I’ve always been fascinated with genealogy and famous people’s descendants. The possibility that King Arthur may have had children besides Mordred and that his descendants live today led to my researching the topic and writing my book King Arthur’s Children: A Study in Fiction and Tradition.
But King Arthur is not the only legendary or mythical person who may have had descendants. Here are just a few others who have always fascinated me.
Melusine: The fairy Melusine, who was supposedly half-serpent or a mermaid, is another whom royal and noble people have tried to claim descent from over the years, specifically the House of Lusignan, which would make her ancestress to the Plantagenets who became rulers of England as well as people like Guy of Lusignan, who was King of Jerusalem until Saladin removed him from his throne and he ended up instead as King of Cyprus. One branch of Melusine’s alleged descendants continues today in the Weir family, who are descended in turn from the de Vere family who were Earls of Oxford.
Dracula: While the vampire Count Dracula is fictional, he is based on Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, commonly called Vlad the Impaler (1431-1476). Claims have frequently been made by various people that they are descendants of Dracula, although all of these claims appear to be either false publicity stunts or misuses of the term “descendant.” In Dracula, Prince of Many Faces, the authors Radu R. Florescu and Raymond T. McNally devote a chapter to discussion of Vlad Tepes’ descendants that reveals all of his children’s known lines died out by the seventeenth century. It is possible that some of Vlad Tepes’ descendants are still alive that have not been documented. However, those claims to be descendants are usually a stretch of the truth and really these people are descendants of one of his brothers. Recently, Charles, Prince of Wales, stated that genealogy proved he was a relative to Vlad Tepes. Some websites state Charles is a descendant, but the truth is that the Prince of Wales and his mother Queen Elizabeth II are descended from Vlad Tepes’ brother. Queen Elizabeth II’s grandmother, Mary of Teck, was the granddaughter of Countess Claudine Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde, who was the 10th great-granddaughter of Vlad IV “the Monk” who also ruled Wallachia (1482-95); he was Vlad Tepes’ half-brother. (See Countess Claudine’s entry at Wikipedia). So Vlad Tepes is an ancestral uncle to the British royal family and probably many of the royal and noble families of Europe, but not a direct ancestor.
Cassandra of Troy: Another fascinating descendants theory comes from ancient Troy. When Troy fell, it’s a well-known story that Aeneas escaped and eventually founded Rome. His descendants included Brutus, who traveled to Britain and became it’s king and for whom Britain is named. But Marion Zimmer Bradley, in her novel about the Trojan War, The Firebrand (probably her best novel after The Mists of Avalon) offers an interesting possibility about the Princess Cassandra, daughter of King Priam. In the novel’s Postscript, Bradley states that while the Iliad says nothing of Cassandra’s fate, there is a statement on tablet #803 in the Archaelological Museum in Athens that says, “Agathon, son of Ekhephylos, the Zakynthian Family, consuls of the Molossians and their allies, descended for 30 Generations from Kassandra of Troy.” I wish we knew for sure whether this statement is true. Even if it were, who Agathon was and his descendants have equally been lost to history.
Roland the Paladin: Recently, in researching the Charlemagne legends, I came across several websites that listed Charlemagne’s nephew, Roland, as having had descendants. Roland is often regarded as mythical although it seems there was a Roland who was the military governor of the Breton march. Roland traditionally is said to have died at the Battle of Roncesvaux Pass in 778. At the time of Roland’s death, he was engaged to Alda, who died of grief having heard of his death. But there exists a tradition that by an unknown woman Roland had a son named Faralando d’Angleria. This son married a woman named Flora Valdez and they had a child named Diego Valdez. In turn, Diego’s descendants would measure in the thousands today and among them are King George I of England and all his descendants, Otto Bismarck, and Winston Churchill. Could Roland have lived through the Battle of Roncesvaux Pass and married a woman living in what today is Spain? Furthermore, while I have found this list of descendants for Roland on a few different websites, I have not seen any source for it, although at least one notes that Roland’s descendants are likely false. If any of my readers know of the source for Roland having descendants, I would really like to hear from you.
Can we prove that any of these or other famous legendary people had descendants? To do so is even more difficult than proving they were historical people since that criteria would need to be proven first. But it is great fun to think such descendants live on, mixed in among us and perhaps we might even be among them.
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Tyler Tichelaar, Ph.D. is the author of King Arthur’s Children: A Study in Fiction and Tradition. You can also visit him at www.ChildrenofArthur.com
Faralando, whom I’ve never come across in any of the Roland-related romances and chansons I’ve read, seems to have been picked up by many genealogical websites from Charles Raymond Dillon’s “Royals and Nobles: A Genealogist’s Tool” (2002). The book gets the date of Roncevaux wrong, and doesn’t appear to cite any sources; and Dillon seems to be mostly known as a novelist. While Roland is occasionally associated with women other than Aude / Alda, I’ve never seen him named as the father of a child.
(Incidentally, some stories, in an intriguing echo of the Mordred story, make Roland himself Charlemagne’s incest-begotten son.)
Wow, thanks for the source for Roland’s son. I have searched all over the Internet for that – not sure how I missed it. I will definitely be looking for Dillon’s book.
Yes, I knew of the Charlemagne/Roland incest story, although I think there are more interesting theories for why Charlemagne becomes estranged from his sister.
[…] CHILDREN OF ARTHUR, his list of legendary figures whom royals have sometimes claimed descendence from is quite […]
I have some Blog posts that may interest you.
Here I speculate on the Half Siblings of Jesus.
http://midseventiethweekrapture.blogspot.com/2014/09/a-theory-about-death-of-james-just.html
Here I actually develop a unique theory about the Bagartrid claim of descent form the family of Jesus.
http://midseventiethweekrapture.blogspot.com/2015/06/adiabene-christianity-and-messiah-ben.html
I will be doing in October a post on the genealogy of Vlad Tepes.
I’m also working on my own theories about the origins of Arthurian Legend. I have two posts on Arthruian legend in general already, any future ones will be on this same label.
http://jaredmithrandirolorin.blogspot.com/search/label/Arthurian%20Legend
Thanks for the extra info. Keep us posted on the Vlad Tepes genealogy. From what I know, he had no direct descendants.
I was gonna talk abut his ancestor more so then Descents, but I did see something interest on that.
That Dracula post is up
http://jaredmithrandirolorin.blogspot.com/2015/10/dracula-may-have-been-descendent-of.html
Would Lady Joan Plantagenet De Beaufort be a direct descendant of Melusine?
Of course, we don’t know if Melusine was historical, but if she was it’s very likely since Joan was descended from King John of England and his brother Richard the Lionheart I believe bragged about being descended from her.
I saw your blog about Melusine, so I guess we are cousins through a mermaid! LOL
Actually we are double-cousins because if Geoffrey Ashe is correct than my ancestor Cerdic of Wessex is King Arthur’s son! LOL NOW, I GUESS WERE COUSINS THROUGH A MERMAID AND THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING!
We are likely related through countless ancestors. DNA and mathematical calculations show that all people of European descent alive today are descended from all Europeans born before 1200 who had children, so add Charlemagne, Alfred the Great, William the Conqueror, and a few thousand other famous mutual ancestors to our list and we’re likely cousins hundreds of times over. I know I have at least 28 different lines back to Alfred the Great alone. It’s mind-blowing! Thanks for the comments.
You’re welcome!
From which side of King John and Richard the Lionheart claim their fishy heritage?
It’s not really completely clear – all those genealogies are fishy, but Richard and John were descended from the Plantagenets and the House of Anjou, a branch of which became kings of Jerusalem. Guy de Lusignan married a cousin of theirs who was heir to Jerusalem although that would make Richard and John cousins-in-law and not necessarily descendants of Lusignan. They fudged a lot of stuff to claim various ancestries back then.
Would Lady Joan Plantagenet De Beaufort also be a direct descendant of Roland the Paladin?
That’s far more unlikely. I only know of one source that claims Roland had children and its not reliable. Usually, he dies childless.
THANKS FOR THE INFORMATION! Have you heard of the story of SEBILE OF THE LAKE ( who was a fairy or enchantress who’s roles varied from being the wife of Charlemagne, or Roland the Paladin , and/or being the mother of King Arthur).
Yes, often spelled as Sybil and related to the Greek oracle. Not surprisingly the women of the Jerusalem – Anjou line included Sybil or Sybilla and Melisende, who was often confused with Melusine. Some creepy women in the family tree.
I KNOW RIGHT! I think it is pretty interesting that Richard the Lionheart would say that his family was descended from the daughter of the devil!
Well, now, it depends on what version you read. Her mother was from Avalon and her father was the King of Scotland in most versions. She was cursed by her mother into having her mermaid/serpent appearance.
Are you descended from Lady Joan Plantagenet De Beaufort?
No, but I am descended from her aunt, Joan Beaufort Countess of Westmoreland twice over and from her uncle Henry, Cardinal Beaufort, so she would be my first cousin, many times removed.
Thanks for the information! I found another legendary figure that some people can claim descent from, and his name was Jaun Zuria and he was supposed to be the son of the Basque god Sugaar and a Scottish princess. He was also supposed to be the the first lord of Biscay.
Interesting. Never heard of Jaun Zuria. Of course, there’s the Norse god Odin – the House of Wessex and ultimately the Plantagenets and all the British royalty is supposedly descended from him.
Thanks! I’m sorry that I can’t make a link to the Wikipedia article about Jaun Zuria, but if you go to Wikipedia and type in Jaun Zuria you should find the Wikipedia article about him.
Oh, and I have another legendary figure that some people can claim descent from. His name was Coel Hen and he might have been the inspiration for the nursery rhyme “Old King Coel” and supposedly was the father of st. Helena and grandfather of Constantine the Great.
Yes, I definitely know about him.
I also heard that King Arthur was related to Saint Patrick.
I never heard that one, but since they were both really Welsh, I suppose it’s possible.
Well he was supposed to be a relative through his father’s, because Arthur’s dad was supposed to be a descendant of the legendary founder of Brittany who was Romano-British and was somehow related to Saint Patrick of Ireland.
Oh, and I have one more person that people might be able to claim descent from, er name was Semiramis and she was the wife of the middle eastern god Baal, she herself was a queen and daughter of a goddess that was part fish and might have been the first scource for many mermaid legends such the legend of Melusine.
Cool, Caleb. I knew her name and she was a goddess and wife to Baal but not about her fishy origins. I’ll look into her more. Thanks!
I figured out that Lady Joan Beaufort De Plantagenet and
Henry Beaufort we’re descended from the monarchs of Hungary, who were in turn descendents of Attila the Hun, who according to legend might have been descend from Nimrod who was the son and husband of Semiramis.
Wow, cool. I knew I had descent from several Kings of Hungary. Nimrod, of course, is a biblical king – he built the Tower of Babel – so it makes sense he’d be married to Semiramis in some versions. The Jews took their pre-history from the Sumerians after all. Thanks for the info!
Do you know if of eleanor of Castile would be a descendant of prophet muhammed?
Not that I know of. I’ve tried to find links back to the Prophet in my tree but so far no luck. I suspect Eleanor’s ancestors wouldn’t have intermarried with the Muslim population of Spain – too much animosity between religions – I’m sure plenty of Spanish and Muslims did intermarry but Eleanor’s family was of higher standing – that said I suppose a dynastic marriage to keep the piece was possible.
Thanks for telling me! I heard that Queen Elizabeth was descended from him, but I haven’t found any connections to people in the line of how she descendeds from him.
I found some websites claiming that Roland the Paladin’s father¡s name was Milo and that he was actually the son of Melusine.
Yes, I’m aware of that. I depict Roland as Melusine’s grandson in my novel Melusine’s Gift.
Thanks for telling me!. (Although it is very unlikely) I am trying to see if I could trace my family back to the Campbell/MacArthur clan (who claimed to be descendants of King Arthur) and I was wondering if you knew any surnames that might be associated with those clans? Thank you!
In my book “King Arthur’s Children” I have a chapter devoted to the Campbell clan and its claimed descent from Arthur’s son Smervie. As for surnames associated with the Campbells, I am Scottish through the McCombie family, who were part of the Clan Thompson, which was part of the Clan Campbell. I’ve never been able to get very far back with my McCombie genealogy though – only the 1700s. Good luck in your search!
Thanks for telling me about everything! I figured out the the clan Thompson a.k.a Mctavish was descended from Tàmhas (Taus/Tavis Coir),
Who was the son of Colin Mael Maith,
Who was the son of Duncan Campbell,
Who was the son of Archibald (Gillespic) Campbell, of Menstrie, Clackmannanshire,
Who was the son of Malcolm (Gillocallum),
Who was the son of
Diarmid MacDuibhn (O’Duin), who was the son of Dubh Deun “brown haired”, who was the son of Duibhn Derg “dark red”, who was the son of Ferither Finruo “fairish red”, who was the son of
Duibh Fuilt Darg (red haired), who was the son of Ferither Eile, who was the son of Arthur Oig MacDuibhn (O’Duin), who was the son of Duibh More, who was the son of Ferither Our ‘Dun, who was the son of Smerviemore, who was the son of King Arthur and a French princess.
Cool. I’m glad I could help. Where did you get the info?
I got the information that they were descended from Tàmhas from Wikipedia, and I’m sorry but I don’t exactly what website I got the descent from Arthur from. I know this is random but I was wondering if you did any research about Jaun Zuria\his possible family. Thanks!
Thanks again for the info. No, I’m afraid I never heard of Jaun Zuria until you just mentioned him, and then I looked him up on Wikipedia.
Oh,I have another legendary figure that some people can claim descent from and they are the selkies. Selkies are seal people, in Scottish and Irish folklore. ( I figured out that on one of my lines with the surname McGuffey, that the line was probably from the clan McPhee which claimed descent from a selkie). Please let me know if you find any potential descendants for Juan Zuria. Thank you!
I sincerely believe that English (and other) language research into Roland of the Chanson may not fully explain his antecedents OR his descendants, and asks already settled questions, when Spanish language research never seems to find the need to ask such a question as posed on at least on genealogy blog “attempting to make sense” about whether Milo d’Anglesis Roland’s father is the same person as Milon d’Angleria. This is amateur or beginner genealogical research, or perhaps a monolingual blogger who wants only clicks. Milon with an ‘n’ ending merely means it’s derived from Spanish language research. My great grandmother was a Valdés, described as descendant of Balto or Valdo Díaz Baltes, of Luarca, Asturias . However the name Balto as a family name or a given name as in his case also indicates descent from the Visigoth royal Balto lineage, but in many Spanish language sources he’s described as descendant of Theodoricus (Theodorico in Spanish ) the king of Rome (by his choice, not ’emperor’), which tells me that the the Valdés of Luarca (never Valdez) are also descended from the Amalo Ostrogoth ruling family, both ruling Goth lineages. I sent a photo blog of my Valdés genealogy to a British blogger which seems to have elicited surprise that Roland de Vere’s family could be found in Spain, as well as among the Earls of Essex, who arrived in 1066 with the Norman takeover, and whose ancestry is exceptionally complete compared to all others, to my knowledge beginning on ancient Rome with a young man disgusted with work in a quarry who decided to become a gladiator, and was quite successful at it. Thank you for your attention. Faralando de Vere who wed Flora Valtés presumably in Luarca, came to Spain with his uncle “the Frankish knight Nuno (Nuño, Nunnio) Belchidez” “brother of Roland.” Antonio Perales del Hierro-Olarte de Valdés. The Olarte are descended from King Garcia Sanchez ‘of Najera’ – king of Pamplona, son of Sancho the Great of Navarre.
Fascinating. Thank you for the comment. I am sure English researchers would know far less than Spanish or French ones on the topic.
First You describe Faralando as marrying Flora Valdés, then You ruminate about the the possibility of Faralandos father Roland having come to Spain and having children by Flora. You are guessing aloud and sowing confusión, when you can easily employ a translation from the Spanish to English and get it right, because Spain had an extensive
[[ documented ]] relationship with the germánic tribe the Visigoths. No offense meant, but your genealogical research methods cry for assistance and correction. For gods sake don’t be reluctant to research in another language. And please keep in mind you are dealing with someone’s family. The Spanish Valdés are descended from both the Visigoth ruling clan the Balto, and the Ostrogoth ruling clan the Amalo. We are escribed as descending from Theodoricus, who ruled Rome as king, and not as emperor, and it appears he married a daughter of the visigoth Alaric, who established the monarchy but was not a king, and who sacked Rome in 410 ad. We are descended from this union of Baltos and Amalos, both. Faralando de Vere (or D’Angleria) was brought to Spain by his uncle, a Frankish knight named Nunio Bechidez, and Faralando wed Flora Valtes, daughter of Balto Díaz Baltes. His very name gives away his descent from the Balto clan. Faralandos father was the noted Roland, he of the French Song of Roland. It appears that Charlemaign invaded Spain to help one muslim ruler against another, but the deal fell through, and as he led his army back across the Pyrenees they sacked Pamplona, a Basque capitol, infuriating the Básques, who in return destroyed his rear guard in a very narrow Pyrenees defile, and whose captain was Charlemaign’s nephew Roland, who died in the fight. Later, as I described, Nunio brought his nephew Faralando, Rolands nephew to Spain and he wed Flora ~ this a unión of Frankish and Visigoth/Ostrogoth royalty. A further aid in research are Geni and Geneanet genealogy sites. Just enter their full name and you instantly get a brakedown of their family relationships, both their antecedentes and descendants. You toy with history too much and leave confusión in your wake.
Try a genealogical site such as Geni or Geneanet, and search Faralando De Vere, or Faralando D’Angleria, and see what you get. No more bad guesses from disinterested searches. He was brought to Spain by his uncle Nuño Belchidez, Rolands brother, and wed Balto Diaz Baltes’s daughter Flora Valtés. Balto is described as descending from Theodoricus the Ostrogoth king (by choice not emperor), of Rome, ruling grom Rávena, and of both Visigoths and Ostrogoths as well. Balto may carry Ostrogoth blood, but his very name designates him as of the Balto clan as well. Their first child was Diego Valdés, born circa 850 aD, the origin of a notable Asturian family.
Thanks for the information, Antonio. I appreciate the suggestions. I’m always fascinated by genealogy and will look into it again.