), a.k.a. “Bloody Mary.” Mary I
Tudor married Felipe II (1527-1598), Rey de España, Sicilia y Cerdeña,
thereby linking the English and Spanish thrones.
Felipe II’s sister, Maria von Habsburg (1528-1603), became Empress of
the Holy Roman Empire when she married Emperor Maximillian II von
Osterreich (1527-1576), thereby linking the Spanish and Holy Roman
Empire thrones.
We could go on with this narrative, but suffice it to say that the
marriages of Robert Bruce Pollock to Annabel Stewart, of Edward II to
Isabelle de France, and of Philippe III to Isabelle d’Aragon opened the
Stanford Family ancestry to the vast array of lineages on the continent
of Europe that stretched to the Roman Empire and beyond into the BC era.
5. Royalty in the Polk Ancestry Line
There are no identifiable members of royalty in any Stanford or Williams
family lines, but there are numerous members of royalty in the Polk
ancestry line. While the ancestry records of most royals are
well-enough documented that their records can be authenticated, few of
the records for non-royals that are more than a couple hundred years
back in time are likely to be satisfactorily documented. Many of the
ancestry records included in subsequent listings come from MyHeritage
"smart matches" rather than "record matches." Record matches, found in
data bases that the MyHeritage search engine accesses, are likely to be
documentable; smart matches, found in other ancestry trees, may not be
documentable and thus may be less reliable.
The listing in Chart 19 include names of Polk family members who are
identified in ancestry data records as being king (Konge, Konig, roi,
rey) or queen (reine, reyes) in their respective regions. There are
numerous lesser royals (e.g., princes, princesses) and members of the
nobility (counts, countesses) in the Polk family line that are not
included in these listings. In Chart 19, names marked with an asterisk
(*) are record matches.
Chart 19. Royalty in the Polk Ancestry Line
Danish:
Frodi ("Fredegod") Fridleifsson, King of Zealand (ca 237-302)*
Leif ("Herleif") Frodasson, King of Sjælland (ca 250-337)*
Havard Herleifsson, Konge af Sjælland (ca 325-395)*
Frodi II Havardsen, King of Skjælland (ca 340-368)*
Vermund (“The Wise”) Frodasson, King of Denmark (ca 369-440)*
Danpi Havarsdottir, Queen in Denmark (ca 369-?)
Olaf "The Mild” Vermundsson, King of Denmark (ca 391-411)*
Dan Olafsson, King of Denmark (ca 412-503)*
Olöf ("Oluv"), Queen of Denmark (417-460)
Yngve ("the Tembler") Alreksson, King of Svitjod, Uppsala & Sweden (ca 416-?)
Fridleif Frodasson, King of Denmark (ca 456-ca 500)*
Halfdan ("the Tall") Frodasson, King of Denmark (ca 503-580)*
Aun ("The Aged"), King of Uppsala Jorundsson (509-544)
Sigrid ("Sigris"), Queen of Denmark (530-593)
Valdar Hroarsson, King of Scania (ca 547-612)*
Hroðmund Hrothgarsson King of Leire (?-?)
Harald “The Old” Valldarssøn, King of Denmark (568-610)*
Ivar Vidfamne Halvardsson, King of Denmark (612-647)
Hálfdan Snälle Haraldsson, King of Roeskilde and Maolda (590-650)*
Rørik ("Slængeborræ") Halfdansson, King of Zealand (629-700)
Randver Randversson, King of Denmark, of Russia (670-770)
Sigurd Hring Randversson, King of Fofnersbane (730-811)*
Freawaru Hroarsdatter, Queen of Leire (ca 730-?)
Ingilde Radbardsson Godfredsdóttir, Queen Consort (674-709)
Ragnar ("Loðbrok”) Sigurdsson, King of Denmark and Norway (765-845)*
Edmund Anund I Eriksson, King of Denmark (810-859)*
Bjorn ("the Old") Eriksson, King of Sweden (868-956)*
Olof Ii Björnsson, Kung Av Sverige (886-964)*
Svend II Ulfsson, King of Denmark (1018-1076)
Svend Estridsen, King of Denmark (1020-1074)
Celtic:
Tasciovanus Ap Llud, King of The Catuvellauni Tribe before the Roman conquest of Britain (? BC - 9 AD)*
Meirchion Ap Owain (150 - 210)*
Rhiwallon Ap Cunedda (ca 470 - 420 BC), King of Briton
Seisyll Ap Gwrwst (ca 400 - ? BC), King Of Lloegria (central Briton)
Llud Nodens Ap Beli (ca 45 BC - ? ), Silver Handed King Of Britain
Arviragus Of Britain, King of Britain (ca 15 - 74 AD)
Gwrddwfin Ap Cwrrig, King of Wales (ca215 - ca300)
Roi Conan Meriadoc de Bretagne, "le Barbare" (360 - 421)
Aldrien Ap Selyfan de Bretagne, King of Brittany (388 - 464)*
Concar Cheronnog de Cornouaille (671 - 710)*
Judon Ap Concar (710 - 750)*
Scottish:
Robert ("The Bruce"), King of Scotland (1274-1329)*
Isabel de Bruce, Queen of Scotland (1278-1320)*
Walter FitzAlan, Sixth High Steward of Scotland, King of Scotland (1292-1326)*
Alan FitzWalter, 2nd High Steward of Scotland (1150 - 1204)*
Walter Stewart, of Dundonald, 3rd High Steward of Scotland (1170 - 1241)*
Sir Alexander Thomas Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland (1214 - 1283)*
James Stewart, 5th High Steward of Scotland (1243 - 1309)*
Sir Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland (1292 - 1327)*
Robert II Stewart, 7th High Steward of Scotland, King of Scotland (1316-1390)*
Elizabeth Mure of Rowallan, Queen of Scotland (1320-1355)*
Robert Stewart III, King of Scots (1337-1406)*
James I Stewart, King of Scots (1394-1437)*
Joan Beaufort, Queen of Scots (1404-1445)*
James III Stewart, King of Scots (1451-1488)*
James (“Iron Belt”) Stewart IV, King of Scots (1473-1513)*
Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots (1489-1541)*
James Stewart V, King of Scots (1512-1542)*
English:
Harold II (“of Wessex”) Godwinsson, King of England (1022-1066)*
Eadgyth (“Edith of Wessex”) Godwinsdatter, Queen of England (1029-1075)*
Edward I Longshanks, King of England (1239-1307)*
Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England (1241-1290)*
Edward II Plantagenet, King of England (1284-1327)*
Isabelle de France, Queen Consort de Plantagenet (1292-1358)*
Edward III Plantagenet, King of England (1327-1377)*
Philippa Hainaut, Queen of England (1310-1369)*
Henry IV Lancaster, King of England 1366-1413)*
Isabella de Valois, Queen consort of England (1389-1409)*
Henry VI Tudor, King of England 1421-1471)*
Richard III Plantagenet, King of England (1452-1485)*
Henry VII Tudor, King of England 1457-1509)*
Henry VIII Tudor, King of England (1491-1547)*
Mary I (‘Bloody Mary’) Tudor, Queen of England and Ireland (1516-1558)*
Elizabeth I Tudor, Queen of England and Ireland (1533-1603)*
Edward VI Tudor, King of England and Ireland (1537-1553)*
French, German:
Marcomir de Vermandois, Chef Franc De Lorraine (220-281)
Ragaise de Vermandois, Roi Des Francs (270-306)
Théodémir de Vermandois, King Des Francs à Thérouanne (374-414)*
Clovis de Therouanne, King of the Franks at Cologne (400-428)*
Merovée Ii, Roi de France (411-457)*
Childebert de Vermandois, King Of The Ripaurian Franks At Cologne (435-483)
Chilperich I von Burgund, Roi de Burgundy (445-496)
Alaric II De Wisigothie, King of the Visigoths (ca 458-507)*
Clovis I, Konig I Der Franken (460-511)
Hilderic, King of the Vandals (462-534)
Chloderic ("the Parricide") de Vermandois, King of The Ripaurian Franks At Cologne (?-509)
Chlothar Ii von Franken, Konig der Franken (584-629)
Cunigundis de Vermandois, Queen of Lombardy (795-835)
Bernard de Vermandois, King of Lombardy (797-818)
Louis VI (“le Gros”) Capet, Roi de France (1081-1137)*
Louis VII (“le Jeune”) Capet, Roi de France (1120-1180)*
Adèle Alix de Blois, Reine des Francs Champagne (1140-1206)*
Philippe II (“Auguste’) Capet, Roi de France (1165-1223)*
Isabelle d'Artois de Hainaut, Reine de France (1170-1190)*
Louis VIII (“Coeur de Lion”) Capet, Roi de France (1187-1226)*
Louis IX Capet, Roi de France (1215-1270)*
Philippe III (“le Hardi”) Capet, Roi De France (1245-1285)*
Isabelle d’Aargon, Reine de France (1247 - 1271)*
Philippe IV (“le Bel”) Capet, Roi de France (1268-1314)*
Jeanne I de Champagne, Reina de Navarra, Comtesse de Champagne, Reine de France (1273-1305)*
Charles V de Valois, Roi de France (1337-1380)*
Jeanne Bourbon, Reine de France (1338-1378)*
Charles VI ("The Beloved") de Valois, Roi de France (1368-1422)*
Elisabeth ("Isabella De Bavaria") von Wittelsbach, Reine consort de France (1369-1435)*
Isabella de Valois, Queen consort of England (1389-1409)*
Maria Habsburg, Holy Roman Empress, Queen consort of Germany, Hungary and Bohemia (1528-1603)*
Spanish, Portuguese:
Euric Ier De Wisigothie, Empereur d'Espagne (420-484)*
Berenguela Raimundo de Barcelona, reina consort de Lleó i Castella (1116-1149)*
Alfonso VIII Sanchez, Rey de Castilla (1155-1214)*
Alfonso II, Rey d'Aragon (1157-1196)*
Eleanor of England, Queen consort of Castile (1162-1214)*
Henri I (“le Gros”) de Navarre, Comte de Champagne, Rey de Navarra (1239-1274)*
Jeanne I de Champagne, Reina de Navarra, Comtesse de Champagne, Reine de France (1273-1305)*
Charles V Habsburg, Rey de España (1500-1558)*
Isabella (“Infanta of Portugal”), Holy Roman Empress Aviz Portgual (1503-1539)*
Felipe II el Prudente Habsburg, Rey de España, Sicilia y Cerdeña (1527-1598)*
Anna von Österreich Habsburg, Queen Consort of Spain (1549-1580)
Felipe III de España, rey de España y de Portugal (1578-1621)*
Asia Minor (French):
Brigalus de Vermandois , King of Galatia (225BC-?)
Birgatos de Vermandois, King of Galatia (160-80 BC)
Castor I de Vermandois, King of Galatia Tarcondarius (130-42 BC)
Amyntas I de Vermandois, King of Galatia (60 BC-25 AD)
Yeshuah ben Yossef, King of the Jews (7 BC-33AD)*
6. Heroes and Villains in the Polk Ancestry Line
I remember that my mother, Lucille Tapley Stanford (1910-1997), on more
than one occasion warned against delving too far into our ancestry, lest
we discover horse thieves among the relatives. Well, there may indeed
be both villains and heroes in the Stanford ancestry lines, including:
Clovis I (466-511), King of the Franks
Charlemagne de Vermandois (747-814), King of the Franks
Ragnar Sigurdsson (765-845), King of Denmark and Norway, a.k.a. "Lothbrok"
Robert I de Brus (1274-1329), King of Scotland, a.k.a. "Robert The Bruce"
James IV Stewart (1473-1513), King of Scots, a.k.a. “Iron Belt”
Henry VII Tudor (1457-1509), King of England
Undoubtedly, there are others in the Polk ancestry who might also qualify for this list. Chart 6 shows the MyHeritage screen shot around Conan Meriadoc de Bretagne’s ancestry record.
B. Polk Ancestry Before the Common Era
1. Roman Empire in the Polk Ancestry Line
An intriguing and compelling aspect of ancestry research is to see how far into the past I can trace my family ancestry lines. But a word of caution is necessary here. While the ancestry records of most royals are well-enough documented that their records can be authenticated, few of the records for non-royals that are more than a couple hundred years back in time are likely to be satisfactorily documented. Many of the ancestry records included in subsequent listings come from MyHeritage "smart matches" rather than "record matches." Record matches, found in data bases that the MyHeritage search engine accesses, are likely to be documentable; smart matches, found in other ancestry trees, may not be documentable and thus may be less reliable. In Chart 8, names marked by an asterisk (*) are record matches.
Chart 8 shows two branches of the Polk ancestry line (derived from Chart
7) that stretch back in time from Richard Alexander Stanford (1943- )
to the Roman Empire era. The two branches share a common ancestry
sequence from Richard to Philippe III de France (1245-1285). The left
side follows the ancestry line of Philippe III's father, Louis VII de
France (1120-1180). The right side follows the ancestry line of Isabelle
d'Aragon (1247-1271), wife of Philippe III.
An ancestry line dead-ends when neither parent is identified in the last
record confirmed. The ancestry line on the left side dead-ends with the
record of Brigalus de Vermandois, born around 225 BC. The ancestry line
right side dead-ends with the record of Regulus Sergius Plautus, born
around 90 BC.
An arrow (---^) indicates a shift to the ancestry of a spouse or
partner. All entries not denoted by (f) are males. Few of these records
for parties more than a couple hundred years back in time can be
documented. This is a wide chart, but the scroll bar along the bottom
can be used to view the right side of the chart.
Counting columns from left to right, start at the bottom of the second
column with Richard Alexander Stanford (1943- ), read upward to the top
of that column, follow the arrow to the bottom of the first column, and
read upward to Brigalus de Vermandos, born about 225 BC. All of the
names from Quintus de Vermandois (180-232) upward in the first column
are Roman.
In the second column, note that Philippe III de France (1245-1285)
married Isabelle d'Aragon (1247-1271) in the third column. Read upward
to the top of the third column, follow the arrow to the bottom of the
fourth column, and read upward to Artemidoros Galatia Tocmii, unknown
birth and death dates. All of the names from Quintus Faustus Anicius
(210-240) upward in the fourth column are Roman.
In the fourth column, note that Quintus Faustus Anicius (210-240)
married Fausta Anicius (225-?) in the fifth column. Read upward in the
fifth column to Regulus Sergius Plautus (ca 90BC - ?). All of the names
from Fausta Anicius (225 - ?) upward in the fifth colum are Roman.
Note that Roman names disappeared in the ancestry sequences soon after about 250 AD as the Roman Empire began to fall under assault by "barbarian" forces.
2. The Mary Magdalene Conundrum
The fourth column in Chart 7, headed "Spanish/Frankish/Jewish," is most
interesting, and where it leads is perhaps even shocking. When several
years ago I first read the book Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael
Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln (Random House, 1982), I
dismissed their hypothesis as pure speculation and maybe some wishful
thinking. But given my ancestry research, I now am not so sure. In their
research, Baigent, Leigh, and Lincoln (BLL) stumbled onto a possibility
that they had not been looking for.
On the basis of their research findings, BLL shifted the focus of their
research to a new hypothesis, i.e., that Jesus fathered a child with
Mary Magdalene, that she and daughter along with a number of other
believers escaped persecution by fleeing in a boat across the
Mediterranean Sea to land on the south coast of France, and that the
daughter married into the Frankish dynasty to promulgate a sacred
bloodline that persists to this day. The corollary of the BLL hypothesis
is that the "Holy Grail" is not a vessel that may have contained Jesus'
blood and which has been the object of search through the ages by
Templar knights and others, but rather it is the sacred bloodline
itself. The BLL hypothesis became a central theme in Dan Brown’s 2003
book, The Da Vinci Code.
Chart 13 lists the ancestry sequence derived from the first and fourth
columns of Chart 7. It covers the range from Richard Alexander Stanford
(born 1943) to Akim Ben Zadoc (born circa 274 BC). An arrow (---^)
indicates a shift to the ancestry of a spouse or partner. All entries
not denoted by (f) are males. Few of these records for parties more than
a couple hundred years back in time can be documented. Names above
Antenor Iv des Francs (24-67) are Hebrew names.
The same word of caution issued in the previous section is repeated
here. While the ancestry records of most royals are well-enough
documented that their records can be authenticated, few of the records
for non-royals that are more than a couple hundred years back in time
are likely to be satisfactorily documented. Many of the ancestry
records included in subsequent listings come from MyHeritage "smart
matches" rather than "record matches." Record matches, found in data
bases that the MyHeritage search engine accesses, are likely to be
documentable; smart matches, found in other ancestry trees, may not be
documentable and thus may be less reliable. In Chart 13, names marked
with an asterisk (*) are record matches.
Chart 13. Ancestry Richard A. Stanford (1943 AD) to Akim Ben Zadoc (274 BC)
Roman Palestine
Akim Ben Zadoc (274 - ? BC)
Eliud Ben Akim (229 - ? BC)
Ezar (Eleazer) Ben Eliud (ca 120 - ? BC)
Matthan Ben Eleazar (Ezar) (? - ? BC)
Yaakov (Jacob) Ben Matthan (ca 65 - 23 BC)
Yossef Ben Jacob (ca 30 BC - 19 AD)
Yeshuah Ben Yossef, De Nazareth (3/1/7 BC - 4/3/33 AD)*
Marie Madeleine de Magdala (2 AD - ?) (f) ---^
Sarah Damaris Yeshuah (27 AD - ?) (f)
Sicambri Francs, east bank of Rhine
Antenor Iv des Francs, Roy des Francs (24-67) ---^
Ratherius des Francs (8-99)
Richemer des Francs, Roi des Francs (30-114)
Odomar des Francs (50-128)
Marcomir Iv des Francs (84-165)
Chlodomir Iv des Francs (104-165)
Farabert des Sicambres des Francs (122-186)*
Summo Manuel Hunno des Francs (182-213)
Francs Saliens, northern France
Childéric des Francs, des Franks Saliens (200-253)
Marcomir de Toxandrie, Chief des Franks Saliens (220-281)*
Génébaud I des Francs, Duc des Francs Saliens (245-289)*
Merogi des Francs, Roi des Francs Ripuaires (270-307)
Mararic des Francs (295-360)
Teutomer des Francs (302-334)
Richomer de Toxandrie des Francs (335-393)
Théodomir de Toxandrie des Francs (374-414)
Clodion le Chevelu des Francs, 2eme Roi des Francs Saliens (392-448)
Ragnar de Cambrai (427-478)
Artois, northern France between Picardy and Flancers
Richard d'Artois (470-510)
Richard d'Artois (500-?)
Adalric de Brandebourg, Comte de Ponthieu (530-570)
Ricmar d'Artois (de Ponthieu) (560-614)*
Adalbert d'Artois (580-653)
Adabald Ii d'Artois (610-675)
Ansbert Ii d'artois (670-700)
Adalbert d'Ostrevent (690-764)
Thibaud d'Artois d'Ostrevent, Count (?-840)
Aldaric d'Artois (710-780)
Berenger d'Artois - Toulose (745-839)*
Hunroch d'Artois en Ternois-bourgogne (767-853)
Amadee d'Ocheret-de Langres (800-867)
Ivrée, Piedmont region of Italy
Ansgar d'Ivrée (830-901)
Adalbert I d'Ivrée (870-927)
Bérenger II d'Ivrée, le Jeune (900-966)*
Adalbert Ii d'ivree, Roi d'italie (923-971)*
Burgundy, east-central France
Otto Guillaume d'Ivrea de Bourgogne, comte de Mâcon & de Nevers, contested Duke of Burgundy (958-1026)*
Renaud I, Comte Palatin de Bourgogne (990-1057)
Guillaume Bourgogne, "le Grand" (1020-1087)*
Raymond Bourgogne (1070-1107)*
Aragon, northwest Spain
Alfonso VII de Castilla (1105-1157)*
Alfonso II Rey d'Aragon (1157-1196)*
Peter II of Aragon (1178-1213)*
James I "the Conqueror" of Aragon, King of Aragon (1208-1276)*
France
Philippe III Capet de France, "le Hardi" (1245-1285)*
Philippe IV France, "le Bel, the Fair", Roi de France (1268-1314)*
England
Edward II Plantagenet (1284-1327)*
Edward III Plantagenet (1312-1377)*
John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (1340-1399)*
John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset (1373-1410)*
John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset (1403-1444)*
Lady Margaret Beaufort (1443-1509)* (f)
Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond (1431-1456)* ---^
Henry VII Tudor, King of England (1457-1509)*
Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots (1489-1541)* (f)
James (Iron Belt) Stewart IV, King of Scots (1473-1513)* ---^
James Stewart V, King of Scots (1512-1542)*
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray (1533-1570)*
Annabel Stewart 1565-1648)*
Robert Bruce Pollock, II, 2nd Baron of Ireland (1597-1660)* ---^
American Colonies, United States of America
Robert Bruce Polk III (1624-1703)*
Robert Bruce Polk (1672-1727)*
Thomas Luke Polk (1703-1781)*
Thomas Luke Polk, Jr (1737-1799)*
Joseph Isaac Polk (1780-1859)*
Joseph Travis Polk (1818-1898)*
Wade Polk (1850-1925)*
Etta Avarilla Polk (1884-1966)* (f)
Irby Tapley (1879-1930) ---^
Ruth Lucille Tapley (1910-1997)* (f)
Richard Alexander Stanford (1943- )*
Imagine my surprise (and shock) when I noticed that Akim Ben Zadoc’s
4th-great grandson is Yeshuah Ben Yossef (born circa 7 BC) whom we know
by his Greek name, Jesus. The names above Yeshuah Ben Yossef track
perfectly with the genealogy listed in the first chapter of the book of
Matthew.
It is not possible with data taken only from authentic data bases to
start with myself and deliberately target an ancient character with an
ancestry line that I am tracing. Nor is it possible to start with an
ancient character and work forward in time, hoping to link the ancestry
line to myself or some other current party. The ancestry tracing
procedure requires starting with a known party, oneself or some other
party, and then working back in time to add information for parents,
grandparents, and great grandparents.In tracing the ancestry sequence
above, I arrived at the record for Yeshuah Ben Yossef quite
unintentionally and by following only standard ancestry tracing
procedures.
Chart 9 is a MyHeritage screen shot of ancestry connections around Yeshuah Ben Yossef (3/1/17 BC - 4/3/33 AD) who would be my 63rd-great grandfather.
Ancestry records indicate Yeshuah Ben Yossef’s wife to be one Maria
(Madeline) de Magdala (born about 2 AD) whom we know as Mary Magdalene.
As to whether we might be descended from Yeshuah and Maria de Magdala,
and begging the question of the divinity/humanity of Yeshuah, there are
at least four questions, none of which can be answered definitively.
1. Did Jesus marry Mary Magdalene and father a child with her? If Jesus
was born in 7 BC, he was nearly 40 years old when he was crucified in 33
AD. Life expectancy in Palestine during the first century AD was
probably less than 50 years, so Yeshuah was past early manhood and
heading toward old age. By that age, most Jewish men would have married
and fathered most of their children. Assuming that Jesus was at least
partially human and reasonably virile, it is not unreasonable to presume
that he may have experienced normal human urges, engaged in typical
male human activity, married his most devoted female follower, and
fathered a child with her. Legends suggest the possibility, but there is
no incontrovertible evidence that he did so. So, we just don't know.
2. Did Mary Magdalene and daughter make their way to the south of France
to escape persecution in Jerusalem? There are two competing traditions
about where Mary Magdalene went after the crucifixion of Jesus, but
there is no documentary evidence that supports either tradition.
In what I shall refer to as the “Ephesus tradition,” while on the cross
Jesus said to the disciple “whom he loved,” presumably John, “Here is
your mother.” The passage continues, “From that time on, this disciple
took her into his home” (John 19:27). Tradition has it that John took
Mary with him to Ephesus and built a stone house for her on a hillside
overlooking Ephesus. A house in that region was identified as Mary’s in
1881 by Abbé Gouyet, a French priest, following directions in a vision
by Anne Catherine Emmerich, a bedridden Augustinian nun in Germany (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_the_Virgin_Mary).
The tradition also maintains either that Mary Magdalene accompanied
Mary to Ephesus (no mention of a daughter) or that Mary Magdalene
retired to Ephesus to live in Mary’s house after Mary died. In either
case, according to tradition, Mary Magdalene lived out her years and
died there (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Magdalene#Speculations). Locals in Ephesus have venerated the site through the ages.
In the “Marsella tradition,” Jesus' followers were persecuted for
several years following the crucifixion. After the execution of James
(the son of Zebedee) in Jerusalem, Mary Magdalene (conflated by some
with Mary of Bethany), Mary of Bethany, her sister Martha, her brother
Lazarus, Maximin (one of the 72 disciples appointed by Jesus in Luke
10:1), and others escaped persecution in a boat on Mare Nostrum (the
Roman name for the Mediterranean Sea). A version of this story is that
Pagans towed them out to sea in a rudderless boat without sail, oars, or
supplies to die at sea (http://www.magdalenepublishing.org/about/).
By some means the boat made its way westward across the Mediterranean
and eventually landed on the south coast of France near Marsella, the
Roman name of the modern city of Marseille. According to French
tradition, Mary Magdalene preached the gospel and lived an ascetic
lifestyle in a limestone cave in the Languedoc region of the south of
France until she died. Maximin began the evangelization of
Aix-en-Provence together with Mary Magdalene and became the first bishop
of Aix-en-Provence (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximinus_of_Aix).
Locals have venerated various sites associated with Mary Magdalene, and
today there are numerous religious sites in the south of France
dedicated to Mary Magdalene.
Tradition has it that Mary Magdalene was accompanied by her daughter
(some sources say a maid) who was named Sarah Damaris. “Sarah,” a Hebrew
name, was unusual in the south of France. In Latin, “maris,” the
genitive case of “mare,” translates into English as "belonging to the
sea." In French, “de Marie” translates into English as “of Mary.” Either
might fit the name “Damaris.”
Biblical scholars generally favor the Ephesus tradition, probably
because it meshes with the John 19:27 passage. They reject the Marsella
tradition for lack of any scriptural or early church history references
to it. While locals in the south of France may have venerated purported
Magdalene sites for centuries, the tradition came to prominence only
around the middle of the eleventh century when two monks at Vézelay in
Burgundy claimed to have discovered Mary’s skeleton (https:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Magdalene).
How the boat got from Palestine to Marsella is unknown (a miracle?),
and the story about the group being towed out to sea in a rudderless
boat without sail or oars, and somehow making it to the south coast of
France is suspect. The “St. Mary Magdalene” entry in the on-line edition
of the Encyclopaedia Britannica says that “French tradition
spuriously claims that she evangelized Provence (now southeastern
France) and spent her last 30 years in an Alpine cavern.” (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Mary-Magdalene).
Today, Magdalene veneration and religious sites dedicated to her in the
south of France are extensive. And ancestry records indicating that a
“Sarah Damaris” married a member of the Frank nobility and would seem to
support the Marsella tradition. An old adage may apply: “where there’s
smoke there must be fire,” or a variation, “there are too many cinders
for there to have been no fire.” Did Mary Magdalene die at Ephesus (in
modern Turkey) or bring a daughter with her to France? Again, we just
don't know on either count.
3. If a daughter accompanied Mary Magdalene to the south of France, did
she marry into a Frankish dynasty? Several ancestry records indicate
that Antenor IV, King of the Francs in the Sicambri region of western
Germany, married a Sarah Damaris of Nazareth. How Antenor IV, king of a
tribe on the east bank of the Rhine River, might have encountered Sarah
Damaris whose mother evangelized a region in the south of France is
unknown. Other ancestry records indicate that Antenor's wife is unknown;
one indicates that he married "Sarah France (born de Marsella)" (https://www.myheritage.com/names/antenor_france).
“Sarah” is a Jewish name; “Damaris” may be either Latin or French.
"Marsella" is the Roman name of today's French port Marseille.
Jugeals-Nazareth today is a commune in the Corrèze department in central
France (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jugeals-Nazareth),
but we don't know if it existed prior to Sarah Damaris' birth, or if it
came into existence in response to Mary Magdalene's presence and
activities. We simply can't know for certain where Sarah Damaris was
born or whether she was the daughter of Mary Magdalene.
4. If Sarah Damaris indeed was the daughter of Mary Magdalene and
Yeshuah (Jesus), and if she indeed married Antenor IV, does Antenor IV's
ancestry line stretch to us? The website "The Larger Picture: The
Intertwining of Seemingly Unrelated Threads Back to Abraham" (https://cseweb.ucsd.edu/~wgg/Genealogy/relatedthreads.pdf)
offers some confirmation of the ancestry line descents in several of
the columns in Chart 7. One problem is that the ancestry lines that I
have traced do not include names of siblings. This means that the lines
of descent that I traced may be from a sibling of a party included in
the "The Larger Picture" ancestry lines. Another problem is that name
spellings vary in different ancestry records that were recorded in
different languages (some in English, others in French or German), and
it is often difficult to establish correspondence between them. I was
very careful to match each party's individual ancestry record in an
ancestry line to its parent's records, and parents to their children, so
I am confident that the ancestry line of descent from Antenor IV is
authentic.
When I have mentioned to other people that I have traced my ancestry to
Mary Magdaline, and through her possibly to Jesus, I usually get a
“Yeah, right!” or “So you think you are related to Jesus?” Some roll
their eyes, laugh, and think that I am either delusional or suffering
visions of grandeur (or maybe divinity). The most skeptical, of course,
are my minister friends and theology colleagues because the idea of an
ancestry connection to a human Yeshuah lies outside the orthodox
perception of a divine Jesus. Edgar McKnight, in his book Jesus Christ Today,
asserts that the reader of scripture can be an active participant in
the interpretation of the meaning of scriptural texts. McKnight
concludes that Jesus can mean whatever the reader of scripture needs for
him to mean. The skeptics seem to prefer the perception of a detached,
mystical Christ Jesus who is remote in time, space, and divinity rather
than a Yeshuah Jesus with whom humans today may have actual ancestry
connection.
So, where does that leave us? There is some reason to believe that we
may be related to Mary Magdalene and Yeshuah ben Yossef, but there is no
way to confirm this with confidence. But even if we are confident that
we are so related, does that mean that the bloodline from Yeshuah to us
is sacred as implied in Baigent, Leigh, and Lincoln's book Holy Blood, Holy Grail? This turns entirely on your own belief in the divinity of Yeshuah ben Yossef.
<>
3. Greek Gods
There are myths and legends about a whole pantheon of Greek gods. Surprisingly, the Franken/Merovingen/Sicambrian branch of the Polk ancestry line appears to extend nearly two millennia before the common era (i.e., into the BC era) to the mythical primordial god Erebus Protogenol (“Darkness”) whose 2nd-great grandson is Zeus of Olympia (1738-1638 BC), the God of Thunder. Zeus would be my 163rd-great grandfather. This ancestry line is detailed in Chart 10, starting in the lower left corner and proceeding upward in each column, then following the arrow to the bottom of the next column until the top of the right-most column is reached. An arrow (---^) indicates a shift to the ancestry of a spouse or partner. All entries not denoted by (f) are males. Few of these records for parties more than a couple hundred years back in time can be documented.
The same word of caution issued in previous sections is repeated here.
While the ancestry records of most royals are well-enough documented
that their records can be authenticated, few of the records for
non-royals that are more than a couple hundred years back in time are
likely to be satisfactorily documented. Many of the ancestry records
included in subsequent listings come from MyHeritage "smart matches"
rather than "record matches." Record matches, found in data bases that
the MyHeritage search engine accesses, are likely to be documentable;
smart matches, found in other ancestry trees, may not be documentable
and thus may be less reliable. In Chart 10, names marked with an
asterisk (*) are record matches.
Chart 11 is a MyHeritage screen shot of ancestry records around that of Zeus Van Olympia (1738-1638 BC). It shows his father Kronos Saturnus Titan, God of Time; his grandfather Uranus De Ouranos, Protogenoi, 1st Ruler God of The Universe; his great grandfather, Aether Protogenoi, Light; and his great-great grandfather, Erebus Protogenoi, Darkness.
In the ancestry records, Zeus’s son, Dardanis Van Arcadia, born around
1620 BC, was his first human descendant. Dardanis would be my
120th-great grandfather. In Greek mythology, Arcadia, in the central
part of the Greek Peloponnese peninsula, was the home of the god Pan.
Dardania, a Roman province in the Central Balkans just north of
Macedonia, was named after the ancient tribe of Dardani which inhabited
the region prior to the Roman conquests in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dardania_(Roman_province)). Brutus "the Dardanian" immigrated to western Briton (now known as Wales) at some time between 600 and 500 BC.
If ancient Greek theology today is regarded as mythology, one well might
wonder how Judeo-Christian theology may be regarded in a millennium (or
even a century) from now.
I leave it to the reader to contemplate the implications of being descended from a mythical god.
Appendices
1. Ancestry Math
a. Cousin Math
If two people have the
same father, they are siblingssame grandfather, they are 1st cousins
same 1st-great grandfather, they are 2nd cousins
same 2nd-great grandfather, they are 3rd cousins
same 3rd-great grandfather, they are 4th cousins
etc.
The general principle is that two persons sharing a common great grandfather are cousins of that great grandfather number plus 1.
By comparing ancestry research notes, a friend and I have discovered that we share a common ancestor who is my 11th-great grandfather. If my ancestor is also my friend's 11th-great grandfather, then we are 12th cousins, same generation. If my ancestor is my friend's 12th-great grandfather, then we are 13th cousins, removed by one generation. If my ancestor is my friend's 10th-great grandfather, then we are 11th cousins, removed by one generation.
b. Great Grandfather Math
In Chart 7, Regulus Sergius Plautus (circa 90 BC-?) is my 66th-great
grandfather. This may seem like a large number of great grandfathers,
but in fact it is only a “drop in the bucket” because the number of
one’s great grandfathers obeys the mathematical law of exponents with
base 2 because each great grandfather also has two grandfathers (and
four great grandfathers, etc.).
For example, I have
2 grandfathers, 2^1, exponent: 1
4 1st-great grandfathers, 2^2, exponent: 2
8 2nd-great grandfathers, 2^3, exponent: 3
16 3rd-great grandfathers, 2^4, exponent: 4
32 4th-great grandfathers, 2^5, exponent: 5
etc.
The general principle is that for any great grandfather number, I have
that number of grandfathers, raised to an exponent that is that number
plus 1. So, if Regulus Sergius Plautus is my 66th-great grandfather,
theoretically I have as many as 2^67 =
147,573,952,589,676,412,930 (i.e., more than 147 quintillion) great
grandfathers including Regulus Sergius Plautus, and that many great
grandmothers as well. (An exponent calculator may be found at website https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/math/Exponent_Calculator.html.)
This means that I could research my ancestry to any of the great
grandfathers or great grandmothers (until a dead-end is reached, i.e.,
until neither parent is identified in an ancestry record) and never be
finished with my ancestry research.
The number 2^67 = 147,573,952,589,676,412,930 great grandfathers is
truly incredible since it has been estimated that the cumulative human
population of the earth to 2019 is 108,760,543,791 (i.e., 108.76
billion) people (https://www.prb.org/howmanypeoplehaveeverlivedonearth/).
The actual number of grandfathers will be smaller than 2^67 because
cousins, however close or distant, inevitably marry one another. The
more distant the cousin relationship, the less likely they are to be
aware that they are distant cousins. The phenomenon of cousin marriage
means that great grandfathers are shared or overlap so that the number
of great grandfathers is diminished. Whether the diminished number
reconciles with the estimate of the cumulative population of the earth
is unknown.
c. Generations Math
We now have information that permits computation of average generation
lengths in five Stanford Family ancestry lines. The mean of these
averages is 30.514 years. The averages diverge from their mean by less
than 9 percent, a remarkable consistency over the span of more than
three millennia.
A generations span study in Chart 18 reveals what happened to the
average generation length over time. Chart 18 analyzes the 68-generation
span of 2033 years from Regulus Sergius Plautus (90 BC - ?) to Richard
Alexander Stanford (1943 - ), divided into 4 equal sub-spans of 17
generations.
Chart 18 shows that the average generation length increased gradually
over the two-millennium period from a little over 25 years to more than
35 years. The greatest increases occurred during the second millennium
that included the Age of Enlightenment and the scientific, medical, and
industrial revolutions. A break-down of the 603-year period into two
sub-periods reveals little change over the two sub-periods. There was a
slight decrease of sub-span length over the period from 1625 to 1943, a
time during which great wars were fought on both the European and North
American continents.
2. Authenticity
I have confidence in most of what I have discovered thus-far in my
ancestry research, but some of my ancestry research findings are
incredible; others are questionable. The finding that I may have as many
as 2^67 = 147,573,952,589,676,412,930 great grandfathers is incredible.
It may be reconciled with the estimate that the cumulative human
population of the earth to 2019 is only 108.76 billion people if the
phenomenon of cousin marriages is sufficiently extensive.
And what about the ancestry lines traced to Yeshuah Ben Yossef (Jesus) and Zeus, the mythological Greek God of Thunder?
When a new parent record is added to a MyHeritage ancestry tree, the
MyHeritage search engine does an automatic search of the data bases to
which it has access, and very soon it may place one or two icons in the
upper-right corner of the tree panel for that record. A red icon
indicates that there are one or more record matches to that party, and
the user can click on the red icon to view the record matches. Record
matches are found in the data bases to which MyHeritage has access.
Chart 17 shows a screen shot taken from the MyHeritage Stanford Family
ancestry tree. Note the small red icons in all six of the colored panels
in this screen shot, pink for females, blue for males. The small blue
and pink “balloon” icons above each of the colored panels in Chart 17
indicate that panels for other relatives may be presented by clicking on
the balloons.
A green icon indicates that there are one or more so-called "smart
matches," i.e., records found in other MyHeritage ancestry trees rather
than data bases. In Chart 17, a green smart-match icon appears in the
upper-right corner of the blue record panel for John Richard Morgan
Neel. When possible, I rely on the red-icon record matches to discover
and add parents and other relatives to the Stanford Family Ancestry
Tree. But when there are no red record matches or after all available
record matches have been examined, I may click on a green smart-match
icon to see if additional information about the party and any relatives
is available.
When there are no red or green icons on an ancestry tree panel, it is
possible to go to the MyHeritage "Research" option and specify the given
name and surname plus approximate birth date of a prospective addition.
The MyHeritage search engine then will present a list of all records in
data bases and other ancestry trees that match the names and date
specified, + or – 20 years. After reviewing the alternatives, I can
choose which information about birth and death dates, and parent,
sibling, spouse, and children identifications to bring into my ancestry
tree.
Another possibility for adding parties to my ancestry tree is to click
on the "+Add father" or "+Add mother" panels above an existing panel,
and I can then supply information from external sources to which I am
privy. The screen shot in Chart 17 shows both add possibilities.
Clicking on the + sign at the bottom of any colored panel enables adding
spouses, parents, siblings, or children to the ancestry tree. However,
these options leave open the possibility of gaming the system by
making-up information or even fabricating fictional characters to add to
the ancestry tree. Any fictional character records then will be
available as smart matches to other ancestry trees.
It is apparent that the farther back in time one takes an ancestry line,
fewer of the red record-match icons, and eventually even fewer of the
green smart-match icons show up on the record panels. This suggests that
a succession of parent panels may have been added to ancestry trees
from external sources, or they could have been fabricated.
It is entirely fortuitous (and providential?) that two of the ancestry
lines that I traced reached Yeshuah Ben Yossef and Zeus, God of Thunder.
With an exception that I will mention following, it should not be
possible to start with myself and deliberately target an ancient
character with an ancestry line that I am tracing. Nor should it be
possible to start with an ancient character and work forward in time,
hoping to link the ancestry line to myself or some other current party.
The ancestry tracing procedure requires starting with a known party,
oneself or some other party, and then working back in time to add
information for parents, grandparents, and great grandparents. So, it
was a surprise (and shock) that two of my ancestry traces reached
Yeshuah and Zeus.
However, while it is not possible using only authentic data-base
information to target an ancient character like Yeshuah or Zeus, an
ancestry researcher bent on making his ancestry sequence reach a target
character may be tempted to supply a missing parent or a false
specification of a parent in an otherwise authentic record. Or the
researcher may even fabricate an ancestry record to reach a target
character. A false parent specification or a fabricated record could be
added to the researcher’s ancestry sequence to link to a party in the
target’s ancestry sequence a few steps short of the target character. If
other ancestry researchers neglect to check that the falsified or
fabricated record party is indeed a child of the party in the authentic
record, the falsified or fabricated record may be confirmed as a smart
match by other ancestry researchers. It then would appear to be
validated and could appear multiple times in an ancestry search.
In the case of an ancestry sequence linked to Yeshuah Ben Yossef, it
would have been possible for an ancestry researcher to fabricate
ancestry records for Yeshuah and his ancestors back to Adam, using the
genealogies reported in the books of Matthew and Luke in the New
Testament of the Bible as the de facto data base. Greek mythology serves as the de facto data base for Zeus and his ancestors.
I do not know and have no evidence that record falsification or
fabrication has occurred in other ancestry trees to create smart-match
records that reach Yeshuah Ben Yossef or Zeus, God of Thunder. But this
imagined possibility leads me to suspect some of the apparent linkages
to ancient characters.
So, am I actually related to Yeshuah or Zeus? Maybe, maybe not.
Comments
Post a Comment