Ancestor: Find the ancestors who founded your family!

I will use the term “ancestor” here in the sense of “founder”, which, as used in noble genealogical work, generally refers to the person who was first ennobled or recognized as noble.

If the headship of the family is hereditary, you will most likely find the founding ancestor simply by tracing the headship family line backwards, until you find the person who was first ennobled or recognized as noble.

If you know the geographic location (country, county, city) where the family was first identified, you can search your history for the surname in question to find your ancestor. You should be aware of the possibility of spelling variants. This is how I found more information about the founder of my own family. In the official history of the city of Antwerp, “Geschiedenis van Antwerpen”, a monumental work of 9 volumes, I found a list of the “bailiffs” of Antwerp who were also appointed marquesses (margraves) of the Land of Ryen (the county that surrounds Antwerp in medieval times). My ancestor Gilles van de Wouwere was appointed “Schout” of Antwerp and Margrave of the Land of Ryen in 1141, and his son Hendrik succeeded him in 1199.

If you have a rudimentary understanding of heraldry, you may want to use it to trace your founding ancestor. The main problem with using heraldry to search for your ancestor is that heraldry terms and customs vary widely from country to country. Some symbols may be strictly reserved for the high nobility in one country, but may be used freely in another. Therefore, it is only possible to provide some general guidelines on this subject and we recommend that you further investigate the heraldic customs of the country of interest.

You can find a free “Heraldry for Genealogists” lesson at:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/lesson19.htm.

In many cases a coronet (crown) is used as a symbol of noble rank. Crowns are different for nobles of different ranks, so the crowns of a prince and a baron would look different. The presence of a crown on an ancestor’s coat of arms is by no means absolute proof of nobility, but it would be safe to say that it is such a strong indicator that it warrants further investigation.

Also, the use of supporters (figures on either side of the shield that seem to support it) is a strong (but not definitive) indicator of nobility. In some noble countries above a certain rank it was required (or at least expected) to add supporters to their arms.

The number of helmets used can be another indicator. In some countries it was common for a nobleman to wear 1 helmet, a baron 2 and a count 3 helmets. But the variations are many and, again, the presence of one or more helmets on an ancestor’s coat of arms is not definitive proof of nobility.

The mantle (a flowing drape attached to the helmet) is often (but not always) a heraldic symbol of high nobility.

When researching your family history, it is most helpful if you can identify family weapons that have been butchered or incorporated with your own weapons and also identify family weapons where your own butchered or incorporated weapons can be found.

Some of this work can be done over the Internet, using various specialized sites with advanced search capabilities.

If you found this article on “Ancestors” interesting, we recommend that you take a look at my book “Find Your Noble Ancestors!”, where I develop the topics described above.