Re: The Royal We

[Réseau DMD <janek@arobas.net>]

(sorry if this post was sent twice)

Unfortunately, that article made no other reference to the 'daughter of the
Emir of Seville', and my own foray into my scant library of
Anglo-Eurocentric history books was of no use.

I too found that the claims in the article "The Royal We" - Steve Olsen,
Atlantic Monthly May 02, to be fantastic, enough to have queried for further
insight from this group. It was his use of 'ALL' that I would happily
replace with 'Most'.
Many on this list stated the obvious that in this regard we 'all' also would
find common ancestors in some distant unknown, very un-royal person, that
persons like Charlemagne or Muhammad are cited more easily as common
ancestors because their lineage was recorded...I do not find so strange the
concept of a common ancestor to most Europeans as recent as 600 AD, rather
that a lineage could remain so isolated as to not to bathe in 'Europe's
seminal fluids' (what a thought!).
The mathematics overwhelm me as each and every successful pairing increases
exponentially the pool of ancestors to the point that the ancestors
outnumber greatly the population figures of the times, subtracting of
course, those who die childless and inter-breeding (which may be another
related and interesting topic as certain royal lines seemed very concerned
in preserving the purity of their 'blood').

Personally, the quest for royal lineage, though romantic, is far less
affirming than the idea we are inter-connected, and much more recent than
suspected, in such a divisive and exclusive world. I think of the relief
that Niven rescued, now in Rosslyn Chapel, that depicts the king and the
pauper aside their skeletons, remind us how in the end, very similar we ALL
are.

Supercomputers, DNA research, will no doubt shed a blinding light on this
debate. And with very mobile populations, within the next few generations,
it's easy to believe that most of the entire world will soon share a
not-so-distant relationship.I admit my education on these matters is very
thin and I anticipate further response.

Thanks,

Jan Ek
Montréal, Québec

----- Original Message -----
From: Sinclair <labehotierre@wanadoo.fr>
To: <sinclair@quarterman.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2002 3:43 AM
Subject: Re: Genealogy


> Dear Jan Ek
>
>

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