Not too long ago I came in possession of a family history book from my mom's mom. [My grandma] The family name this history is about is 'Knecht,' which was the maiden name of my grandma's mom. Supposedly about the year 937A.D. in the city of Rome a soldier named Servus was born. Later he served under Julius Ceasar and went with him to Germany. Badly wounded in a conflict, he brought his wife from Rome, and there they had two sons which carried on the name of Knecht. These two brothers eventually served under Emperor Crollus and mad a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where they fought in battles against the Sarazones. Supposedly one brother killed the King of Sarazones in a sword duel. A later descendant served under emperor Henry IV.
Now all of this sounds fantastic; but we have to be very careful with ancestory records. The only Julius Ceasar I know in history was one of the first Roman Emperors who served from October 49BC - March 44BC; and I can find no Roman or German Emperor named Crollus. I know there was a Henry IV. But I went back through the 9 Holy Crusades, and even the Northern German crusades, and could find no mention of any Sarazones with a king killed in battle. I am really frustrated on this research, and I am not saying that its faked or false, but the facts certainly don't seem to be bearing it out, or I'm just not smart enough to find them. Regretfully after the fourth line the history is lost for a long period of time. I'm still working on it, when I can spare the time, but my frustration continues to mount in this family line. I would love to be proven wrong and find someone who can validate the facts, I don't know that this family history has ever been challenged. This experience has certainly taught me to be extremely cautious the further back in family history I go.
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Amazingly, in a lot of family history books on my family, I have found some truth, though not always as direct as what it was made out to be.
ReplyDeleteWhen you get back that far in history as what you are looking at, most "research" is based on coincidence of the name and little else. I still like including them in my writings with the use of possible in front of ancestor. It makes for interesting reading.
"Sarazones" is undoubtedly the Saracens, which was a catch-all many diverse peoples. In the Middle Ages, it was sometimes used to refer to the Muslims, of whatever stripe.
ReplyDeleteAs for the name "Knecht," while it may have come from an individual, and it does mean servant, the original term in German was Landsknecht, which denoted a freeman who farmed and served in his lord's military as necessary. Think militia or National Guard. Eventually, this group of "knights" (in English) became gentry/aristocracy as feudalism took hold after the Fall of Rome. Thus, one cannot say, that all "Knechts" are related or descended from a single individual.
Cheers.
Thanks Ed .... I'm beginning to notice a lot of 'license' in family history .... and some of it I think I'll just let go unchallenged!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sherm .... I thought about the Saracens, but didn't know. If I ever get to Switzerland/Germany this will one area I'm searching out. It was that huge gap in family history that has me stumped. Nonetheless I'm having an enriching, fun time.