Your Ancestors

[YetiFatMan]

I forgot the piss poor Irish side of my family.

[sumskilz]

According to my mom, we're related to Eleanor of Aquitaine (somewhere), however im doubting it.

I'm not. Although I think being related to someone "somewhere" is a pretty abstract concept. I'm really having trouble wrapping my brain around where that would be. Your genes? Aquitaine? I mean you're also related to your mom, but where?

[Heathen Storm]

I'm not. Although I think being related to someone "somewhere" is a pretty abstract concept. I'm really having trouble wrapping my brain around where that would be. Your genes? Aquitaine? I mean you're also related to your mom, but where?

I think he meant that "somewhere" as in "somewhere in my family tree"
...Or were you being sarcastic

[Basil 11]

I am directly descended from the Houses of Valois and Orleans, the Plantaganets, the Bourbons, the Habsburgs and the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

[Heart of Madness]

Too much noble descent, I doubt you're related to All of those.

Plus, they're all in different parts of Europe.

[sumskilz]

Too much noble descent, I doubt you're related to All of those.

Plus, they're all in different parts of Europe.

Why would you doubt it? All those nobles are related to each other - a fact which is well documented. Even without documentation, it is also safe to assume that all Europeans are reasonably closely related to those nobles even if not directly descended. Furthermore, all humans are related to them to some degree.

I once saw a geneological chart which proved that all the royalty of Europe are descended from the Han Chinese. The chart showed every individual in the chain and worked like this:
~ A Han Chinese princess was married into the Sassanid dynasty
~ A Sassanid princess descended from the Han Chinese princess married an Eastern Roman Emperor
~ A Roman (Byzantine) princess descended from the Sassanid princess married the Holy Roman Emperor Otto II. All European royal lineages can be traced back to their daughter Matilda.

[Heart of Madness]

My mistake, didn't know that. I guess it's plausible. Don't even know that last house.

Also, English kings almost never married people from other countries except their own and France.

[sumskilz]

Also, English kings almost never married people from other countries except their own and France.

Are you sure? House of Windsor is a branch of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The previous dynasty of England was House of Hannover. I think saying "almost never" is too much of a generalization even if you are counting other places in the British Isles as their own country.

Richard I married Berengaria of Navarre
Richard II married Anne of Bohemia
Henry IV married Joanna of Navarre
James I married Anne of Denmark
Charles II married Catherine of Braganza
James II married Mary of Modena

[Basil 11]

Too much noble descent, I doubt you're related to All of those.

Plus, they're all in different parts of Europe.

Joke.
EDIT: sumskilz is right; for example I'm sure Queen Victoria is sometimes dubbed the 'Grandmother of Europe'.

[sumskilz]

Here's some interesting facts for you guys:

Mathematical models have predicted that at least 80% of the population of the British Isles are descendents of William the Conqueror.

The probability of every person with European ancestry being descended from Charlemagne is 99.99% likely (except that you have to add about another 10,000 nines after the decimal point).

Bill Gates is a direct descendent of Alfred the Great.

Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Brad Pitt, and Paris Hilton are all direct descendents of Henry II of England.

Tom Hanks and Ernest Hemingway are both direct descendents of King John of England.

Aga Khan IV (the 49th Nizari Imam) is a direct descendent of Edward I Longshanks.

And all of you guys are also descended from famous historical figures except that no one cares enough to research your linage for you.

[brennas]

Here's some interesting facts for you guys:

Mathematical models have predicted that at least 80% of the population of the British Isles are descendents of William the Conqueror.

The probability of every person with European ancestry being descended from Charlemagne is 99.99% likely (except that you have to add about another 10,000 nines after the decimal point).

Bill Gates is a direct descendent of Alfred the Great.

Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Brad Pitt, and Paris Hilton are all direct descendents of Henry II of England.

Tom Hanks and Ernest Hemingway are both direct descendents of King John of England.

Aga Khan IV (the 49th Nizari Imam) is a direct descendent of Edward I Longshanks.

And all of you guys are also descended from famous historical figures except that no one cares enough to research your liniage for you.

Deja vu, Sean.

[sumskilz]

Deja vu, Sean.

Oh yeah, that was weird. The site was all slow at the time too, like it was going to die and be down for a few days.

Double post deleted.

[gamegeek2]

That seems somewhat unlikely. Definitely a good number of them were, but not all of them...

The pharaohs had hundreds of kids each. How many modern Egyptians are descendants of Pharaohs?

[sumskilz]

That seems somewhat unlikely. Definitely a good number of them were, but not all of them...

I'm not sure what you're referring to.

The pharaohs had hundreds of kids each. How many modern Egyptians are descendants of Pharaohs?

All of them and you probably are too. That doesn't mean that you have any genetics from ancient Egypt. Humans tend to have genetics primarily from localized regions where most of their recent ancestors came from.

Here's a hypothetical scenario commonly used to explain this in physical anthropology courses:


A European ship is blown off course in 100 AD and lands in the Caribbean, with no way home. Only one man survives the voyage. He isn’t killed by the locals but is instead taken in.

1. He has offspring with one of the native women and has children. 1/2 of their DNA is European.
2. The children mate with pure natives and have grandchildren. About 1/4 (can be more or less, by chance) of their DNA is European.
3. The grandchildren mate with pure natives and have great-grandchildren. About 1/8 (more or less) of their DNA is European.
4. And so on.

By 1492, all of the Caribbean is descended from this European man, but his DNA is extinct. There is no evidence of his existence in the DNA of the living people. He is everyone's ancestor, but no one has his DNA.

Here's an interesting related article on common ancestors of all living humans: http://tedlab.mit.edu/~dr/Papers/Rohde-MRCA-two.pdf

[gamegeek2]

Right.

[Space_Ed]

Two wrongs don't make a right.

Yes they do.

[brennas]

Did I mentioned that this thread was a bit....non sense?
Here you have the solution: we are all brothers, we all descend from the same bunch of people! I just make an exception with Space_Ed...he is too anti-Irish to be brother of any person.

[Space_Ed]

Did I mentioned that this thread was a bit....non sense?
Here you have the solution: we are all brothers, we all descend from the same bunch of people! I just make an exception with Space_Ed...he is too anti-Irish to be brother of any person.

[brennas]

[madrush]

how about Ian McAndrew of Caugnautt (not sure but doubt its spelled right)