Medieval English families on the internet




"Where is Bohun? Where's Mowbray? Where's Mortimer? ... Nay, which is more, and most of all, where is Plantagenet? They are intombed in the urns and sepulchres of mortality"
Sir Ranulph Crew (1625)


In view of the vast amount of genealogical data on the internet, I am a little hesitant about trying to compile a listing of the medieval English 'family histories' available online. By its nature, this listing is bound to be very incomplete, and - particularly for royalty and the higher reaches of nobility - much more information is available than can be mentioned here.

I have tried to include only websites dealing with medieval families - or at least genealogical relationships - rather than individuals, and only those which include a significant amount of narrative material or discussion of sources and evidence, rather than bare pedigrees. Subject to these criteria, the contents of the sites vary tremendously - from brief lists of early occurrences of surnames to extensive illustrated family narratives. Of course, I'd be very grateful for suggestions of other websites to be included, as I'm sure there must be many more than I've found so far.

Please note that I don't endorse the accuracy of any of the websites listed below. Where I have noticed something that looks as though it should be treated with particular caution, I have added a comment. But generally I have tended to include anything that looks potentially useful, even if only as a 'finding-aid'. Of course, any genealogical statement - whether in print or online - should be judged on the merits of the evidence presented (or on the lack of evidence!).

In particular, it's important to remember that older material, whether reproduced verbatim on web pages or used as the basis of a newer account, may have been superseded by more recent research. Some resources that may be useful for finding genealogy in print are listed in the section on published family histories. Another good way of tracking down errors in traditional pedigrees, and finding out about more recent research, is to search the archives of the GEN-MEDIEVAL mailing list.

N.B. The links are arranged by surnames where possible; for some early individuals without surnames, they are arranged by title or office, or by Christian name.