Are you related to William the Conqueror?

There are two main issues here (excuse the pun!). It is estimated that 25% of the English population are distantly related to William I, Duke of Normandy. However it is rare for "normal" amateur genealogists to be able to prove it. Unless you are lucky enough to find yourself connected to an old established aristocratic family it is unlikely you could follow a paper trail from the 20th century back to the 11th century. Few records exist before 1580.

We actually only know the names of nineteen individuals who landed in England in 1066 and fought with William the Conqueror, yet there are so many claims, too numerous to count, of those claiming to have descended from William’s Norman Knights.

William himself, was decended from Rollo, a Scandinavian invader who pillaged northern France in the late 9th and early 10th centuries with fellow Viking raiders. The Vikings settled in an area of northern France, which was named Normandy after the Norsemen who ruled there.




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