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EVERYONE GETS RETIREMENT BENEFITS
There’s some confusion about Social Security Disability Benefits versus Social Security Retirement Benefits. This article from AARP should clear that up.
The third paragraph from this article on the official Social Security Administration website also states that Disability Benefits automatically change to Retirement Benefits when an individual reaches full retirement age.
“[The Mayflower pilgrims] … saw them the vessel after the boat’s return came up to the place of their intended settlement and they all landed and prepared huts for to live in, but poor distressed souls they being disappointed of other vessels coming over to them for a great while to supply them with provisions and other necessities as expected
“Sundry of these poor distressed people died and all was in imanent danger of perishing, if it had not been for the Clams they found on the shores and dugg up at low tide, but it was especially from the Supp & turkeys obtained in quantities [from] the native Indians … which corn they ate and paid the Indians for the spring after as soon as they had gained acquaintance with them who had been very shy of them.
“My said Grandfather John Chipman born 1615 Married a Daughter of the aforesaid Mr. Howland and settled at Barnstable, the next Town but one which is Sandwich, to their Said Plimouth further on the Said Cape Cod, Plimouth being being at the head of the Bay. he my Said Grandfather was an Elder in Minister Russels Congregational Church, in said Barnstable, and if I am not mistaken removed and lived in Said Sandwich the Latter part of his Day. He died aged 88. He had or left 10 children of which my honored father was the Youngest. his children generally lived to grow up and Marry and from whom proceeded a very Numerous offspring. As my Grandfather was the only one of the name of Chipman and my Grandmother Daughter of the only one of the name of Howland in New England or any of the now States of America, so the Chipmans are all on this Continent Related as well as the Howlands, and are all of them by reason of my Grandfather and grandmothers Marriage together Related to one another, and so near that Long Since my Remembrance my dear father and the Howlands used to call Cuzzens and the Howlands was often conversant at my house and my fathers house &c.
“My Dear and Honored Deceased father John Chipman, married one Capt. Skiffs daughter of said Sandwich, by whom he had 9 children that all Lived to grow up to the years of Men and Women, from whom has sprang a very large offspring. Their names were Sons, James, Perez, John, Ebenezer and Stephen. The Daughters names were Bethia and Mary, twins, as was also the Son Said Stephen with the next daughter Lidia, the others name was Deborah. They had all entered into the Marriage State and had generally Large families of Children, Except said Stephen, who had no Children by his wife, Dying Master of a Vessel young in Nevis in the West Indies. They were mostly of more than middling size. James was a clothier by Trade, Perez was a Blacksmith as was also Ebenezer, John was a farmer and Stephen a cooper by trade. They scattered much in their Settling in families.
“My dear fathers first wife dying at said Sandwich, Leaving said nine children, He some time after, it may be two years, married her that was my dear Mother, at Capt. Popes at Dartmouth, her first husband was his oldest Son, her second husband was one Capt. Russel, with whom I have been told She lived about 17 months, at Rhode Island or near there about…. She had no Child or Children that Lived by Either of these husbands. by my dear father She had my Self, her son Handley, and my dear sister Rebecca. Soon after her birth my dear Father removed from Sandwich to Martha Vineyard, where he lived it may be 7 years.
“Just about a year after my dear Mothers Death, my dear Father married the Said widow Case at Newport on Said Rhode Island. She had had two husbands, one a Griffin, the other said Capt. Case. by said Griffin She had a daughter who lived to grow up and Married my Said dear father Son Stephen, who died in Said West Indies Leaving no Child. My Mother in Law’s maiden name was Mary Hoockey, and after my dear father had Lived with her 19 years She died also with the Consumption. She was a Baptist. My dear father soon after he thus Married at Rhode Island, sold his farm at the Vineyard, to one Mr. Norton for L1200, money then at s5/pr. ounce. he removed then to Rhode Island and Let his money to Interest, but it depreciating fast, he called it in and went to shopkeeping.
“He was when he lived at Sandwich, Crowner or Coroner, a Capt. Lieutenant, and a Representative to the General Assembly at Boston, as I find, by his Commission Left. While he lived on the Vineyard he was Justice of the Peace and one of the Judges of the Inferior Court, &c.
“After he removed to Rhode Island Government, he was for some time the first of the Governors Council, and was also Chief Judge of the Superior Court or court of Equity, as it was then called, and continued in said office until he was about 70 years old when he of choice flung up all offices by reason of his old age, and soon after my Mother in Law dying he Left off his Shopkeeping, broke up housekeeping, and went to live with my own Sister who had married a worthy person, a Capt. Moore.
“My dear and Honoured Father was born March 3d day, A.D. 1670. He departed this Life at Newport on Rhode Island, January 4 th day, 1756, in my house, where he had lived some years, after he broke up housekeeping, he went and Lived at Capt. David Moors as aforesaid who married my own only Sister, but she dying in a few years after, he then came to Live with me.
“I would before I conclude the Pedigree of my dear fathers family just mention that I have divers times inquired after the family of the Chipmans coat of arms but never could get Intelligence of it. And am lately informed that Ward Chipman, Esq. Solisiter General in our Neighboring Province of Brunswick Government, when he was in England a few years past, made very thorough Search after our family coat of arms, and finds we have none at all, &c.
“But the Chipmans in America are very Numerous indeed. they are, we are, Sure all related, for they are all of them descended from my said Grandfather. we find they are Spread even from Canso * Eastward to Virginia Westward, if not farther both ways.”
* A fishing village on the eastern tip of mainland Nova Scotia.
[“A Chipman Family History,” by Handley Chipman (1717-1799) of Newport, R.I., and Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, composed ca. 1790, in:
Roberts, Gary Boyd; ed. (1985). Genealogies of Mayflower Families From The New England Historical and Genealogical Register Volume I Adams-Fuller. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.
Handley Chipman’s statement validates the Chipmans of Virginia as authentic descendants of John and Hope (Howland) Chipman, but supporting documentation still needs to be assembled.]
For Mayflower history & genealogy see:
Philbreck, Nathaniel. (2006). Mayflower A Story of Courage, Community, and War. New York: Viking Penguin Group.
Philbreck, Nathaniel; Philbreck, Thomas; eds. (2007). The Mayflower Papers Selected Writings of Colonial New England. New York: Penguin Group.
Roser, Susan E. (1995). Mayflower Increasings 2nd Edition. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.
Stratton, Eugene Aubrey. (1986). Plymouth Colony Its History & People 1620-1691. Salt Lake City: Ancestry Publishing.
(The text of The Mayflower Compact, by which the Pilgrims intended to be ruled, signed by 41 of 50 male passengers shortly before landfall on 11 Nov 1620.)
THE MAYFLOWER PILGRIMS WHO DIED THE FIRST WINTER AT PLYMOUTH IN 1620/1
MEN:
John Allerton, Richard Britteridge, Robert Carter, James Chilton, Richard Clarke, John Crackstone Sr., Thomas English, Moses Fletcher, Edward Fuller, William Holbeck, John Langmore, Edmund Margesson, Christoper Martin, William Mullins, Degory Priest, John Rigsdale, Thomas Rogers, Elias Story, Edward Thompson, Edward Tilley, John Tilley, Thomas Tinker, John Turner, William White, Roger Wilder, Thomas Williams.
WOMEN:
Mary (Norris) Allerton, Dorothy (May) Bradbury, the wife of James Chilton, Sarah Eaton, the wife of Edward Fuller, Mary (Prower) Martin, Alice Mullins, Alice Rigsdale, Rose Standish, Ann (Cooper) Tilley, Joan (Hurst) Tilley, the wife of Thomas Tinker, Elizabeth (Barker) Winslow.
CHILDREN:
William Butten, John Hooke (age 14), Ellen More (age 8), Jasper More (age 7), Mary More (age 6), Joseph Mullins, Solomon Prower, the son of Thomas Tinker, two sons of John Turner.
26 men, 13 women, and 10 children didn’t survive the first winter at Plymouth. They came seeking freedom to practice their own religion, and being unprepared for the harsh New England winter, 49 of “these poor distressed people” died. The given and maiden names for 3 of the married women are unknown, as are the given names of 3 of the children. Surviving the first winter didn’t mean the Pilgrims were out of danger: in the following spring of 1621, Governor John Carver died, and his wife Katherine that summer.
The First Amendment shouldn’t be taken for granted. The motives of these 49 Martyrs who died at Plymouth were Spiritual rather than Temporal, unlike the earlier settlements at Jamestown and New Amsterdam. The story of the Mayflower is one of incredible courage. We honor the Pilgrims by maintaining religious freedom for all as a core American value.
The following map of the Cape Cod area is from:
Huiginn, E.J.V. (1914.) The Graves Of Myles Standish And Other Pilgrims Revised and Enlarged. Beverly, MA: The Author.
The Chipman family has long had an interest in genealogy. Between Handley Chipman’s manuscript of ca. 1790 and Richard Manning Chipman’s pioneering efforts in the second half of the 19 th century, there’s this item, sent to me by the late William G. Chipman of Greenville, MS.
Dated 1832, it’s in the collection of the Public Archives of Nova Scotia, and was written by Handley Chipman’s son Stephen Chipman. The following are extracts from this manuscript (call no. MG100 Vol. 120 #53a). Stephen Chipman’s portion consists of 19 pages, with an additional 2 by other writers, and 2 photocopies of an old newspaper clipping concerning celebrations at Plymouth in honor of the Mayflower.
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“Sketch of the History and Genealogy of the Chipman Family (particularly the branch who settled in Nova Scotia) descended from John Chipman The Pioneer. Written by Stephen Chipman Annapolis, N.S. 1832 –
“The C.’s from my G.G. Father [John Chipman who m. Hope Howland] are spread into N.S. New Brunswick, the Northern States Virginia & Vermont &c.
“May they still be blessed as heretofore, still experience Gods peculiar Providence; and may we all at last join as one in the holy train of our dear Redeemer in singing his praises.
“I begin … with my GG Father John C. who came to New England when young, from Dorsetshire England In the reign of Charles first, married a daughter of Mr Howland who was the first settler who landed at Plymouth in 1620, being the first to spring from the boat belonging to the first ship that came to P[lymouth] with settlers, being driven from their native country, by the persecutions against liberty of Conscience in the exercise of their religion.
“The stone Mr. Howland landed on I have been informed has been removed to the third street of the town of P[lymouth] to keep in memory the immigration of their forefathers and the day is celebrated by public thanksgiving and rejoicing.
“In consequence of this marriage the opulent & honored family of the Howlands in New England are related to us – He had ten children … was an elder in Minister Russells church Barnstable Cape Cod, and died aged 88 years.”
[Material in brackets mine.]
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The tale of John Howland stepping onto Plymouth Rock is dramatic, but is it true?
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln established the holiday of Thanksgiving, enshrining the Mayflower Pilgrims as our most recognizable national icons. Everyone loves the Pilgrims because Thanksgiving kicks off a four day weekend.
The story of Plymouth Rock dates to 1741, about 120 years after the Pilgrims landed. 95 year old Thomas Faunce claimed he’d been told by his father, who’d immigrated to Plymouth in 1623, that the boulder now known as Plymouth Rock was where the Pilgrims had first landed. So in 1774, the Sons of Liberty, led by Col. Theophilus Cotton, arrived in Plymouth and dug the Rock from beneath a pier. While attempting to load it onto a waggon, it split in half.
They left half of it where it lay and deposited the other half in the town square beside a Liberty Pole. In 1834, the piece of the Rock in the Plymouth town square, much abused by souvenir-seeking tourists, was moved to Pilgrim Hall. In the process, the Rock fell to the ground and once again split in two. Cemented back together, it was mounted in front of the Hall.
Just before the Civil War, the Pilgrim Society bought the wharf containing the other half of the Rock. They didn’t want two competing Plymouth Rocks, so in 1880 the half ensconced at Pilgrim Hall was transported back to the waterfront and the halves were reunited.
As Nathaniel Philbrick puts it: “Today Plymouth is a mixture of the sacred and the kitsch, a place of period houses and tourist traps, where the Mayflower II sits quietly beside the ornate granite edifice that now encloses the mangled remains of Plymouth Rock.”
John Howland was from Fenstanton, Huntingdonshire, the son of Henry and Margaret Howland. He took passage on the Mayflower as Gov. John Carver’s indentured servant. As Fate would have it, his employers, the Carvers, died in the first spring and summer, and Howland had no masters—and perhaps received a portion of the Carver estate.
Howland is best known for being blown overboard during the Mayflower passage. Though submerged, he held onto a halyard and was hauled to safety. If anyone was going to step onto Plymouth Rock, Howland was a natural candidate, probably eager to feel terra firma beneath his feet.
The story isn’t mentioned in contemporary accounts. While I’m certain Mayflower passengers did step onto the boulder (it was difficult to ignore), whether it was the first spot stepped onto at the landing may be more myth than history.
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Chipman historians refer to our immigrant ancestor John Chipman as “apprenticed” to his cousin Richard Derby. He was in fact Derby’s indentured servant, probably employed as a carpenter. That may have endeared him to John Howland, who allowed Chipman to marry his daughter Hope.
John Chipman had two sisters, “Hannor” and “Tumsum,” of whom nothing is known. It’s possible that some relations of his still exist in Britain. The Chipman home was at Brinspittle about five miles from Dorchester in Dorsetshire. John’s father Thomas owned property worth 40-50 pounds per year and held by entail in Whitechurch Canonicorum, a strange place where the church had a grope-hole to touch saintly relics. Domesday Book, compiled 1086/7, records the church at “Whitchurch Canonicorum” as held by the Church of Saint-Wandrille, so it was a place of some antiquity. Of course Thomas managed to lose the property in an annuity or loan scheme, and so began the saga of the Chipmans in North America.
(View of Whitchurch Canonicorum, a parish located about 5 miles WNW of Bridport in Dorset.)
Without going into details gleaned from the meagre sources, suffice it to say Whitechurch Canonicorum was the actual home of the Chipman family, Brinspittle being merely the place Thomas Chipman was dumped after the loss of his property. John Chipman’s mother (name unknown) was living when John set sail for the New World.
The Dorset History Centre has significant holdings relating to Whitechurch Canonicorum, and those records should be searched. A check of the UK “a2a” database for the period of 1450-1650 shows no mention of a Chipman at Whitechurch Canonicorum. Some of the parish of Whitechurch Canonicorum and the related manor of Marshwood Vale found its way into the hands of Queen Mary, who on 24 Oct 1553 made a grant to Gertrude, Marchioness of Exeter. The manor of Whitechurch Canonicorum can be traced in records dating well into the medieval period.
Several “a2a” entries show a Chapman family living in Whitechurch Canonicorum prior to the time John Chipman emigrated to Plymouth ca. 1637, and this item contains some family details:
A lease for 99 years dated 3 Oct 1638 between Thomas Chapman, aka William Chapman *, of Whitchurch, Dorset, yeoman, son of Thomas Chapman, son of Thomas Chapman late of Haydon, Dorset, and the estate of William Vinacombe the elder and the estate of William Love alias Megges; land located in Axminster, Devonshire; fine 10 pounds.
[* The name by which he was usually known.]
“Chipman” is a spelling variation of “Chapman,” so an alleged connection to a “de Chippenham” family living at the time of William the Conqueror is fantasy. In English records even simple surnames have many variations—of the same person from record to record or within the same record. The search for the truth about Thomas Chipman, father of John Chipman, should focus on localities rather than the exact spelling of the surname. Since our family was of yeoman rather than gentry stock, extending the known pedigree may prove difficult.
“Chipman” might just have been Elder John Chipman’s preferred spelling of his surname, his ancestors having been known as “Chapman” or “Chepman,” etc. The tale of his father Thomas losing a substantial property in Whitechurch Canonicorum remains to be independently documented. It first appears in a deposition given 2 Mar 1641/2 by Ann Hinde, wife of William Hoskins, at Plymouth, and is repeated and amplified in a statement of John Chipman dated 8 Feb 1657/8, also at Plymouth. It’s an “emigration tale”—and many families have one. What is not stated, but probably the truth, is that Thomas Chipman lost his property due to indebtedness. It’s quite a coincidence to find a Thomas Chapman at Whitchurch in Dorset in the precise time when these alleged events transpired. Is it possible that Thomas Chapman, who in 1638 took a 99 year lease on land in Devonshire, was a relative of John Chipman?
I’ve outlined in “Page f.” the descent of Mary Minor, wife of James Chipman (grandson of John and Hope) from Aethelred II, King of England. The connection with the Giffards through whom the descent passes had some standing with the Chipman family. After the death of Hope (Howland) Chipman, John Chipman married Ruth (Sargent) Winslow Bourne, daughter of Rev. William Sargent. Sargent’s 3rd great-grandparents were John Giffard and Agnes Winslow, an ancestry shared with Alice Freeman, Mary (Minor) Chipman’s 2nd great-grandmother.
John Chipman had no children by Ruth, but following his death on 8 Apr 1708 she had him interred in the Bourne cemetary plot in the Sandwich Old Burying Ground.
His first wife Hope (Howland) Chipman is buried in Lothrop Hill Cemetary in Barnstable. Her grave marker is the second oldest grave marker on Cape Cod.
Dunbar, Sir Archibald H. (1906). Scottish Kings A Revised Chronology of Scottish History 1005–1625 With Notices of the Principal Events Tables of Regnal Years, Pedigrees Tables, Calendars. etc. Second Edition. Edinburgh: David Douglas.
Oram, David. (2006.) The Kings & Queens of Scotland. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Tempus Publishing Limited.
Sinclair, Alexander. (1870). Heirs of the Royal House of Balliol. Edinburgh: The Author.
Young, Alan. (1997). Robert The Bruce’s Rivals: The Comyns, 1212–1314. East Lothian: Tuckwell Press Ltd.
Robert the Bruce, or King Robert I of Scotland, the enigmatic character in Mel Gibson’s fantasy film “Braveheart,” is Scotland’s great national hero. Gibson depicted William Wallace as a quasi-Joan of Arc figure. Both were propelled into pivotal roles in Scottish history due to a failure: King Alexander III of Scotland had no male heir. On 18 Mar 1286, while riding to Kinghorn to meet his new French wife, Yolande de Montfort, he fell from his horse and was killed. That left his young granddaughter Margaret, a Norwegian princess, heir to the throne, but she died in September 1290 during the voyage from Norway to Scotland. King Edward I of England had hoped to wed his son Edward (the future Edward II) to Margaret, thus effecting a union of the two kingdoms.
The succession crisis created by Alexander’s death is the backdrop of “Braveheart.” Edward I (nicknamed “Longshanks”) was already engaged in subjugating Wales and had similar plans for Scotland. In 1292 he examined 13 candidates for the Scottish throne, among them Robert the Bruce (grandfather of the eventual King Robert I), John Balliol, and John Comyn the Black. The Comyn family had a distant claim based upon descent from Donald III (Donald Bane), brother of Malcom III Canmore.
The 13 Competitors, in order of petition, were:
(1) Florent count of Holland; (2) Patrick of Dunbar; (3) William de Vesci; (4) William de Ros; (5) Robert Pinkeny; (6) Nicolas de Soules; (7) Patrick Galithly; (8) Roger de Mandeville; (9) John Comyn the Black; (10) John Hastings; (11) John Balliol; (12) Robert Bruce of Annandale (the “Old Competitor”); (13) Eric II King of Norway.
It’s of interest that 6 Competitors based their claims upon descent from illegitimate children of the most recent kings: 5 from King William the Lion, and 1 from King Alexander II. All of these claims were rejected. The winning claimant, John Balliol, traced his descent from David I, the grandfather of King William the Lion, and g-grandfather of King Alexander II.
The principle of succession is clear: legitimate children of earlier kings are preferred to illegitimate children of later kings. Eric II King of Norway based his claim in right of his wife Margaret, daughter of King Alexander III, and their daughter, the deceased princess Margaret; his claim was also rejected, because his wife and daughter were both deceased. 5 of the remaining 6 claims were by descendants of King David I’s son Henry, including the winning claimant, John Balliol, and 1 was by John Comyn, a descendant of Donald III (though Comyn’s line as given above is probably missing a generation); all of those 6 claims were through legitimate children.
(Click on image to enlarge.)
Edward I selected John Balliol. Evidently, this is how Edward I based his decision: He first rejected the Comyn claim through Donald III, because the other 5 claimants descended from a later king, David I. 3 of the claimants, Balliol, Bruce, and Hastings traced their descent from David I to Henry to Henry’s son David Earl of Huntingdon, while the other 2, Florent count of Holland and Robert Pinkeny descended from granddaughters of David I. Of the remaining 3, all descended from daughters of David Earl of Huntingdon. Balliol descended from the eldest daughter, Margaret, who married Alan of Galloway. Next in seniority came Bruce, with Hastings in third place. So while Edward I’s choice of Balliol proved disastrous, it was based upon sound principles of primogeniture and inheritance.
(King John Balliol of Scotland rendering homage to King Edward I of England. Such depictions were highly stylized and not intended as actual portraits.)
Edward I’s choice of Balliol was unpopular. Balliol’s submission to the English king as his liege man infuriated the Scots. Bruce, ancestor of King Robert I of Scotland, was stung by the rejection of his own claim, and began a campaign to drive Balliol from the throne. Balliol was the Comyn family’s man—John Comyn the Black was married to Balliol’s sister Eleanor.
Sir James Balfour Paul’s The Scots Peerage Vol. 1 gives a good account of the Comyn Lords of Badenoch, and of John Comyn, the Red Comyn No. 2., who married Joan de Valence, daughter of William de Valence, Earl of Pembroke. “On 19 August 1299 [John Comyn] had a meeting with other nobles at Peebles; there were some dissensions between them, ending in a scuffle, when Comyn seized Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, by the throat, but finally they agreed and Comyn was elected one of the three guardians of the Kingdom.” Comyn may have been involved in the betrayal of William Wallace to the English, but many Scottish nobles, including Robert the Bruce, switched sides as the winds of military fortune shifted. Edward I’s low opinion of the Scots, at least at this juncture, seems justified.
“Bruce’s plotting and the savage execution of William Wallace on 23rd August 1305, which undoubtedly raised the political temperature in Scotland, form the background to the infamous murder of John Comyn [son of John Comyn the Black] by Robert Bruce in the Greyfriars’ church at Dumfries on 10th February 1306.
“According to tradition, first recounted by Scottish chroniclers of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, Bruce approached John Comyn ‘who was then the most powerful man in the country’ with his own ‘kind hearted plan’ to end ‘the endless tormenting of the people.’ Robert gave Comyn the choice of two courses of action: either Comyn should reign with Bruce gaining all of Comyn’s lands or Bruce should become king with all Bruce’s lands going to Comyn. According to Fordun, Comyn preferred he latter course and a solemn covenant was made between them but ‘John broke his word; and, heedless of the sacredness of his oath, kept accusing Robert before the king of England, through his ambassadors and private letters, and wickedly revealing that Robert’s secrets.’ After being confronted with his treachery in the Greyfriars’ church at Dumfries, ‘the evil speaker is stabbed and wounded unto death.’ According to tradition in both Scotland and England, John Comyn was killed in two stages, with Bruce’s men returning to the church to finish off the deed. Bruce returned to Lochmaben Castle and reported to his kinsmen, James Lindsay and Roger Kirkpatrick, ‘I think I have killed John the Red Comyn.’ Bruce’s men returned to the church to end any doubt that the deed had, in fact, been done, with Roger Kirkpatrick, according to a wholly fabulous tale, exclaiming ‘I mak siccar.’ [Evidently what is meant is: “I make sicker,” as in “I finished him off.”] The murder of John Comyn was such a dramatic and important event in Scottish history and in its effect on Anglo-Scottish relations that it is hardly surprising that both Scottish and English traditions developed.”
Comyn was found dead at the altar. The site of the murder is across from the present Greyfriars’ church in Dumfries, marked by a plaque on the wall between a travel agent and a discount shop. Bruce was heavily censured for his murder of Comyn—because it took place in a church.
Less than two months after the murder, Robert the Bruce was inaugurated as King of Scotland in a ceremony at Scone—minus the Stone of Scone. The Stone of Scone was in the hands of Edward I, who would place it beneath the seat of his coronation chair, symbolizing Scotland’s submission. That submission didn’t last long, although the English regularly ravaged Scotland for the next two centuries.
And while King John Balliol is not fondly remembered by the Scots (he abdicated in 1296 and died an exile in France in 1313), his parents, John de Balliol and Devorguilla of Galloway, were the founders of Balliol College in Oxford University. Devorguilla was the 2nd great-granddaughter of David I, King of Scotland (d. 1153). David I was the son of Malcolm III Canmore.
The Bruce claim to the Scottish throne ran through the same grandson of David I. Thus both the Balliol and Bruce claims were superior to that of John Comyn the Black Comyn, as they were based upon descent from a son of Malcolm III Canmore, David I, rather than through a daughter of his brother Donald III. The irony is that John Comyn the Red Comyn No. 2, whom Bruce dispatched in the church at Dumfries, had the same claim to the throne as John Balliol, the winning Competitor, because his father John Comyn the Black Comyn had married Balliol’s sister Mary. Seen in this light, the scenario of Bruce and Comyn carving up Scotland makes perfect sense. And whatever the actual events leading to Bruce’s murder of Comyn may have been, Comyn had a better claim to the Scottish crown than Bruce. Perhaps there was more self-interest in this deed than later partisans of Bruce care to admit.
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Joan, daughter of the murdered John Comyn, married David of Strathbogie, Earl of Atholl. They are ancestors of Diana (Skipwith) Dale.
Revised Aug. 22, 2016
Mary Ann Cordelia (“Mollie”) Harkey, daughter of Newton O. Harkey and wife Amanda M. Kimbrow, married 8 Sep 1887 at Kennett, MO, Alvis Cowan Bailey, son of Meshach and Lucinda Bailey. Mollie and Alvis were the parents of my paternal grandmother Jewel Winifred (Bailey) Chipman.
Mollie’s grandparents Daniel David Harkey and Mary Ann Bankston were married 17 Dec 1822 in Wilkes Co., GA. Mary Ann (Bankston) Harkey was the daughter of Hiram and Susannah (Slayden) Bankston.
Daniel David and Mary Ann (Bankston) Harkey left Wilkes Co., GA for Pike Co., GA, where Daniel David Harkey is recorded on Tax Lists for 1834, 1835, 1838, and 1848. By 1850 the family is found in Pontotoc Co., MS, and then moved on to Dunklin Co., MO “in 1853 and located on Grand Prairie, where they resided until their death. They were both charter members of the old Harkey’s chapel class of the M.E.C.S., helped to build the first house by that name, and were always among the church’s most consistent and powerful workers.” [Smyth-Davis, Mary F. (1896). History of Dunklin County, Mo., 1845–1895. St. Louis: Nixon-Jones Printing Co.]
Susannah was the daughter of Arthur Slayden, who came to GA from VA. An incredible amount of research into the Slayden family is to be found in:
Slaton, Arthur J. (1974). The Slaton Family Ab Antiquitas With Brief Notes On Some Allied Families Second edition with revisions and additions – 1974. Whittier, CA: The Author.
Since that volume research has continued, and the following item is from a family bible (click on images to enlarge them). However, the last child, Samuel Slayden, is shown as born on 9 Apr 1788. Rosamond (Pugh) Slayden’s birth date is 17 Mar 1738, making her 50 years old at Samuel’s birth. While biologically possible, it’s quite unusual.
There is, in connection with Lewis Pugh, grandfather of Rosamond (Pugh) Slayden, a strange story regarding an inheritance in Wales. On 1 Sep 1740 in Richmond Co., VA, Ann Pugh, widow of Lewis Pugh, made a sworn deposition in which she stated that about 1704 she married Lewis Pugh and had by him 7 children: John, David, Elizabeth, Henry, Willoughby, Ann, and Lewis. About 1731 Lewis Pugh learned from his brother-in-law Benjamin Jones of North Wales and Elizabeth his wife, the sister of Lewis Pugh, that an estate in South Wales had descended to Lewis Pugh from his father David Pugh. In Apr 1731 Lewis Pugh and his son John Pugh sailed out of the Rappahannock River in VA on board the Captain Loxam bound for Liverpoole. Ann Pugh was advised that Lewis Pugh died in South Wales and she and five of her children empowered her son David Pugh to collect what was due them from Lewis Pugh’s estate. She could give no further information. NB: David Pugh never returned to VA. The surname “Pugh” is derived from “ap Hugh,” which makes sense to me.
The best study of the Pugh family, which indicates extensive ancestry in Wales, is:
ProGenealogists Official Ancestry.com research firm. (2012). Pugh Family Lineage Book One Research Reports For Dr. V. Watson Pugh Preface By Paul C. Reed FASG.
Available to download at:
http://lewispugh.weebly.com/pugh-family-research-book-i.html
On p. 24 there is a lengthy pedigree from Sitriuc (Sygtrygg “Silkenbeard”), King of Dublin, d. 1042, who m. Slani, daughter of Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, to Lewis Pugh. The 5th generation states that Cadwaladr ap Gruffudd, Prince of North Wales, m. Adles, daughter of Richard de Clare, and were the parents of Richert (Richard) ap Cadwaladr. The Richard de Clare here referenced was 3rd Lord of Clare, d. 1136, son of Gilbert fitz Richard de Clare and Adeliza de Claremont. He m. Adeliz, daughter of Ranulf, 4th Earl of Chester.
Pryce, Huw, ed.; Insley, Charles, asst. ed. (2005). The Acts Of Welsh Rulers 1120–1283 Published on behalf of the History and Law Committee of the University of Wales Board of Celtic Studies. Cardiff: University Of Wales Press. (see pp. 329–331)
According to the above, there’s a problem with Cadwaladr’s marriage: Richard de Clare’s daughter Alice is said to have entered a convent upon the death in 1141 of her first husband, Aubrey de Vere II. The editors propose an alternate solution: Cadwaladr’s wife was actually Adeliza of Chester, Richard de Clare’s widow. In support of this they cite Welsh genealogical collections which name Cadwaladr’s wife as “Adles daughter of the earl of Chester,” who was the mother of 4 of his sons, including Rhicert (“Richard”—evidently the Viceroy of Dinllaen in Llyn, North Wales’ main port to Ireland), and Randlff (Ranulph). This would place her as the daughter of Ranulph le Meschin, 4th Earl of Chester by Lucy, who, according to Keats-Rohan, was the daughter of Turold, sheriff of Lincoln by a daughter of William Malet. Others are not quite so certain (see CP VII Appendix J). Why does Lucy put me in mind of Oak Island?
The Complete Peerage, Vol. III, p. 243 calls her “Adeliz, sister of Ranulph ‘des Gernons,’ Earl of Chester,” and notes she “was rescued from the Welsh by Miles of Gloucester.”
Ancestral Roots Eighth Edition, Line 132D claims Adeliz’s second husband was Robert de Condet, d. 1141, son of Osbert de Condet, but neither The Complete Peerage nor J.R. Planche (1870) mention such a marriage. Certainly marriage to a Welsh prince would be of considerably more prestige, and given the evidence above, I think Cadwaladr’s marriage to the widow of Richard de Clare is adequately supported, but more evidence is welcome.
Thus it appears that Lewis Pugh’s ancestry follows the family of the earls of Chester rather than the lords of Clare, and that is a more tortuous path. Adeliz’s father Ranulph le Meschin, the 4th earl, was the son of Ranulph, Vicomte de Bayeaux by Margaret, sister of Hugh d’Avranches, the 2nd earl. Richard, the 3rd earl, had drowned in the White Ship disaster which took the life of William, son of King Henry I of England. David C. Douglas, the biographer of William the Conqueror, says Hugh’s mother Emma wasn’t the daughter of William the Conqueror’s mother Herleve, and therefore Hugh wasn’t William’s nephew. So we are left with the conclusion that the meteoric rise of Hugh the 2nd earl was due to his support of William the Conqueror’s English venture and not any known family relationship.
Nonetheless, Lewis Pugh’s ancestry is interesting for its connection to royal figures in Wales and Ireland. A fascinating account of Gruffudd ap Cynan, King of Gwynedd (d. 1137), father of Cadwaladr, is found in:
Jones M.A., Arthur. (1910). The History Of Gruffydd ap Cynan The Welsh Text With Translation, Introduction, And Notes. Manchester: The University Of Manchester Press. (Free download from Internet Archive.)
The Bankstons were originally Swedish settlers along the Delaware River in PA, and descend from the famous Swedish pioneer Peter Gunnarson Rambo (ca. 1612–1698) through his daughter Gertrude who married Andrew Bankson (Anders Bengtsson).
Soderlund, Jean R. (2015). Lenape Country Delaware Valley Society Before William Penn. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Soderlund’s study of the early Delaware Valley contains many references to the Rambo and Bengtsson families, with a backdrop of Lenape (Delaware Native American tribe) relations with waves of Swedish, Dutch, and English settlers.
For Rambo genealogy, see:
Rambo, Beverly Nelson; Beatty, Ronald S. (2007). The Rambo Family Tree 2ND Edition. July 2007 Descendants Of Peter Gunnarson Rambo Third Volume: Descendants Of His Daughter, Gertrude Rambo Bankson. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse.
A thorough study of the Bankston family is:
Haigler, Anne Martin. (1998). Bankston Cousins 1656–1996. Florissant, MO: Hardbound, Inc.
Mary Ann (Bankston) Harkey’s 2nd great-grandmother Rebecca (Hendricks) Bankson was a descendant of PA pioneer Albertus Hendrickson who was of Dutch ancestry.
The principle treatise on the Hendricks family is:
Davenport, John Scott. (1993). The Frontier Hendricks Being A Quest to Identify and Define The Descendants of Albertus Hendrickson, Carpenter, A Dutch Emigrant To America Before 1670, Who Died in Chester County, Province of Pennsylvania, in 1716 Volume I, 1991–1993 Working Papers (Reports 1–12). La Plata, MD: The Frontier Hendricks Association.
[The Rambo Apple, introduced into the Colony of New Sweden (PA) by Peter Gunnarson Rambo and his family.]
Daniel and Mary left GA and settled in Pontotoc Co., MS, where they’re found in the 1850 Pontotoc Federal census on pp. 92B & 93. Daniel D. Harkey, son of Daniel and Mary Ann, m. Nancy L. Hamlin on 25 Sep 1851 in Pontotoc Co. The family moved on to Dunklin Co., MO. Several of their sons became prominent in local affairs.
CENSUS YR: 1850
STATE: MS
COUNTY: PONTOTOC
REEL NO: M432-360 PAGE NO: 93 HOUSEHOLD: 535
REFERENCE: 23RD DAY OF SEPTEMBER 1850, ANDREW J. CLARK ASS’T MARSHAL
________________________________________________
HARKEY DANIEL 53 M FARMER 1,880 NC
HARKEY MA 48 F GA (1)
HARKEY DANIEL 9 M FARMER GA (2)
HARKEY HIRAM 15 M GA
HARKEY WELLBORNE 13 M GA
HARKEY NEWTON 12 M GA (3)
HARKEY NEWSOM 12 M GA (3)
HARKEY FRANCIS 8 M GA
HARKEY JASPER 7 M GA
(1) Mary Ann (Bankston) Harkey
(2) Daniel Harkey married in Pontotoc Co. in 1851, so he wasn’t 9 in 1850. This is probably an error in the transcription, and he was actually 19.
(3) Twins
(Detail of 1850 Pontotoc Co., MS Federal Census.)
[Detail from the 1860 Dunklin Co., MO Federal Census showing Mary Ann (Bankston) Harkey next door to her son Samuel Jones Harkey, a Methodist minister. Also in his household is a school teacher. Click on image to enlarge it.]
Daniel and Mary had nine sons: Samuel Jones Harkey, Methodist minister; William M. Harkey, state legislator; Daniel D. Harkey; Hiram W. Harkey; Wilburn David Harkey (buried at Cude Cemetary, Senath, MO); Newsom A. Harkey; Newton O. Harkey (twin of Newsom A. Harkey); Francis M. “Nugg” Harkey, judge; and Jasper H. “Jap” Harkey (buried at Cude Cemetary, Senath, MO). Wilburn David Harkey and Jasper H. Harkey were active Masons.
I shot this series of tombstone photos about 1990 at Liberty Cemetary near Caruth in Dunklin Co., MO. The tombstones are in deplorable condition. Those of Daniel David Harkey, Newton O. Harkey, and Amanda M. (Kimbrow) Harkey are cracked. I was able to locate both pieces of Newton and Amanda’s tombstones, and put them back together to take photos. Often tombstones that are difficult to photograph can be read in person.
(Click on images to enlarge them.)
(Daniel David Harkey, b. Mar. 25, 1797 in NC, d. Jun. 25, 1858 in Dunklin Co., MO.)
[Mary A. (Bankston) Harkey, wife of Daniel David Harkey, b. Sep. 25, 1801 in Wilkes Co., GA, d. Mar. 7, 1879 in Dunklin Co., MO. This grave is unusual because there’s a footstone reading “Mary A.” (see below).]
[Newton O. Harkey, son of Daniel David and Mary A. (Bankston) Harkey, b. Nov. 22, 1838 in Pike Co., GA, d. Feb. 2, 1880 of malaria in Dunklin Co.]
[Amanda M. (Kimbrow) Harkey, wife of Newton O. Harkey, b. Dec. 26, 1843 in MO, d. Sep. 7, 1901 in Dunklin Co. Amanda was the daughter of William and Annie Bradford (Branch) Kimbrow. William Kimbrow was an early Dunklin Co. sheriff.]
[Hiram W. Harkey, son of Daniel David and Mary A. (Bankston) Harkey, b. 1835, d. Nov. 8, 1856. Although the year of birth is plainly visible, the month and day of birth weren’t legible.]
DIRECTIONS TO LIBERTY CEMETERY NEAR CARUTH, MO:
From Kennett (county seat of Dunklin Co., MO), take HWY 412 S to HWY Y, at County Rd 549C turn right. Cemetery can be seen from HWY Y before the turn off. I don’t know if the tombstones I photographed remain in situ in recognizable condition.
Sir William Skipwith (d. July 7, 1547) married first ca. June 1, 1505, Elizabeth Tyrwhit, daughter of Sir William Tyrwit of Kettleby in Lincolnshire, by whom he had one son:
Sir William Skipwith, who also married an Elizabeth, as shown in this a2a abstract from the Lincolnshire Archives dated Nov. 12, 1564:
“Contents:
“(Counterpart)
“Sir William Skipwith kt. and Dame Elizabeth his wife to Sir Ralph Chamberlain, Sir John Tyrrell, Sir Edward Dymock Knights and Andrew Gedney, Esq. Consideration: marriage of Richard Skipwith son and heir of Sir William and Elizabeth and Mary Chamberlaine a daughter of Sir Ralph. Property: manors of Cawthorpe and Manby, Aswarby, settled in tail male on the heirs of Richard and Mary with remainder to the male heirs of Sir William’s brothers (Lionel, John, George and Henry) in order of age.”
Douglas Richardson in Magna Carta Ancestry, pp. 752-753, gives this account of the children of Sir William Skipwith by Elizabeth Tyrwhit and Alice Dymoke:
[Sir William Skipwith] “married (1st) before 1510 Elizabeth Tyrwhit (or Tyrwhitt), daughter of William Tyrwhit, Knt., of Kettleby, Lincolnshire. They had one son, William, Knt. He married (2nd) Alice Dymoke, daughter and co-heiress of Lionel Dymoke, Knt., of Mareham-on-the-Hill, Lincolnshire, by his 1st wife, Joan, daughter of Rhys Griffith, Esq…. They had four sons, Lionel, John, Esq., George and Henry, Esq., and seven daughters, Jane (wife of Richard Bolle), Mary (wife of George Fitzwilliam), Dorothy (wife of Arthur Gedney), Elizabeth (wife of Thomas Clifford), Margaret (wife of George Tailboys, 2nd Lord Tailboys, Peter Carew, Knt., and John Clifton, Knt.), Anne (wife of William Hatcliffe), and Bridget (wife of — Cave).”
Richardson notes that Sir Lionel Dymoke and his widow Anne, who was not the mother of his children, left wills, but doesn’t quote the contents. On p. 106 he states that Sir Lionel Dymoke’s surviving children were two daughters, Alice and Anne; Anne was the younger and married John Goodrick ca. 1518.
Where did Richardson get his list of children?
I don’t have the specific visitations of Yorkshire he cites. I do have Lincolnshire Pedigrees, and here’s the chart contained therein, which I’ve adapted:
CP shows Sir William Skipwith’s daughter Margaret who married George Tailboys (b. ca. 1522) was a daughter of Alice Dymoke, so we might place her birth as ca. 1522, assuming she was born about the same time as her husband:
“George (Tailboys), Lord Tailboys… was b. about 1522…. m., between 26 Apr. and 15 May 1539, (h) Margaret, cousin to his guardian, William [Fitzwilliam], Earl of Southampton, niece of Sir Thomas Henneage, (l) and da. of Sir William Skipwith, of Ormsby, co. Lincoln, by his 2nd wife, Alice, da. and coh. of Sir Lionel Dymoke, of Mareham-on-the-Hill, co. Lincoln.” {The Complete Peerage (1953) Vol. XII Pt. 1, pp. 603-604.}
Sir Thomas Heneage, d. 21 August 1553, m. Catharine Skipwith, dau. of John and Catharine (Fitzwilliam) Skipwith.
Sir Lionel Dymoke left a will in 1519 (PCC Ayloffe), and his widow Anne in 1521 (PCC Maynmaryng). Alice (Dymoke) Skipwith of Culverthorpe, Lincolnshire, widow of Sir William Skipwith, also left a will, dated June 29, 1549, and probated April 26, 1550 (PCC Coode PROB 11/33/176). I downloaded all three wills from the UK The National Archives website.
The images are clear and of good quality, but the first page of Sir Lionel Dymoke’s will suffers from bleed-through. Probate proceedings are in Latin. The text of Sir Lionel Dymoke’s will was given in English and Latin; the text of the others in English only. Lionel and Anne’s wills are short.
I understand enough of the writing in Alice Skipwith’s will to determine it’s Sir William Skipwith’s widow. We can place her death as ca. 1550. It’s a lengthy affair–at the time it was written, her daughter Margaret (“my daughter Taylboys”) was still the wife of George Tailboys. She mentions her children, including “henry Skipwith my sonne.”
I’m no expert at deciphering 16th century English handwriting, so the wills of Sir Lionel Dymoke and his widow Anne, which predate Alice Skipwith’s will by about 30 years, are very difficult to read. I can’t tell if either of them mention Sir Lionel Dymoke’s daughters. Sir Lionel Dymoke mentions his father Thomas Dymok. His bequests appear to be to friends and the church.
It wouldn’t be surprising if the wills of Lionel or Anne didn’t mention Lionel’s daughters. Prior to the probate reform of 1540 important arrangements for a father’s children were made in other ways.
*****
Henry Skipwith, son of Sir William Skipwith and Alice Dymoke, was ancestor to the Skipwiths of Virginia.
In connection with the marriage of Sir William Skipwith to Alice Dymoke, the a2a website has this abstract:
“These documents are held at Lincolnshire Archives [Paper, a single sheet.]
Contents:
“Of John Compton, collector of rents of Sir William Skipwith through the right of his wife Alice, daughter and coheir of Sir Lyon Dymoke in Maring cum aliis villatis (Mareham). Michaelmas, 1538 to the same 1540. [Horncastle, Upper Toynton, Haltham, Scrafield, Roughton and Claxby].”
Michaelmas is a day in the Christian calendar which falls on September 29th, and was one of the English, Welsh, and Irish quarter days when accounts had to be settled.
*****
Alice Dymoke was a descendant of the Capetian kings of France through Edward I’s second queen Margaret (Marguerite), daughter of king Philip III. The Dymoke and Welles arms are on the achievement* at the tomb of Alice’s grandson, Sir William Skipwith (d. 1610), in the church at Prestwould, and his right to display those arms are confirmed by Alice (Dymoke) Skipwith’s will.
INSCRIPTIONS
On the south wall of the chancel, in the year 1631, was erected a very fair monument of alabaster and touch, coloured and gilt, erected for Sir William Skipwith, of Cotes, knight, and Lady Jane his second wife, at the cost and expense of the said Lady Jane; where, under an arch, lie both their proportions, neatly cut and graven. Sir William has a piked beard and hair, plated armor, trunk hose, sword by his side; a mattress under him. At his feet his crest. His lady had a ruff, and hood falling back; double falling ruffles, and mantle; her head on a cushion; Plate LII fig. i.
On the top of the arch standeth an old atchievement, in an oval frame, with these coats; fig. 2.
1. Argent, three bars Gules, a greyhound in chief, courant Sable. Skipwith.
2. Quarterly, Sable and Argent, a bend Or. Langton.
3. Argent, three bars Azure, charged with as many cross crosslets Or. Memthorpe.
4. Azure, three crescents Argent. Thorpe.
5. Argent, on a cross engrailed Sable, five mascles Or. Arches.
6. Argent, a cross engrailed Gules. De la Lind.
7. Azure, a lion rampant Ermine. } Ormesby.
8. Sable, three chessrooks Argent, a chief Or. }
9. Quarterly, Ermine and Vaire, Or and Azure. Gibthorpe.
10. Or, a chevron Gules between three Fleurs de lis Vert. Hiltoft.
11. Or, frette Azure, in a canton Gules, a cross Moline Argent. Mumby or Willoughby.
12. Sable, a falcon sitting upon a trunk of a tree Or. Le Muer.
13. Sable, a fess between three mullets Or. Dimok.
14. Sable, two lions passant in pale Ermine, coronne Or. Heronville.
15. Vaire, Argent and Azure, a fess Gules, frette Or. Marmion.
16. Sable, a sword in pale, point towards the chief Argent, hilted Or. Kilpeck.
17. Ermine, four fusils in fess Gules. Hebden.
18. Or, a lion rampant queue fourche Sable. Welles.
19. Gules, a fess dauncette between six cross crosslets crossed Or. Engaine.
20. Barry of Six, Ermine and Gules;over all three crescents Sable. The crest; a turnpike Gules, the foot Or. Waterton.
In the spandrils of the arch are two less escutcheons:
Skipwith; impaling, Azure, fretty Argent, Cave.
Skipwith, impaling, Party per pale, Argent and Gules alion rampant Sable, Roberts; fig. 3,4.
Under the arch, on a table of touch, this epitaph:
To frame a man who in those guiftes excelles,
Which make the cuntry happy where hee dwelles,
We first conceive what names his line adorne:
It kindles Virtue to be nobly borne.
This picture of true Gentry must bee gracd
With glittering jewells round about him placd;
A comely body, and a beauteous mind;
A heart to love, a hand to give inclind;
A house as free and open as the ayre;
A tonge which joyes in language sweete and faire;
Yet can, when need requires, with courage bold
To publike eares his neighbors griefs unfold:
All these we never more shall find in one;
And yit all these are closd within this stone.
Below, on two smaller tablets of touch, thus written:
1. HERE LYETH THE BODY OF SIR WILLIAM SKIPWITH, OF COOTES, KNIGHT, AND DAME JANE SKIPWITH, HIS LAST WIFE, BEING THE DAUGHTER AND HEIRE OF JOHN ROBERTES, OF WOLLASTONE, IN THE COUNTRY OF NORTHAMPTON, ESQ. HE DEPARTED THIS LIFE ON THE 3RD DAY OF MAY, IN THE YEARE OF OUR LORD 1610; AND SHEE LIVED TWENTY YEARS AFTER HIM; AT WHOSE COST AND CHARDGES THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED, ANNO 1631.
2. HIS FIRST WIFE WAS MARGARET CAVE, DAUGHTER OF ROGER CAVE, OF STANFORD, LEASTERSHIERE, ESQ.; BY WHOM HE HAD FOURE SONS AND FOURE DAUGHTERS: THE ELDEST WHEREOF IS SR HENRY SKIPWITH, KNIGHT AND BARONETT.
[The History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester, by John Nichols, Vol. 3, Part 1 (London, 1800) pages 358-359 containing EAST GOSCOTE HUNDRED. Monumental inscription in the Church of PRESTWOULD (dedicated to Saint ANDREW): Page 357 of the above volume records that Dame Jane (JOANNA) Skipwith was buried in the church of PRESTWOULD on 4 Apr 1630 and that Amy (Kemp) SKIPWITH was buried on 7 Sep 1631. Price, pp. 29-30.]
The description of the achievement refers to “Mumby or Willoughby.” “Mumby” is not a family, but a well-traveled manor of that name in Lincolnshire, once held by Sir Lionel Dymoke, among others. For the Willoughby family, see below.
*A heraldic assemblage of certain components, among them the arms the individual was entitled to display.
*****
I haven’t verified the marriage between Sir Thomas Skipwith and Margaret, allegedly daughter of John Lord Willoughby. An a2a abstract dated June 6, 1422 shows that Robt. Lord Willoughby of Eresby, Robt. Hilton kt., et al. delivered seizin of properties in Lincolnshire to Margaret, widow of Thos. Skipwith, which they had of the gift of Thos. Skipwith. The Robert Lord Willoughby mentioned must be the 6th Lord Willoughby (ca. 1385-1452); he had one child, a daughter, Joan, who married Richard de Welles. The title Lord Willoughby passed to the Welles family.
There were other Willoughbys in Lincolnshire who appear to be related to the lords Willoughby, and an a2a abstract dated June 3, 1417 shows Thos. son of William Willughby kt. and John Willughby son of Thos., et al. granting various advowsons in Lincolnshire to Thomas Skipwith esq. and Margaret his wife.
The Thos. Willughby mentioned in this latter abstract could be the younger brother of Robert 6th Lord Willoughby (and thus a son of William the 5th lord), but the chronology seems very tight. This is still the period when marriages were contracted early. Douglas Richardson’s Plantagenet Ancestry doesn’t mention an earlier marriage for William’s son Thomas.
Unfortunately, in his Magna Carta Ancestry pp. 886-888, Richardson contributes errors of his own, terming Robert 4th Lord Willoughby as the 3rd (the 2nd and 3rd were actually Johns). According to CP 12 pt. 2 “Willoughby” and its associated chart, this individual was clearly the 4th. Whether he was ever married to Alice, a daughter of Sir William de Skipwith, is moot. Richardson shows that his son, William Willoughby the 5th lord, was issue of Margery la Zouche. He then makes Thomas Skipwith’s wife a granddaughter of William 5th Lord Willoughby–but lists only William’s daughter Elizabeth who married Henry Beaumont as having a daughter named Margaret. Perhaps Richardson meant to say Sir Thomas Skipwith’s wife was a granddaughter of Robert 4th Lord Willoughby, which is more plausible.
According to CP, Robert 4th Lord Willoughby had a son John, of whom I know little (Bryan, b. ca. 1383, seems to have been the youngest son). Robert’s son John never held the title, but was living Feb. 3, 1407 as shown by a grant with his brother William. Obviously there’s confusion in the account of the Willoughby family. I don’t know who Margaret Skipwith’s parents were, so I’m not going to fog it up further.
This pedigree chart, adapted from Lincolnshire Pedigrees pp. 894-895, ties into the chart above. Note that it claims Sir Thomas Skipwith’s wife Margaret to be a daughter of William 5th Lord Willoughby:
The individual who most interests me in the above chart is John Skipwith, d. 15 Jul 1415, buried in the parish church of Covenham, MP for Lincolnshire in 1406, 1407, and Apr 1414. John Skipwith married by Jul 1397 Alice Tilney, daughter of Sir Frederick Tilney of Boston, Lincolnshire. The Tilneys were a family of considerable influence and wealth in Lincolnshire. Although a second son, due to untimely deaths John Skipwith eventually succeeded to the family estates. Holder of many offices throughout his life, according to History of Parliament Online, during his tenure as sheriff of Lincolnshire, “he and his henchmen appear to have inflicted a virtual reign of terror upon the county, and as a result of six separate petitions submitted to the chancellor by his victims he was summoned to appear before the justices of assize at Lincoln in August 1397 to face charges of robbery with violence, blackmail, extortion, false imprisonment and intimidation. All these allegations were found to be true, although the court’s verdict had little effect upon his career….” Of course, the backdrop here is the turmoil during the latter part of the reign of King Richard II, and the subsequent Lancastrian usurpation.
*****
It’s been alleged that Margaret Cave, wife of Sir William Skipwith (d. 1610), was connected to Cardinal Henry Beaufort. Ignoring the dubious authenticity of any Henry Beaufort descent, the claim arose through confusion concerning members of the Danvers family and has no merit.
The UK National Archives has recently updated and improved its website. a2a can now be accessed at this link:
THIS
PLUS
EQUALS
(Click on images to enlarge.)
While my family was eating rancid bacon and dodging rude missiles, one imagines these people in their London clubs and country manors, reading about recent archaeological discoveries and the births, marriages, and deaths of those of their class. “Sylvanus Urban” was a pseudonym used by successive editors.
Such civilization! And we a nation of salt and canteens.
Sir Grey Skipwith, 8th Baronet of Prestwould, was sent to England at age 13. He was a descendant of Col. Robert and Anne (Stith) Bolling, whose progeny are sometimes erroneously thought to be descendants of the famous Native American princess Pocahontas. Col. Robert Bolling’s first wife was Jane Rolfe, granddaughter of Pocahontas, hence the confusion. However, members of the Skipwith family did marry into the bloodline of Pocahontas.
(Available as free download from Google Books; see pp. 40, 41, 54 & 55 for Skipwith.)
The reader will note that during the reign of King George I, Sir Fulwar Skipwith offered 80,000 pounds to John Montagu (1690–1749), 2nd Duke of Montagu, etc., for the large estate adjoining Newbold Hall. The duke demanded 80,000 guineas, and the sale didn’t go through. The guinea, minted from 1663–1814, was a gold coin initially equal to one pound sterling, or 20 shillings. Over the years its value fluctuated, but was generally worth more than 20 shillings, so the duke’s price was significantly higher than the 80,000 pounds Sir Fulwar Skipwith had offered.
Periodicals and newspapers, wherever they may be found, are the most under-utilized genealogical materials. They can contain a wealth of information not found elsewhere.
In the above account of the post-Virginia Skipwiths, there are some factual errors: there were three, not two, Skipwith baronetcies. The Baronets of Metheringham are little remembered as there were only three of that line which became extinct in 1756. The manor of Prestwould was sold by Sir Henry Skipwith I, not his son Grey. The fourth Prestwould baronet was Grey’s son William who also resided in Middlesex Co., VA.
(A general genealogy of the Skipwith family is to be found in this volume, published in 1867. Available as a download from Internet Archive.)
Barnard, Francis Pierrepont. (1910). Strongbow’s Conquest of Ireland Second Edition. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
Crouch, David. (2002). William Marshal Knighthood, War and Chivalry, 1147—1219 Second Edition. London: Longman.
McCullough, David Willis. (2002). Wars Of The Irish Kings A Thousand Years Of Struggle, From The Age Of Myth Through The Reign Of Queen Elizabeth I. New York: Three Rivers Press.
Mortimer, Ian. (2003). The Greatest Traitor The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer Ruler Of England 1327–1330. London: Pimlico Random House.
Westwood, Jennifer. (1985). Albion A Guide to Legendary Britain. Salem, New Hampshire: Salem House.
In 1155, Pope Adrian IV gave King Henry II of England permission to invade Ireland. Adrian’s excuse was that the Irish church had fallen into moral decay and killing some Irish would bring them back to obedience.
Despite papal approval, Henry didn’t invade.
In 1166, a century after the Norman invasion of England, King Dermot MacMurrough of Leinster, the third great-grandson of high king Brian Boru, fell afoul of his overlord Rory O’Connor. O’Connor stripped Dermot of the kingdom of Leinster for abducting Derbforgaill, wife of Tiernan O’Rourke, King of Breifne.
Dermot fled to England. Henry spurned Dermot’s plea for aid, but allowed him to raise an army. In exchange for help in winning back his crown, Dermot promised his daughter and kingdom to Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke, called Strongbow.
In 1170 Strongbow arrived in Ireland. His marriage to Aoife (Eve) of Leinster was said to have taken place on a field so blood soaked it stained the hem of her bridal gown. Dermot died in 1171, one of the most despised figures in Irish history.
Strongbow declared himself King of Leinster.
Above: “Together they raised an army and reclaimed a kingdom—and changed the history of Ireland forever.” I’m a spoilsport to point out this cover bears little resemblance to the historical Aoife and Strongbow, but Aoife is a rather nice name for a woman, and a knight in shining armor astride a white horse is sure to quicken heartbeats in the supermarket checkout lane.
So much for pulp fiction: this 1854 oil painting by Daniel Maclise, entitled The Marriage Of Strongbow And Aoife, is closer to the truth. In the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin. The marriage took place in 1170 in Waterford on the site of present-day Christ Church Cathedral Anglican.
Henry wasn’t happy.
Granted, Strongbow had brought Ireland to its knees without any funds from Henry, but one of Henry’s subjects declaring himself king didn’t fit in with his plans. So in October 1172, Henry himself landed at Cork intending to chastise the unruly Normans who’d done his dirty work for him. All of the Irish kings except high king Rory O’Connor submitted to Henry. O’Connor later made a separate peace, but as King of Connacht, and without obligating his subjects to Henry.
Strongbow did not make good his claim to the kingdom of Leinster. Henry forced him to do homage for Leinster and cede some of its territory. In 1176 Strongbow died, leaving a son named Gilbert who died a minor without issue. Strongbow’s daughter Isabel was heiress to his estates, but not to the kingdom of Leinster. Isabel married William the Marshal, who became Earl of Pembroke in right of his wife:
(This tomb in Christ Church cathedral in Dublin is allegedly that of Strongbow, though some accounts indicate Strongbow’s tomb was destroyed and this is a substitute. It looks old enough to be of Strongbow’s era.)
As a further slap in the face, in 1185 Henry decided Ireland would make a fine appanage for his son John (later to be King John of England). John and his retainers offended the Irish by pulling the men’s beards and laughing at them. Although Henry secured Pope Urban III’s agreement that John would become king of Ireland, John’s adventure ended after he’d squandered his father’s money in dissipation. He departed within a few months without a crown, and his unpaid mercenaries became marauders who terrorized the Irish.
____________________________________STONE EXCURSUS
Below is a photo of the “Lia Fail” stone at the Hill of Tara in Meath, where High Kings of Ireland were inaugurated. I agree with the view that it’s a relic of an ancient fertility cult. Some feel that this stone, which was installed at the site about 1824, is not the legendary “Lia Fail,” and that the true coronation stone has yet to be unearthed. Standing stones are found at many ancient Celtic sites.
Further, it’s been theorized that the Stone of Scone, or Scottish coronation stone, which King Edward I of England confiscated in 1296, was actually the “Lia Fail.” But Fergus son of Erc, traditionally considered to have founded the Scottish kingdom in the 6th century in what is now Argyll, and his descendants, seem not to be rulers with authority to remove so sacred an object. Fergus is thought to have migrated from a base in North Ulster. He was probably more a Rolf the Viking type, a colonizer but not a monarch. The settlement in Argyll would have been dependent upon links with Ireland for many years, for trade and defense. The Stone of Scone was probably not something originally brought with the colonizers, but perhaps sent for, presented to them, or authorized to be used at some point, and not necessarily within the lifetime of Fergus and his sons, or for generations thereafter.
(The Stone of Scone, or Stone of Destiny, upon which Scottish kings were inaugurated, may have been modeled after the Stone of Tara in Ireland. This is probably not the condition of the stone when it was confiscated from the Scots. It was stored in a tier beneath the seat of Edward I’s coronation chair in Westminster Abbey, and may have been altered to fit. The Scots may have altered the stone during the centuries prior to its removal, and a similar stone used by the Irish might also bear signs of human alteration.)
The stone presently installed on the hill of Tara, which bears no resemblance at all to the Stone of Scone, is obviously a pagan cultic object or talisman, which the church would have regarded as profane. Even granting the stone’s antiquity, once Ireland was Christianized, it’s doubtful the church would have sanctioned its use in the ceremony of royal inauguration. It’s a generic structure, common in the ancient world, that was meant to ward off evil and assure prosperity—not an object the community would associate with kingship.
(This is how the Stone of Scone is thought to have appeared in use. It would have been quite convenient that its dimensions fit so perfectly the tier beneath the seat of Edward I’s coronation chair. It may be that the actual Stone, which is the seat, would have originally extended outward from the sides of the supporting stones. Edward I may have mutilated the Stone as a further humiliation to the Scots.)
It seems unlikely coronation stones were selected from a natural rock formation simply because they physically suited the purpose. The Stone of Scone and its (presumed) model at Tara may have been re-purposed from a pagan structure with the blessing of the church, such as an altar, or fixture in an enclosure, that had deep meaning for the populace. So these stones are actually remnants of structures that pre-date the introduction of Christianity into the area, symbols of continuity from the pagan past. This theory is supported by the policy of Pope Gregory the Great (reg. 590–604), who told his missionaries to England not to demolish pagan temples but consecrate them and put them to Christian use. Gregory’s policy in Ireland and Scotland was probably the same. If the theory is correct, the re-dedication of the coronation stone at Tara in Ireland dates to the dawn of the 7th century A.D. at the latest, and could have been much earlier coinciding with Christian missionary activity in Ireland in the 5th century A.D. Was the Stone of Scone originally part of the coronation stone at Tara?
It’s possible Henry II destroyed the stone at Tara to emphasize the submission of the Irish kings, but that is conjecture not based upon any text of the period.
However, it’s not entirely clear how these coronation stones were used. The king may have merely stood on the stone, or placed a foot upon it. If the stone was not used as the seat for a bench, then the Stone of Scone as we have it may be an approximation of its intended shape. This painting shows King John of England seated upon a bench, giving an idea of the Stone as a seat:
The sources for this period give the general idea of an alien race, presumably from Ulster in Ireland, making an incursion into Argyll and coming into conflict with its neighbors, the usual tale in such circumstances. For all we know, they were mercenary warlords who turned on their patrons, as the Saxons are thought to have done to the Britons, subjugated an area, and brought in settlers from Ireland to stabilize the conquest and create a loyal base.
Anyone familiar with Dark Age monastic authors like Gildas and Nennius knows better than to take such sources at face value. Monks were known to interpolate events and probably even names when lacking, and coloring a history out of malice wasn’t unknown, either. Gerald of Wales, a prominent churchman in the retinue of Henry II when Henry landed in Ireland, and thus with first hand knowledge of the country, recounts tales so fantastic he might as well have stayed at home and made them up. Gerald said of the Irish: “This is a filthy people, wallowing in vice.” So much for ecclesiastical objectivity.
I understand the desire of historians to say something about the early history of Scotland, and there’s an temptation to apply scholarship to sources that are all that presently exist, but it’s a dangerous practice. The source of the information, which may have been only rarely firsthand, is almost never given, or the name of the author. Even accounts of saints, especially if they have an obvious moral theme, are suspect. I prefer archaeological evidence, and to match it if possible with written sources. History as practised in the past was frequently not fact-based, which sounds strange to the modern mind, and it would be nice if modern historians were more candid about that. Saying “I don’t know” is better history than trying to extrapolate truth.
The true coronation stone of Ireland may remain buried at Tara, its function long forgotten. Of course, this is conjecture and theory, and I’ve used the words “might,” “may,” “possibly,” and “probably” repeatedly. It’s only a hypothesis, and perhaps one day hard evidence will prove it up or down.
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Dermot MacMurrough (or Diarmit Mac Murchada) is vilified in Irish history as a traitor who brought the Normans into Ireland. Strongbow’s daughter Isabel married William the Marshal, who became Earl of Pembroke in her right. From there Aoife of Leinster’s bloodline passed to the de Braiose family, Welsh marcher lords, and on to the Mortimers.
(This entry from Domesday Book and a modern commentary give some background on the ancient family of Mortimer.)
History would have a reckoning with the most notorious of Aoife’s descendants: Roger de Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, lover of Edward II’s queen Isabella, who found himself sentenced to death just three years after murdering Edward II.
(This heart-warming tableaux depicts Queen Isabella and Roger de Mortimer in the foreground, while in the top right corner Hugh le Despenser the Younger is losing his manhood, which will be tossed into the fire. A group of peasants or town folk have assembled to see Hugh disassembled.)
The romance between Isabella and Roger de Mortimer had begun by December 1325. They were openly amorous at the court of the French king Charles IV, Isabella’s brother. It was both a scandal and one of the great romances of the Middle Ages. Isabella, rejected by Edward II who was devoted to his two male favorites, first Piers de Gaveston, and then Hugh le Despenser the Younger, fell into Mortimer’s arms. They began to plot the overthrow of her husband. The dashing and ruthless Mortimer was the perfect man to engineer a coup.
On 24 Sep 1326, Mortimer and Isabella, accompanied by mercenaries, landed on territory controlled by Edwward II’s half-brother, Thomas, Earl of Norfolk, who was also Isabella’s first cousin. The invasion quickly turned into a revolution, and by mid-November, Edward II was in Mortimer’s hands. The Despensers, father and son, were brutally executed.
Isabella and Mortimer spent Christmas at Wallingford.
Edward II was persuaded to abdicate. It was convenient that he not be “deposed.” Isabella’s son was crowned king as Edward III. And by 23 Sep 1327, Edward II had died at Berkeley Castle. According to the chronicler Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbrook:
“Firstly, [Edward II] was shut up in a secure chamber, where he was tortured for many days until he was almost suffocated by the stench of corpses buried in a cellar underneath. But when his tyrannous warders perceived the stench alone was not sufficient to kill him … they thrust a plumber’s soldering iron, heated red hot, guided by a tube inserted into his bowels, and thus they burned his innards and his vital organs. [Edward II] shouted aloud so that many heard his cry within and without the castle and knew it for the cry of a man who suffered violent death.” The murderers didn’t want visible wounds on the king lest the people be aroused to pity.
Roger de Mortimer wielded power as a king in all but name. But Edward III chafed at the rule of his mother and her lover. On the night of 19 Oct 1330, the king and a small band of companions surprised Mortimer and Queen Isabella in her bedchamber at Nottingham Castle. As Mortimer was carried off, Isabella cried: “Fair son, have pity on the gentle Mortimer! Do not harm him, he is a worthy knight. Our beloved friend, our dear cousin.” If Isabella didn’t utter these famous words, they were put into her mouth by someone who recognized a good story.
On 26 Nov 1330, Mortimer was gagged and found guilty of 14 charges and other unspecified crimes. Three days later, he was dragged by two horses from the Tower of London to Tyburn where, bones broken by the rough streets, he was hanged. After hanging on the gallows for two days and nights, Mortimer was buried in the Church of the Friars Minors at Coventry, Warwickshire, where his body remained despite an appeal by his wife Joan to have it moved to Wigmore.
Isabella was banished to loose confinement at Castle Rising in Norfolk. In an act of supreme irony, upon her death in 1358 she was buried at Greyfriar’s church in London, where also was buried her aunt Margaret, second queen of King Edward I, and placed beneath Isabella’s grave was the heart of her murdered husband, King Edward II.
Mortimer’s daughter Katherine (by his wife Joan, not Isabella) married Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick. Their daughter Maud married Roger de Clifford. In one of the more curious phenomena of medieval England, the Mortimer family, along with the similarly disgraced Despensers, survived the execution of their traitorous ancestors.
[Tomb of Katherine (Mortimer) and Thomas de Beauchamp at St. Mary’s, Warwick.]
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Davies, John. (2007). A History Of Wales Revised Edition. London and New York: Penguin Books
Before it connected with the royal bloodline of Leinster, the de Braiose family had a bloody history of its own. Maud de St. Valery, wife of William de Braiose, the 5th lord, and her son William were allegedly walled up alive in her castle by King John. They starved to death, so ravenous that Maud devoured William’s cheeks.
Why did John so hate Maud? Evidently Maud knew too much about John’s murder of his nephew Arthur, son of his older brother Geoffrey—who had a better claim to the English throne than John. Maud’s husband William de Braiose had handed Arthur over to the king. Or so the story goes. Her husband was merely exiled, but Maud and her son weren’t as fortunate.
Maud entered English folklore as Moll Wallbee, a giantess who built Hay Castle in a night—and who was condemned to join the Hounds of Hell and hunt the night during storms. Doubtless the Welsh threatened misbehaving children with the prospect of a visit from Moll.
Gen. 8: William de Braiose had a brother Reynold de Braiose, whose son William, the 6th Lord Braiose, married Eve Marshall. Eve Marshall was the great-grandmother of Roger de Mortimer, 1st Earl of March.
Gen. 9: Margaret, daughter of Llewellyn the Great, has been attributed to King John’s illegitimate daughter Joan, but the descent has two problems: (1) the Welsh didn’t differentiate between children of wives and those of concubines (2) there’s no proof Joan was John’s daughter. But here we’re concerned with Welsh royal descents, not Plantagenet offspring. Llewellyn’s pedigree to legendary Welsh ruler Rhodri Mawr (Rhodri the Great, d. 878), like the pedigree of any medieval monarch to some heroic ancestor, was necessary, and in this case, true.
Gen. 11: William de Braiose’s first wife was Agnes (maiden name unknown), and his second wife was Elizabeth de Sully. His children were by Agnes.
By the end of the 13th century, Wales had ceased to exist as an independent principality, subsumed by English king Edward I. Marcher (or border) lords like the de Braiose and Mortimer families had been a line of defense against the Welsh.
Chen, Ellen M. (1989). The Tao Te Ching A New Translation With Commentary. St. Paul: Paragon House.
Chuang Tzu; Palmer, Martin, trans.; et al. (2006). The Book of Chuang Tzu. London and New York: Penguin Books.
Dogen, Eihei; Tanahashi, Kazuaki, ed.; Aitken, Robert, et. al., trans. (1985). Moon in a Dewdrop Writings Of Zen Master Dogen. New York: North Point Press Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Padmasambhava; Dorje, Gyurme, trans.; Coleman, Graham and Jinpa, Thupten, eds. (2007). The Tibetan Book Of The Dead First Complete Translation The Great Liberation By Hearing In the Intermediate States Introductory Commentary by His Holiness The Dalai Lama. New York: Penguin Books USA.
Shibayama, Zenkei; Kudo, Sumiko, trans. (2000). The Gateless Barrier Zen Comments on the Mumonkan. Boston: Shambhala.
The practice of Tao is mankind’s oldest religious practice, although Taoism is neither religion nor philosophy. The Tao is the Reality which exists before words.
There’s confusion about the meaning of the Tao symbol:
The Black is the Source, which is Non-Being. The White is the Phenomenal Universe, which is Emptiness. The White dot in the Black and the Black dot in the White signify that the Black and the White are not different. All of reality is subsumed in the symbol as the Eternal Wheel.
It was said of the Ancients that they were Complete. We do not know exactly who wrote The Tao Te Ching, but it is probably the work of several hands. It was common in the ancient world to attribute important works to someone of eminence, so we may presume Lao Tzu, the reputed author, was a real person. How much he contributed to the work that bears his name is unknown.
Taosim is certainly older than Buddhism, and the Chinese, being practical, adapted Buddhism to their own mind. In the sayings of the Chinese Zen masters, whether as koan (teaching points) or mondo (more elaborate exchanges), the monk’s anguished questions “What is Buddha?” or “What is Tao?” are the same: “What is Reality? Who am I?” Sometimes the monk is defeated in the koan but emerges victorious in the commentary, so keep an eye on the monk.
Although the mind innately perceives both the Source and the Phenomenal Universe, because the Source is mistaken for ignorance we’re prone to dualistic thinking, abstract concepts, and speculation. We all correctly perceive the Source as Non-Being, but erroneously conclude we are lacking something, when in fact we lack nothing and are in full possession of the Truth. We have an intellect, and intellect demands an object, but Non-Being is not an object and cannot be conceptualized. Thus we posit an artificial, dualistic “self” (or ego) which is purely a creation of the intellect, an invention to fill a void. There is nothing wrong with that per se—we all live our story—but its foundation is misconstrued.
This feeling of lacking something is what sends us all on a perilous metaphysical journey in search of answers. And though our metaphysical problem is intellectual, not existential, even clever Zen students can wear out many sandals before realizing they are pursuing an abstraction. What fascinates me about this universal human condition is that the creation of an artificial, dualistic “self” is actually based upon an accurate, yet misunderstood, perception of ultimate reality which is Non-Being.
Taoism went into decline, becoming a vapid Yin-Yang cult centered around the quest for longevity. The belief that the Tao symbol referred to the potential of complementary or harmonious opposites became widespread: that everything within itself contains the seed of its opposite—kind of cosmic Ping-Pong, the interplay between the Black and White which gives rise to all things. As there are no opposites this is false, but it was more easily grasped than the true meaning of the symbol. In traditional Taoism, Black is the feminine principle and White is male, but the Tao is actually devoid of gender and race.
Due to its brevity there have been many translations of The Tao Te Ching, but the translator may be led astray if biased by a theory of its meaning. In writing about Taoism and Zen, one must use words as a reference point rather than a destination, and that requires skill. Ellen M. Chen’s translation of The Tao Te Ching is beautiful in its simplicity and directness, with a commentary that relates the text to other seminal works, including Christian writings.
The Book of Chuang Tzu, a genuine Taoist work dating to the 4th century BC, is interesting because it is so antagonistic to Confucian traditionalists. Evidently Taoists found Confucius too objective. The Book of Chuang Tzu contains this passage:
Toeless said: “Confucius has definitely not become a perfect man yet, has he?”
Lao Tzu said: “‘Why not help him to see that birth and death are one thing, and that right and wrong are one thing, and so free him from the chains and irons?”
From this it is obvious that later Taoist practitioners were utterly confused. To be free from chains and irons is to have no obstruction. To have no obstruction is to be Complete. To be Complete is to recognize the Source and Universe as non-dual.
Some people believe life is a dream. It’s not a dream. Life is an illusion. An illusion that like a dream has no beginning and no end. A dream is an illusion of a dream within an illusion.
What we perceive as reality is actually the reflection of Non-Being, like reflections in a mirror. Those reflections are the Phenomenal Universe, including our body and all that we sense: sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and mental phenomena. The reflection is a projection, and the medium is mind. Beyond this there is nothing. This is what the Ancients sought to preserve in the Tao symbol.
One of the problems challenging Westerners in understanding Taoist and Zen texts are contradictory statements. The great Japanese Zen master Dogen wrote: “You should not remain bewildered when you hear the words, ‘Mountains flow’; but together with buddha ancestors you should study these words. When you take one view you see mountains flowing, and when you take another view, mountains are not flowing. One time mountains are flowing, another time they are not flowing.”
I would tell Dogen: If one lives without self-consciousness, there is neither “Flowing” nor “Not Flowing.” Before it is called a mountain it is a mountain; we call it a mountain to remember it.
Zen is very easy to understand and very difficult to understand. An abstraction is a frozen “thing,” a concept or definition. We constantly revise concepts and definitions of things, and think that brings us closer to reality when we have actually erected a more sophisticated barrier.
When we take a point of view, when we reference ourselves, there is “Flowing.” That is the Relative. When we take no point of view, there is “Not Flowing.” That is the Absolute. But in Zen, we’re not concerned about “Flowing” or “Not Flowing.” We can experience either without entrapping ourselves. Then “Flowing” is “Not Flowing,” “Not Flowing” is “Flowing.” To deal with “Flowing” and “Not Flowing” is to be the Master of Words. To be confused about which is right and which is wrong is to be Bound by Words. People read Dogen and do not understand that his Way is strewn with words. For Dogen, these words are the expression of his Life, but for others they may be a trap.
All things change as they flow. The changes can be dramatic or nearly imperceptible. A “thing” cannot flow—it’s artificial. Life isn’t a “thing,” it’s a dynamic. In order for a “thing” to flow, it must become something other than itself, in which case the “thing” that it was is meaningless, because it was never really that “thing.” I know this sounds nonsensical, but it’s the truth. We can feel ourselves flow, and as we flow, so does all of existence: Synchronicity. For us to perceive anything it must flow with us. If it didn’t, we could not perceive it. Therefore, ourselves and what we perceive are not a duality.
So for anything to flow, it must be Nothing. I call that Non-Being: it’s never really anything and cannot be said to exist in the conventional sense. The Universe is not something created, it’s the ceaseless activity of Non-Being.
But even after being told that abstraction by its very nature isn’t reality, we keep trying to understand reality in abstract terms. The only obstacle to the Direct Recognition of Reality is our addiction to abstraction. Zen isn’t something you figure out, it’s your Life. More words don’t make more understanding. Philosophically minded people might find this explanation useful.
If you can grasp the principle of one second following another, you can walk from one end of the Universe to the other in a single step.
This column discusses my experience with Zen. TV and Madison Avenue to the contrary, not everyone loves Zen. Ultra-conservative Christian groups consider Zen Buddhism to be a cult. Zen Buddhism is not a cult. It traces its history to the Indian Buddhist Patriarch Bodhidharma, who appeared in China about 1500 years ago. Over the course of its 2500 year history, Buddhism has experienced sporadic repression, most recently in Tibet and Vietnam. There are also those who condemn Zen as Nihilism or Infantile Narcissism, but the ills which so often plague mankind seem rather the province of Objectivism.
The confluence of Mahayana Buddhism and Chinese Taoism marks the development of the spiritual practice known as Zen Buddhism. Mahayana Buddhism and Taoism were not in themselves deficient, but the resulting practice became very popular due to its immediacy, directness, and ability to incorporate cultural metaphors.
So—what is the truth about Zen? Many people throughout their lives experience moments of Realization. Enlightenment is a decision. Some people embrace Realization and some reject it. For those who embrace Realization, it deepens and becomes a well-spring for their life. For those who reject it, it fades into background noise.
Although it’s difficult to get a precise figure of the number of Buddhists in the United States, in 2012 the newspaper U-T San Diego estimated 1.2 million. Of these, Pure Land, Tibetan, and traditional Theravadan Buddhists certainly outnumber Zen Buddhists, whose numbers are below 100,000, and perhaps closer to 50,000. It’s estimated 40% of the nation’s Buddhists live in Southern California.
In this piece I used the term “Non-Being” for Ultimate Reality rather than Bankei’s “Unborn,” DT Suzuki’s “Unconscious,” or Suzuki-Roshi’s “Big Being.” “Unborn” and “Unconscious” are both words that in the West have other definitions, which can be confusing. “Big-Being,” and terms like it such as “True-Self,” “Big-Self,” “Mind” (with a capitol “M”) etc. also have problems. Those terms are not intended to encourage conceptualization, but they do. If there is a “Being,” then the intellect wants to know what “That” is. The Western consciousness is absorbed in ontology, and words, being abstraction, can only convey the spirit of Zen. “Non-Being” utterly wipes out any conceptualization while preserving the central mystery which is dynamic. To put it into Zen terms, since there is not even a hair’s separation of one thing from another, “Non-Being” is a good phrase for one pole of reality. Of course, “Non-Being” and the “Phenomenal Universe” are not really a duality.
If you want to study Zen, I recommend studying under a teacher from an authorized lineage so you know who are their spiritual ancestors. A Zen teacher must have the experience to size up a student and assign an appropriate practice. If a student experiences “enlightenment,” “awakening,” “kensho,” or “satori,” that doesn’t mean the student can instruct others or has the temperament to instruct others. An individual’s practice isn’t a straight line and they need a teacher who understands how to deal with that. Avoid charlatans—there are always those who prey on the naive and bewildered for their own material gain.
THE REALLY TOUGH QUESTIONS
What is all of this? It’s an illusion. Some scientists think the Universe is a hologram, and the Zen view of Reality is not inconsistent with that.
Why am I here? You’re here to play a role. The role you play is subjective. It’s up to you. If you don’t know what role to play, read some good books. You might get a few ideas.
What happens when I die? There’s no such thing as death. This illusion is constant motion, and all things must eventually pass, but since your life itself is illusory, there’s nothing that really dies.
How long will it go on? Time is just a concept, but if you want a conventional answer: Forever.
Doesn’t this trivialize suffering? The point isn’t to trivialize suffering, but to realize it can’t destroy us.
But shouldn’t everyone believe the same thing? Some people are ignorant and see no value in religious pluralism. There’s no evidence that uniformity of belief is beneficial to mankind. When Europe was mostly Catholic, there was constant violence and atrocity.
So what’s causing all of it? The author of existence is Pure Consciousness which is formless and cannot be conceptualized. One day you might encounter this Pure Consciousness, and then you will know who is responsible for everything.
Behind this seemingly ordinary document is a story. Beecher Edgar Chipman was my paternal grandfather. And this is his previously unknown third marriage.
Why did a couple who lived in Flint, MI drive to Bowling Green, OH to get married on 24 Apr 1950?
On 23 Apr 1959, Beecher drowned while fishing at a lake in Pendleton Township, MO. His companion, listed as Jean Esther (Southard) Chipman on her death certificate, also drowned. They’re buried side by side in a cemetery in Farmington, MO.
Who was Jean Esther Chipman?
The answers may shock you.
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But first, who was Beecher Edgar Chipman?
He was the second son, and third of five children of James Edward and Allie May (Oxley) Chipman. The family owned a small cotton farm in the fertile Missouri boot-heel county of Dunklin. Dunklin County was named in honor of Daniel Dunklin, governor of Missouri 1832–1836. The Missouri boot-heel, virtually unknown outside the state, was leveled by the New Madrid earthquake of 1812.
Beecher was born in the small town of Senath, southwest of Kennett, the county seat. Other than cotton, Dunklin County’s most famous export is singer/songwriter Sheryl Crow, who hails from Kennett. Senath is now only a ghost of its former glory.
In high school Beecher read classics like David Copperfield and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The best grade he could muster was an “M,” equivalent to a “C.” More often he scored an “I,” which is equivalent to a “D.”
(Click on image to enlarge it.)
Beecher married Jewel Winifred Bailey (my grandmother), the daughter of Alvis Cowan and Mary Ann Cordelia (Harkey) Bailey. The Harkeys came to Dunklin County about 1851, from Wilkes County, GA via Mississippi. Like many young families during the Depression, Beecher and Winifred moved north to Flint, MI, where the men sought work in the factories.
In a letter to me dated Jan 1988, Beecher’s niece, Beverly Ann (Page) Budzynski, had this to say about Beecher:
“I’m sure your father [1] is bitter and has every right to be. Beecher was not a good father—but he was a very interesting and complex person.
“Many people disapproved of him but they liked him. Even as a child, I can remember his visits. He came in like Santa Claus—a big, good-looking man, big smiles and a big hug. I know my mother [2] loved him very much—but really didn’t know what to do or say. My dad [3] disapproved, I’m sure because he was such a family man, but I know he really liked Beecher. (Of course, it was through Beecher that he met my mother!)
“Beecher was a tool and die maker in the factory—well respected in his job. In those days, men heard the factories were hiring and they would gather outside the gates. Someone would come out and choose likely candidates. The story goes that Beecher got jobs for many men! He simply stood there, got chosen—and gave the other fellow’s name. The next day, the other fellow reported to work! He must have looked like a good worker!
“I have one surviving aunt on my dad’s side. She’s 75 and knew Beecher well—in fact, I’ve always wondered why they never got together as they would have made quite a couple!! She remembers Beecher with great fondness—describes him in modern teminology as a “hunk.” She said he was full of life and fun.
“I can remember many discussions about Beecher and why he did what he did! My mother thought Beecher was devastated by his first wife’s [4] death. He seemed to punish himself thereafter. He sought out low life bars and low life women. Then, he would return to some semblance of family life. But, he couldn’t seem to stay on the straight and narrow. Who knows what would have happened had Winifred lived.
“Also, Beecher was a product of the ‘Roaring Twenties’ and was always popular with the girls.
“My mother used to tell me how she learned to drive at seven. She had gone somewhere with Beecher and she wanted to return home. He wasn’t ready so let her drive the car home! She was allowed to keep on driving—in fact her father [5] never learned to drive well, and I think Allie May [6] didn’t drive at all.
“Mother drove them on family trips to Hot Springs, Ark, St. Louis, and when she was 13, drove them to Flint!!”
[Notes: 1. Ralph Vernon Chipman; 2. Pauline Aquilla (Chipman) Page Moffit; 3. Carl Davis Page; 4. Jewel Winifred Baiely; 5. James Edward Chipman; 6. Allie May (Oxley) Chipman.]
This letter dated 18 Mar 1989 from my father to his half-sister Dixie painted an unflattering portrait of Beecher:
“Upon receiving news of our father’s [1] death, while at work with the railroad in Cicero, Ill., my first reaction was a sense of lost opportunity for any improvement ever in my relationship with him.
“The uneasiness and threat was my fear that Dad would appear, (or “show up out of the blue,” as you well express it), get drunk and thrown in jail, or fight, causing me and my family embarassment among my work friends, and our social and neighbor acquaintances. From reports from Poppa [2] and Aunt Lawcie Mason [3] he had indeed done exactly that around Senath and Kennett. He had borrowed money from Lawcie and Orval Mason for jail bond. Poppa, of course, was always indulgent of Dad. However, Lawcie, Jewell [4], and Winnie [5] were not. As close as Dad ever came to causing this fear was his taking Jeff [6], then some three years old, and spending a couple of hours at one of the sleaziest bars in Burlington, Iowa. At the time, we thought he was just going to the nearby grocery to to buy cigarettes, but instead the two of them returned some 2–3 hours later with Dad definitely smelling of alcohol, and only then told us where they had gone. Of course that was the last time any of our children went anywhere with Dad.
“So my secondary feeling … was relief. He had lived his life as he had chosen, and now he was gone.
“My earliest recollection of Dad was his visit to James Edward and Allie Oxley Chipman’s 10-acre farm near Senath, Mo. when I was perhaps 4–6 years old. People sat on the little front screen porch visiting in the evening. Dad was laughing a lot, talking, and in a genial mood. I asked him if I could smoke his cigar butt, and he said sure and when I smoked it I was very ill and threw up. He thought it was funny, but Momma Chipman [7] was duly critical.
“Dad was involved in the historic auto labor union lockouts/riots in Flint sometime around 1934/1935. The men barricaded themselves in the auto shops, while some overturned cars outside, etc. The contention was to get the union recognized. Also, General Motors, before the union, generally announced each December a flat $100 Christmas bonus: that was a significant sum…. *
“Dad was … drinking quite a bit, and I recall he and Essie [8] arguing over it. I believe there were other women problems too, between them.
“He regularly practiced, with [his] pistol, behind our house [in Clio, MI], and could usually keep a tincan rolling with a fusillade of shots.
“In the end, the reason I left Flint was that Dad agreed I could quit school and get a job at Champion Spark Plug Factory. This proved to me he really did not care about me, because previously he had always said I should get good grades, and aspire to attend General Motors School of Technology. His work clothes and shoes were always saturated with oil and grease, so he told me, “you don’t want to work in the shops and always be dirty and grimy, which is why you should study and get an education.”
“I think Dad meant well sometimes. But he was addicted to alcohol. He never learned any self discipline. He did not seem to recognize that he was responsible for his actions, and omissions. Our family history reveals him based on the evidence, despite his charisma, or powers of verbal persuasion. And maybe Momma Chipman’s Pentecostal devotion penetrated his mind sometime, kicking his butt around the block, whether he liked it or not.”
[Notes: 1. Beecher Edgar Chipman; 2. James Edward Chipman; 3. Lawice Idella (Chipman) Mason; 4. Jewell Vester Chipman; 5. Winford William Chipman; 6. Me; 7. Allie May (Oxley) Chipman; 8. Essie Lee Hyatt, Beecher’s second wife.]
* The strike actually took place in 1936–1937. For a complete history, see:
Fine, Sidney. (1969). Sit-Down The General Motors Strike of 1936–1937. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.
“Flint grew like a mining camp, without design, without planning…. The incoming thousands overtaxed Flint’s limited housing supply, and some workers were compelled to live for a time in tar-paper shacks, tents, and even railroad cars. The same lodging rooms were rented to night-shift workers for the day and to day-shift workers for the night. GM felt constrained to enter the home construction business in 1919, and through the Modern Housing Corporation it had built thirty-two hundred homes for its Flint workers by 1933.
“[The] city ‘never provided’ enough personnel, funds, or services to meet its health problems. Among twenty-two cities of from 100,000 to 250,000 population in 1934 Flint ranked nineteenth in the infant death rate and the death of children from diarrhea and enteritis, seventeenth in maternal deaths, in a tie for thirteenth and fourteenth place in typhoid-fever death rate, thirteenth in the diptheria death rate, and tenth in the tuberculosis death rate.
“A large proportion of the workers who were lured to the city by automobile jobs and the high wages that GM paid were from rural backgrounds, and many of them reacted unfavorably to the industrial discipline imposed by the factory.
“Of Flint’s 128,617 native-born whites in 1930, 64.8 percent (83,290) had been born in Michigan and only about 30 percent in Flint itself…. The overwhelming proportion of Flint’s Southerners were drawn from the Central South, from Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee: about 10 percent (12,818) of Flint’s native-born white population derived from these four states, and sections of the city had come to be known as ‘Little Missouri.'”
[Fine (1969), pp. 102–103.]
______________________________________________
Which brings us to the mystery that began this column—the utlimate fate of Beecher Edgar Chipman, and the last two (as far as is known) women in his life.
Beecher had four proven children, two by Winifred and two by Essie, and three (probable) by Imogene, for a potential total of seven.
1. Beecher Edgar Chipman married 1st, Jewel Winifred Bailey (my grandmother), b. 5 Apr 1907 in Senath, Dunklin Co., MO, d. 1 Sep 1929 in Flint, Genesee Co., MI, bur. Cude Cemetery near Senath, daughter of Alvis Cowan and Mary Ann Cordelia (Harkey) Bailey. The Harkeys were a prominent family in Dunklin Co.
(Beecher Edgar Chipman and Jewel Winifred Bailey; probably taken about the time they were married.)
[Obituaries for Jewel Winifred (Bailey) Chipman and Donald LaVerne Chipman. The first and third obituaries are from the Dunklin Democrat, Kennett, MO. The second obituary is from the Flint, MI newspaper.]
[Jewel Winifred (Bailey) tombstone, Cude cemetery, near Senath in Dunklin Co., MO.]
Although the mining camp environment of Flint, MI in the 1920s and 1930s facilitated the spread of disease, my grandmother Jewel Winifred (Bailey) Chipman succumbed to a heart ailment. However, my uncle Donald died of bronchial pneumonia which was probably contracted due to the over-crowded living conditions.
[Alvis Cowan Bailey, father of Jewel Winifred Bailey, from a tin-type, mid to late 1880s. Alvis Cowan Bailey died on 25 Jul 1934. Of his family, we know that his parents were Meschach and Lucinda Bailey. Meschach Bailey was evidently the son of Carr Bailey of Hawkins Co., TN, who was a son of William “Flea Buck” Bailey. William “Flea Buck” Bailey made his will on 30 May 1828 (Hawkins Co. TN Will Book 1, p. 42) Beyond that, I have reservations as to published accounts of the family. A family story relates that William “Flea Buck” Bailey was the son of Samuel and Sarah (Bryan) Bailey. Sarah (Bryan) Bailey was allegedly the sister of Rebecca Bryan, wife of the famous pioneer Daniel Boone. This tale is unsubstantiated and probably false.]
Sketch of the Nesbit Community from History Of Dunklin County, Mo., 1845–1895, by Mary F. Smyth-Davis (1896).
[My grandparents, Jewel Winifred (Bailey) Chipman and Beecher Edgar Chipman.]
Jewel Winifred (Bailey) Chipman d. at Flint, MI on 1 Sep 1929.
Children of Beecher Edgar and Jewel Winifred (Bailey) Chipman:
(a) Donald LaVerne Chipman, b. 4 Jan 1927, d. 4 Mar 1929
(b) Ralph Vernon Chipman, b. 3 Nov 1928, in Senath, MO, d. 18 Sep 2016, in Plainfield, IL, only surviving child by Beecher Edgar Chipman’s first wife, Jewel Winifred Bailey; m. 20 Jun 1948 in Mt. Pleasant, IA, Valerie Bernice Jeffery Scarff
(Obituary for Ralph Vernon Chipman in “The Hawk Eye” of Burlington, IA for 21 Sep 2016; Section B p.6. Regan Stoops is the pastor of First Baptist Church of Mt. Pleasant, IA. Many obituaries are permanently available at NewsBank Inc. America’s Obituaries & Death Notices within a few days of publication.
My father didn’t graduate from Burlington High School. The newspaper notice of his marriage from “The Mt. Pleasant News” of Monday, 21 Jul 1948, p. 5 states he graduated from Bell Technical high school in St. Louis, MO. “Bell Technical high school” refers to Hadley Technical High School. Hadley, built in 1931, was located at 3405 Bell Avenue in St. Louis. It has since been superseded by a new technical high school. In a memoir my father states he attended Hadley from 22 Jan 1945 to 13 Apr 1945. He studied Railroad Telegraphy and Station Agent Accounting. He did not graduate from Hadley; these were vocational classes. He once took a GED test at Burlington High School and had taken GED correspondence courses offered by the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. In 1961 he successfully passed the GED tests at Downers Grove North High School and the GED was issued by Burlington High School, a formality because he began the process there. In his memoir he also mentions he took two courses at Northwestern University’s Chicago campus: Business English and Psychology, for a total of 6 hours. Click on image to enlarge.)
[Death Certificate for Ralph Vernon Chipman. Cause of death was Alzheimers Dementia, with contributing factors of Subdural Hematoma (severe head injury) and Hypertension. His mother’s name was actually Jewel Winifred Bailey, but as is often the custom in the South, she went by her middle name of Winifred. Click on image to enlarge.]
[Detail of 1930 Genesee Co., MI Federal Census, Flint City, ED 25-29, SD 10, Sheet 22B. In 1930 Beecher was a lodger in the home of Charles K. Williams on Glenwood Ave. Carl Davis Page, who later married Beecher’s sister Pauline Aquilla Chipman, was also a lodger in the home, as were Carl’s siblings Aileen Page and Luther Page. Jessie Williams (Mrs. C.K. Williams) was a witness at Carl Davis Page’s wedding to Pauline Aquilla Chipman.]
Beecher had placed his son Ralph V. Chipman with Beecher’s father James Edward Chipman:
(Detail of 1930 Dunklin Co., MO Federal Census, Salem Township, ED 35-27, SD 17, Sheet 6B.)
These entries from Polk’s Flint, MI City Directories chronicle Beecher’s marriages.
1929: Chipman Beecher E (Winifred J) auto wkr r1335 Smith
1930: Chipman Beecher E autowkr r611 Stone
1931: Chipman Beecher E (Essie L) auto wkr r417 E 7th
1932: Chipman Beecher E (Essie L) autowkr r309 1/2 E 14th
1934: Chipman Beecher (Dessie) autowkr h663 Hall
1936: Chipman Beecher A (Essi L) autowkr h1041 E Foss av
1937: Chipman Beecher A (Essie L) die str Chevrolet h1041 E Foss av
1938: Absent from directory
1939: Absent from directory
1941: Chipman Beecher E (Essie L) auto wkr Chevrolet h1073 E Austin
1942: Absent from directory
1945: Absent from directory
1946: Absent from directory
1947: Absent from directory
1949: Chipman Beecher E (Jean L) toolmkr Fisher h826 E Hamilton St
1950: Chipman Beecher E (Jean L) diemkr Fisher h826 E Hamilton av
1952: Chipman Essie L Mrs h627 Prospect
Chipman Imogene L Mrs h826 Hamilton av *
1954: Chipman Imogene (wid Beecher) h905 Mary **
1955: 905 Mary Chipman Imogene Mrs Chevalier Floyd E ***
1956: Chipman Essie Mrs h425 Bangs
[The above are records I viewed. * Record shows that by this time Beecher had left Imogene. ** Women who had been deserted sometimes gave their marital status as “Widow.” *** Floyd E Chevalier may have been a boarder.]
(Beecher Edgar Chipman, 1931, Flint, MI.)
2. Beecher Edgar Chipman married 2nd, on 18 Feb 1931 in Genesee Co., MI, Essie Lee Hyatt, b. 2 Feb 1908 in Nashville, Howard Co., AR, d. Jul 1998 in Fresno, CA, bur. Clovis Cemetery, Clovis, CA; daughter of Thomas Edward and Hattie Ann (Bigger) Hyatt. Beecher and Essie divorced in Genesee Co., MI on 31 May 1949 (State File No. 25 18514, Docket No. 47577).
(Detail of 1920 Dunklin Co., MO Federal Census, Independence Township, Kennett City, SD 12, ED 80, Sheet 15A, Thomas Edward Hyatt family. Essie is 4th from bottom. Beecher’s wives all had a Dunklin Co. connection.)
Children by Essie (information from obituaries supplemented with my research):
(a) Joyce Elaine Chipman, b. 22 Feb 1932; m. on 21 Mar 1953 in Genesee Co., MI, Troy L. Barnett, b. 9 Sep 1929 in Lawrence Co., AR, d. 30 Nov 2012 in Fresno, CA. According to Troy L. Barnett’s obituary published by Yost & Webb Funeral Home, Joyce and Troy’s children are: LeRoy T. Barnett and Teresa Lynn Barnett (m. Henry Saldivar). Grandson: Vincent Saldivar. I have nothing further on this family.
(b) Dixie Lee Chipman, b. 12 Oct 1940, d. 12 Nov 2013 in Greeneville, TN; m. Jack Alton Dodd, d. 19 Jun 2012. According to her obituary published 9 Jan 2014 in the Greeneville (TN) Sun, her relatives and descendants are: sons David Alton Dodd of Baja California, Mexico, and John Edward Dodd of Kingsport, TN; sister Joyce Barnett; half-brother Ralph Chipman; half-sister Sue Bartlett; grandchildren Rebekah Dodd-Crosby (dau. of David Alton Dodd by Irving), Joshua Alton Dodd (son of David Alton Dodd by Irving), Juan Huerta Dodd (son of David Alton Dodd by Guzman), Sharon Guzman Dodd (dau. of David Alton Dodd by Guzman), and Anna Margarita Dodd (dau. of David Alton Dodd by Guzman); and three great-grandchildren (not named). David Alton Dodd is a sportswriter and freelancer; m. twice: (1) 23 Mar 1985 in Clark Co., NV, Lynette Joan Irving; (2) Rocio Luna Guzman. I have nothing further on this family.
(Beecher Edgar Chipman and his second wife, Essie Lee Hyatt, 1933. Bottom row: Ralph Vernon Chipman, Joyce Elaine Chipman.)
(Joyce Elaine Chipman with arms around Dixie Lee Chipman. Flint, MI, 1946.)
3. Beecher Edgar Chipman married 3rd, on 24 Apr 1950 in Bowling Green, OH, Imogene Lulu (Oliver) Golden aka Lula Oliver, b. 26 Feb 1915 in Malden, Dunklin Co., MO, d. 15 Nov 1995 in Leesburg, Lake Co., FL.
Of her, the facts at hand are these: she was the dau. of John and Minnie (Kiethley) Oliver. In the 1920 Dunklin Co., MO Federal Census, Malden City, SD 12, ED 73, Sheet 17A, Line 47, Imogene Olliver age 5 is residing with her widowed mother Minnie Olliver age 20. By the 1930 Dunklin Co., MO Federal Census, Malden City, SD 17, ED 35-7, Sheet 14A, p. 102, Imogene Oliver age 15 (step-dau.) is residing with her mother, Minnie J. King, and Minnie’s new husband, Earl M. King.
According to the 1940 Genesee Co., MI Federal Census, SD 6, ED 85–70, Sheet 7B, Imogene Golden (divorced in 1936, no children) was employed as a waitress and performing housework in a private home, occupying the rear apartment of the residence which she shared with Minnie King, her mother, who was also divorced and working as a seamstress (see detail below). I interpret this entry to mean Imogene was working as a domestic in a private home.
(Click on image to enlarge. The 1940 Federal Census is the most recent census available to the public.)
In 1941 Imogene, calling herself “Lula Oliver,” was working as a maid as this Flint city directory page shows:
The 1942 Flint city directory lists Mrs. Minnie King residing at h1606 Bingham.
By age 21, Imogene had been married and divorced. In 1940, the United States was still reeling from the Great Depression with unemployment at 15%. Job opportunities for single women with little education were limited. As WWII ramped up, Imogene joined the massive influx of women into the factories.
Imogene had no siblings. Her affair with Beecher must have begun about 1943. The couple never divorced.
[Imogene Lulu (Oliver) (Golden) Chipman]
The obituary of Imogene L. Chipman, of Leesburg, FL, homemaker, in the Clermont-Orlando Sentinel, states she was b. in Malden, MO, and had moved to Leesburg from Orlando in 1993. Survived by: sons James, Michigan; David, Orlando; daughters Sue Golden, Dallas; Donna Platman, Leesburg; Glenda Caruthers, Orlando; 19 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.
Children of Imogene:
(a) * Glenda Elaine —, b. 19 Sep 1941 (named in mother’s obituary as Glenda Caruthers of Orlando, FL); m. Gary Daniel Carruthers (Orange Co., FL records show that on 18 Feb 1990 Glenda Elaine Carruthers was issued a citation for “Fishing, Hunting Or Trapping W/O License” at Ocoee. At that time she gave her birth date as shown. On 26 Feb 1990 agreed to the charge. Uniform Case Number: 481990IN000297000AWX.)
(b) Susan Dean Golden aka Susan Dean Bartlett (probable dau. of Beecher Edgar Chipman), of Eustis, FL, and Leesburg, FL, b. 22 Oct 1944 [As Susan Dean Golden of Eustis, FL, in Case No. 2002 MM 00 2359 State of Florida vs. Susan Dean Golden, pleaded “No Contest” on 3 Jul 2002 to a charge of Misdemeanor Battery-Domestic Violence (Battery-Touch Or Strike).]
(c) Donna Jane Golden aka Donna Jane Platman aka Donna Chipman Platman (probable dau. of Beecher Edgar Chipman), of Leesburg, FL, b. 7 Apr 1946; m. 24 Jan 1977 in Genesee Co., MI, Frederick Edward Platman, d. 24 Dec 2012 (Bride gave her maiden name as “Golden.” On 24 Nov 2008, Donna Jane Platman was booked into the Lake Co., FL jail on a charge of “Aggravated Battery Person Uses A Deadly Weapon,” a 2nd Degree Felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Booking # 0814076; Inmate # 93834. She posted $20,000 bond. Her birth date given was 7 Apr 1946. On 8 Apr 2009, Platman in Case No. 2008 CF 003768 pleaded “No Contest” to the charge and was sentenced to 4 Years Probation plus counseling. The Lake Co. , FL Sheriff website maintains booking data online for 10 years.)
(d) James Edward Chipman aka James Edward Chipman II (probable son of Beecher Edgar Chipman), b. 10 May 1948, d. 8 Aug 2013 (This individual is discussed in some detail later in the column.)
(e) * David Michael Chipman, of Orlando, FL, b. 12 Feb 1953; m. 28 Jun 1971 in Genesee Co., MI, Heilda Maxine Tatum [On 14 Oct 1991, David Chipman aka David Michael Chipman, in Orange Co., FL Case No. 1991-CF-004333-A-O, agreed in a plea bargain to a 1st Degree Misdemeanor charge “Improper Exhibition Of Weapon Or Firearm” and was sentenced to 1 Year Probation. On 28 Jun 1991, the court filed correspondence from Sue Golden to the judge. In this and other cases including theft, bad check, and drug charges, David Michael Chipman gave his birth date as 12 Feb 1953, which I presume to be correct. On 7 Mar 1997, in the 7th Judicial Circuit Court (Genesee Co., MI), Stephen J. Platman sued Heilda Chipman, and David Chipman of Orlando, FL. The subject of the lawsuit was “Complaint For Paternity And Injunctive Relief.” Case No. 97-054964-DP.]
* Not child of Beecher Edgar Chipman.
My motive in assembling the above account of Imogene’s children was to learn the truth about my grandfather Beecher Edgar Chipman’s third family. Most of this information came from online government databases operated by the courts in those jurisdictions or other available online sources.
I had two series of contacts with Susan Bartlett, daughter of Imogene, both of them initiated by her. The first time she supplied the names and birth dates of herself and her siblings, and the location of Beecher and Imogene’s marriage. Her information enabled me to obtain the marriage record.
In the second series, as you’ll read below, Susan accused me of lying about her family. I did what any prudent person would do: I determined to get the facts using the best sources available. I found that some of the birth dates Susan had previously supplied were inaccurate.
Beecher met Imogene while both were working in the Chevrolet plant in Flint, MI. Although Beecher married Imogene on 24 Apr 1950, four of her children were born prior to the marriage. Obviously he divorced his second wife in order to marry the third. Essie refused to give Beecher a divorce unless he picked up the expenses. Beecher married Imogene in Bowling Green, OH so people in Flint, MI wouldn’t know the couple had been “living in sin.” In that era cohabiting couples were a scandal.
Without a DNA test, I can’t be 100% certain of the paternity of Imogene’s children. Evidently Beecher didn’t sign the birth certificates of Sue Golden and Donna Jane Golden. Beecher deserted Imogene and took a job with a toy company in St. Louis. I found an old letter which gives the reason: “BE [Beecher] claimed child No. 5 [David] was not his, and evidently Imogene and BE separated about the time child No. 5 was born.”
(R.L. Polk & Co. Flint City Directory 1952 sub “Chipman.” Record shows Essie L. Chipman and Imogene L. Chipman without Beecher Edgar Chipman in their home.)
It’s Imogene’s first son, James Edward Chipman (just known as James), who interests me here. The details were sketchy, and came from Beverly Ann (Page) Budzynski: James “killed a policeman in Flint, was sent to prison & escaped. He was recaptured and is serving time in Marquette Prison.”
Using this information, I was able to locate a dossier (including photograph) on James. He had been incarcerated in the maximum security facility at Marquette Branch Prison in Marquette, Michigan.
Beverly’s letter wasn’t entirely accurate. Using newspaper accounts from The Flint Journal I pieced together the events:
James was in the Genesee County (Michigan) jail for the 10 May 1970 murder of a Flint teenager, with whom he’d been arguing about a woman. On 6 Apr 1971, Genesee Co. Deputy Sheriffs Ben Ray Walker and Harry G. Abbott took inmates James Chipman, Charles Macklin, and Jesse Bailey to a local dentist. When Walker took off James’s handcuffs to make him more comfortable, James attacked Walker. In the ensuing struggle, Macklin gained control of Walker’s handgun, fatally shot Walker and wounded Abbott. James and Macklin hid in a nearby home but were apprehended.
http://www.odmp.org/officer/13747-deputy-sheriff-ben-ray-walker
(Officer Down Memorial Page for Ben Ray Walker.)
Charles Macklin confessed to the murder of Walker. Macklin was later killed while attempting to escape from prison.
On 20 Jan 1972, James was convicted of manslaughter for the murder of 10 May 1970 and sentenced to 7-15 years. On 9 Aug 1971, James was sentenced to life in prison for the Walker murder, and drew 50–70 years for the attempted murder of Abbott, the same sentences given Macklin. (The trial took place in Pontiac on a change of venue.) Circuit Court judge Donald R. Freeman told James: “Even though you did not pull the trigger of the gun that killed Walker, you are equally guilty because you plotted with Macklin to escape.” Although James wasn’t technically guilty of Walker’s murder, he was an accomplice. But for James, Deputy Walker would have lived.
In Jan 1984, James and another convicted murderer escaped from Huron Valley Men’s Facility near Ypsilanti, MI. James eluded the manhunt for nearly seven weeks until he was recaptured in Phoenix, AZ.
James appealed his “concurrent life sentences for his jury conviction of first degree murder and assault with intent to commit murder” to the United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit. On 7 Dec 1987, the appeal, alleging unconstitutional instructions to the trial jury, was denied.
According to the Jackson Citizen Patriot, on 26 Jan 1990, James and four other prisoners escaped from the Southern Michigan Prison Central Complex in Jackson County, Michigan, overpowered two guards, took them hostage, and stole their van. After a brief high speed chase, the prisoners surrendered peacefully. The two guards sustained minor injuries. The kidnapping charge earned James an additional 25-50 years, but it hardly mattered.
The story came to an abrupt end on 8 Aug 2013 with the death of James Edward Chipman. He brought tragedy to the family of Ben Ray Walker, tragedy to his brother and sisters, and tragedy to my family as well. Having seen his photo, I think James probably was the son of Beecher Edgar Chipman.
SO SUE ME
The two Emails I’ve transcribed in full below are from Sue Bartlett, a daughter of Imogene Lulu (Oliver) Golden.
Complaint No. 1: Imogene was “left pregnant.” David Michael Chipman’s birth date of 12 Feb 1953 is established in a number of Orange Co., FL court records. If Imogene’s pregnancy followed the ordinary course, David was conceived ca. Jun 1952. The R.L. Polk & Co. Flint City Directory 1952 proves that by some point in 1952 Beecher had already left Imogene. By early 1954 Beecher was in a relationship with Jean Esther Southard.
The question is: when was the data in the 1952 city directory assembled? The Library Of Congress copyright was registered on 5 Nov 1952. How much time did it take to process the submission?
The 1952 directory itself states the data was acquired by actual canvass. Given the amount of time taken to canvass Flint, put the data in order, create the advertising, and publish the directory—which shows Imogene was on her own—was Beecher in the household when David was conceived? Would he even have known Imogene was pregnant? If Beecher’s absence was merely temporary—perhaps the result of a quarrel—it’s unlikely Imogene would have omitted him from the listing. Thus it seems likely the 1952 data was gathered in the Spring of that year and by that time Beecher had moved out.
Complaint No. 2: My report that in 1940 Imogene and her mother Minnie shared a rear apartment and Imogene worked as a waitress. Those facts are recorded in the 1940 Flint, MI Federal census, a screenshot of which is above. This was 4 years before Sue was born. At that time Imogene had no children. Sue’s comments are an insult to waitresses everywhere. Waitresses are mythic American icons, celebrated in film, TV, and detective novels. It would be 3 years before Imogene met Beecher when both were employed at Chevrolet. By 1950 Beecher and Imogene were living on E. Hamilton Ave. in Flint. In the 1954 Flint, MI city directory Imogene was listed as a widow living at 905 Mary St., but Beecher was very much alive. I don’t know what Imogene’s circumstances were at that time or after.
Complaint No. 3: My account of her brother James’ encounters with the law, which were extensive. That was taken from newspaper stories. I believe the court reached the correct verdict in the Ben Ray Walker murder. Sue implies the murder was linked to a problem James had with the police in California. I see no connection at all between a Genesee Co., MI sheriff’s deputy who was kind to James and whatever happened to James and his wife in California, of which I have no record.
Complaint No. 4: You would not want YOUR family skeletons and secrets scattered across the universe would you? Has she even read this blog?
I cannot be more emphatic: I do not share Susan Bartlett’s opinion of her brother James or endorse her version of his encounters with law enforcement.
YOU HAVE MUCH WRONG INFO ON YOUR PAGE
On Sat, Dec. 27, 2014 at 10:10 PM, Sue Bartlett wrote <gud2bsue@gmail.com> wrote:
You have much wrong info on your page. Imogene did not share a back apartment with her mother, but, rather, she rented a very large house, and sub-rented two apartments to two other families when she was left pregnant and supporting four other children. So she was very resourceful. We always lived in a decent home and she was very smart. Also, She did not work as a waitress, but opened her own restaurant with her mother helping her. I was eleven years old then, and remember everything quite well. She was a very intelligent and strong woman. Her only fault was loving the wrong man. But she always found a way to raise her five children in a large house. Not some back apartment. I do not like having her portrayed as a lesser person. She was a strong, clever and attractive woman, who made sure her children had a decent life. With the rent from the sublet apartments, she was able to support us, since she never received child support. I helped her in the restaurant that we owned. She was not a waitress, but a business owner.
Also, James was not arguing over a woman, as you have written, but had reported his wife had been raped by a biker gang when he was in California, and when the police refused to take action, he sought revenge. He was arrested and brutally beaten and to[rt]ured by Flint police after he tried to escape with Macklin. He was the most wonderful, kind, strong, handsome, intelligent and amazing man I have ever known, and few men could ever have endured what he endured. He suffered four years with stage four bone cancer, much longer than the average person lives after being diagnosed. He was also a writer.
Please get these facts straight. There is too much hurt from scandalous errors. My heart is heavy with pain from the death of my brother, James. I do hope my brother, Ralph, is doing well.
On Sun, Dec 28, 2014 at 1:01 AM, J C <binky9@gmail.com> wrote:
The information was mainly taken from newspaper accounts and the Federal census. I would prefer that you not contact me again.
Sue Bartlett <gud2besue@gmailcom> Sun, Dec 28, 2014 at 4:00 PM
To: J C <binky9@gmail.com>
I prefer that you write an accurate account and not show my family in an unfavorable light. I am writing and publishing a book, which will be out at the end of 2015, or the beginning of 2016. Perhaps you can read the truth for yourself. The Dew Drop Inn was the name of the restaurant, in case you want to research that too. I have resisted the urge to write you to correct the accounting of my brother, a man whose shoe’s no one could fill, but when you depicted my mother as living in a back apartment and working as a waitress, that was the last lie I could contend with. My mother was a business woman, and persevered under very hard conditions. But she always provided us with a nice house to live in, and never had to work as a waitress. I will not contact you again, but surely you would not want YOUR family skeletons and secrets scattered across the universe would you? And especially if they were not true. If you want a question answered, ask me.
Aunt Sue
But who was Jean Chipman, with whom my grandfather is buried? The facts are these:
According to her death certificate, she was Jean Esther Southard, born 16 Feb 1913 in Morehouse, MO, the daughter of Robert E. and Lillie (England) Southard. Her family was located in the 1930 Mississippi Co., AR Federal census, as follows:
Lila Southard 34 b. MO (head) widow; Esther 17 b. MO (dau.); Lester 13 b. MO (son); Lucy 10 b. MO (dau.); Edna 9 b. MO (dau.); Eva 7 b. AR (dau.).
Lillie (England) Southard is listed as an orphan born March 1896, living in the home of Samuel Evans in the 1900 New Madrid Co. Federal census. Lila Southard is probably the Lula Southard who died on 16 May 1931 in Mississippi Co., AR. Jean’s brother Robert Lester Southard was born 9 Oct 1916 in MO, and died 26 Mar 1989 in San Diego, CA. His death record lists his mother’s maiden name as “England.”
New Madrid Co., MO marriage records show that R.E. Southard married Lillie England on 10 Mar 1912. Robert Ephron Southard was born on 3 Feb 1892 in Fredonia (Caldwell Co.), KY, the son of Brice and Jennie Southard. Although Lillie (England) Southard gave her marital status as “widow” in the 1930 Mississippi Co., AR census noted above, Robert Ephron Southard actually died on 11 May 1969 and is buried at Mansfield Cemetery in Richland Co., OH.
The death certificate of Jean Esther Southard “Chipman” checks out. I have no birth certificate confirmation for Jean’s birth date as 16 Feb 1913, but it tracks with the 1930 census entry. The informant on her death certificate, Giniver Shockley, was correct in all other details, so I think she may be trusted here.
Jean had an insurance policy worth $800.00 with Bankers Life and Casualty Company of Chicago. The policy was issued in 1954, and Beecher was the beneficary. I wrote Bankers Life and Casualty asking for a copy of Jean’s application, but received no reply. However, it’s known that Jean lied about her birth date on the application. Evidently the insurance company spotted the discrepancy when they examined Jean’s death certificate, and reduced the payout on her policy from $800.00 to $550.00.
Probate papers were filed with the St. Francois County, Missouri Probate Division, appointing Berl J. Miller, then St. Francois County Coroner, as administrator of Jean’s estate. But because Miller had ruled that Jean and Beecher died simultaneously, the money was paid into Jean’s estate as if she had survived Beecher.
According to the estate papers, Jean had two sons: Carl Wayne Crader of Fresno, California and J.C. Crader, address unknown. Miller determined that Jean had no relatives in Missouri.
Mr. and Mrs. Carl W. Crader are listed among the relatives attending Beecher’s funeral. Carl Wayne Crader was born 28 Aug 1932. That places Jean’s marriage to Carl’s father as ca. 1931. The location of the marriage is presently unknown, but could have been in Mississippi Co., AR.
So who got the money from Jean’s estate? Berl J. Miller—who was also the proprietor of Miller Funeral Home (now Taylor Funeral Service) of Farmington, Missouri. Jean’s sons received nothing. Before you cry “foul,” after burying Jean and performing the duties of an administrator, which included newspaper notices to locate heirs, Miller actually wound up with a deficit. In reviewing the estate papers, it would appear no one contributed anything to help defray his expenses—although Ralph Vernon Chipman contributed to Beecher’s bill, as implied in the letter below.
There is no record of Jean’s marriage to Beecher. My father and Beverly Ann (Page) Budzynski ( Beecher’s niece) agree that Beecher and Jean had never married. Beecher hadn’t divorced Imogene, so Jean’s use of the “Chipman” surname was as an alias. Missouri abolished common law marriage in 1921, but the few states that accept it require the parties to be free to marry. Beecher and Jean were cohabiting in rural Missouri in the 1950s, and found it prudent to say they were married.
The insurance policy, effective 22 Feb 1954, comprised Jean’s entire estate. Is that date significant? Was David Chipman, Beecher’s last (probable) child by Imogene, born the day before, on 21 Feb 1954 (the birth date supplied by Susan Bartlett), or more than a year before, on 12 Feb 1953, the birth date given in an Orange Co., FL criminal case? The birth date of 12 Feb 1953 was given to the court in a number of cases including drug and bad check charges, and therefore must be correct. Thus it appears that Imogene was not left alone and pregnant. By early 1954 it is certain that Beecher was in a relationship with Jean Esther Southard.
Beecher had no children by Jean, who was in her forties when she met him. My father signed Beecher’s Social Security death benefit over to Imogene at the urging of Beecher’s sister Pauline Aquilla (Chipman) Page Moffit (who was Page then).
Beecher and Jean are buried at Doe Run Memorial Cemetery in St. Francois Co., Missouri. They are buried together and will remain together. The cemetery is sometimes informally referred to as “Rosella McCloud” because of the memorial arch which bears her name. The cemetery is an association.
For now, the legend on Beecher and Jean’s shared tombstone giving her surname as “Chipman” will remain. Here’s how their tombstone should read:
Beecher Edgar Chipman
Son of James and Allie Chipman
Born May 15, 1908 Died April 23, 1959
Jean Esther Southard alias Chipman
Daughter of Robert and Lillie Southard
Born February 16, 1913 Died April 23, 1959
The birthdate on Beecher’s death certificate of June 16, 1909 is wrong—his father, James Edward Chipman, filed a delayed birth certificate in 1939 so Beecher could register for Social Security. Beecher was born before birth certificates were mandatory in Missouri.
Beecher and Jean had gone fishing that calamitous day of 23 Apr 1959. What really happened? I located the couple’s obituary, and discovered there had been an eyewitness:
Berl J. Miller, St. Francois County Coroner, ruled the deaths “Accidental Drowning,” and no inquest was held. Note that Beecher’s wife is listed as “Esther E. Chipman.”
Beecher’s funeral was on 27 Apr 1959 at Miller Funeral Home in Farmington, Missouri. It was attended by many family members and friends.
But that’s not quite the end of the story. This is:
After a life of self-indulgence, Beecher Edgar Chipman had become a modest farmer. He left behind a car with a blown clutch, a few chickens, and some ethereal hogs. And scars along the way. You don’t just walk away from someone like Beecher.
(Beecher Edgar Chipman, ca. 1950s, sporting a W.C. Fields look.)
One uncorroborated tale about Beecher I feel compelled to record. It’s known he carried a gun. He told his son Ralph the gun was for protection from “tough” neighbors. Another version claims Beecher was involved in the numbers racket in Flint—low-level, quick money. He left Flint and moved to St. Louis, then left St. Louis for a farm near Doe Run, an unincorporated community in rural St. Francois Co., MO—allegedly due to “heart trouble.” But was Beecher in some other kind of trouble? Was the farm a hideout? (My mother has recently confirmed what I have long suspected. Beecher learned of the Arnoldi place through Jean’s family. It was a hideout.)
Following my grandfather’s trail of bread crumbs to Hell reveals a journey of selfishness and dissipation. Beecher could not have been more different from his four siblings, who were all (as people said in those days) “upright.” Every family has a Beecher. He could be superficially charming, as such men often are. In the end, alcoholism turned him into a cartoon. He made one more grand gesture, but the Earth was having none of it. His children depended upon him for the basics of life and emotional support, but he was emotionally abusive, a bully who struck his victims with words.
___________________________________________
Material in brackets mine. The inspiration for this column was the TV series “Who Do You Think You Are?” But there’s nothing heart-warming about the story of Beecher Edgar Chipman.
In many family histories written between the 1880s and 1930s, their “Beechers” are concealed in a hiding place of a few words. Complete wastrels, if they have the “right” ancestry, assume an importance they never had in life. Beecher Edgar Chipman was a descendant of Mayflower passengers and Anglo-Saxon monarchs, yet he couldn’t have been less idealistic, and he was no prince among men. He was of one of the oldest families in America, but had he known the details of his ancestry, I doubt he would have cared.
The task of the genealogist is to interpret the available records and draw reasonable conclusions from them while keeping errors to a minimum. Having written this column, I feel as though I have finally buried Beecher. And the woman, though not his wife, who lies buried with him. There are no additional scandals known to me or my informants. People have survived horrors far greater than this dismal tableaux.
The best way to exorcise a ghost is to bring him into the light, and let him evaporate like dew on the mourning grass.
RIP.
Revised April 6, 2017
Revised Nov. 29, 2016
According to a “New York Times” article of 4 Dec 2008 by Nicholas Wade, DNA studies by Mark Jobling of the University of Leicester in England and Francesc Calafell of Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain have found that of the population of the Iberian Peninsula (which includes the countries of Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and the British dependency of Gibraltar), about 20% have Jewish ancestry and 11% have Moorish ancestry. Says Wade: “Spain and Portugal have a history of fervent Catholicism, but almost a third of the population have a non-Christian genetic heritage.”
This is the story of one such line, and its survival into the modern era.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Archaeologia Cambrensis The Journal Of The Cambrian Archaeological Association Fourth Series Vol. X No. 37 January 1879. London: J. Parker, 377, Strand, London.
A very useful resource for Welsh history and genealogy. pp. 71-72 mentions Lampeter in Cardiganshire in connection with a detailed account of the Griffith family of Wichenor in Staffordshire. Issues from 1846–1899 plus index may be read online at:
http://europeana-journals.llgc.org.uk/browse/listissues/llgc-id:2919943
*
Boulger, Demetrius, ed. (1888). The Asiatic Quarterly Review Volume VI July–October 1888 July 1888. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 26 Paternoster Square.
Demetrius Charles Boulger (1853–1928) was a prolific British historian and a member of the Royal Asiatic Society. Available as free download from HathiTrust Digital Library. Search under “Demetrius Boulger.” Subject “Asia.” Death of Sir Henry Skipwith II: see pp. 391–393.
*
Bridgeman, M.A., Rev. The Hon. George T.O. (1876). History Of The Princes Of South Wales. Millgate, Wigan.: Thomas Birch
Available as free download from Google Books. George Thomas Orlando Bridgeman (1823–1895), educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, was the 2nd son of the 2nd Earl of Bradford. He was a member of a family long associated with the Church of England, and became a prominent cleric in his own right.
*
Burlington Fine Arts Club. (1916). Catalogue Of A Collection Of Objects Of British Heraldic Art To The End Of The Tudor Period. London: Chiswick Press Charles Whittingham And Co.
The Burlington Fine Arts Club of London (1866–1952) was a gentleman’s club of amateur art enthusiasts which held exhibitions in its clubhouse. See pp. 3–5 for Blount heraldry incorporating Ayala.
*
Croke, Sir Alexander; of Studley Priory, Oxfordshire. (1823). The Genealogical History Of The Croke Family Originally Named Le Blount Vol. II. Oxford: W. Baxter for John Murray, Albemarle Street, London; and Joseph Parker, Oxford.
Available as free download from Internet Archive. Sir Alexander Croke graduated Doctor of Civil Law from Oriel College, Oxford. Chapter III of Vol. II contains extensive material on the family of Sancha de Ayala. It would be pointless to address the errors, chief among them the purported de Ayala descent from Urraca, daughter of “Alonso,” king of Leon. Ironically, the Croke family didn’t descend from the Blounts.
*
Farmerie, Todd A.; Taylor, Nathaniel L. (1998). NOTES ON THE ANCESTRY OF SANCHA DE AYALA. Prepublication MS of article subsequently published (with minor emendations) in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register 103 (1998), 36–48.
Todd Alan Farmerie is co-owner of Internet message board “soc.genealogy.medieval.” Farmerie claims descent from Robert Abell, a descendant of Sancha de Ayala. Taylor, of Barrington, Rhode Island, holds a PhD in Medieval History from Harvard, and is a professional genealogist and Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists. Article is available on the Internet under the above title. Some references cited are in Spanish. The article refutes three claims of royal ancestry and two claims of descent from Muslim princesses. The article doesn’t present Sancha de Ayala’s actual ancestry, leaving the reader with the impression there’s little of interest in her pedigree. Farmerie and Taylor claim “Sancha is also an ancestress of Queen Elizabeth II,” without giving the descent; and acknowledge George Washington’s family as among Sancha’s descendants. Unfortunately, genealogy being the rather dry subject it often is, linking Medieval lines to more recent historical figures has become a shameless method of promoting the author’s work. Article can be viewed at:
http://nltaylor.net/pdfs/a_SanchaNotes.pdf
*
Fletcher, Richard. (2006). Moorish Spain. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Richard Fletcher was Professor of Medieval History at University of York, UK.
*
Fletcher, Richard. (1990). The Quest for El Cid. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Same author bio as above.
*
G.E.C. (1900). Complete Baronetage Volume I 1611–1625. Exeter: William Pollard & Co., Ltd. 39 & 40 North Street.
Available as free download from Internet Archive. Series consists of 5 volumes with a 6th volume as an index. George Edward Cokayne was Clarenceux King of Arms Herald at the College of Arms, London.
*
Goodman, Anthony. (1992). John of Gaunt The Exercise of Princely Power in Fourteenth-Century Europe. Burnt Mill, Harlow, Essex: Longman Group UK Limited.
Anthony Goodman is English Professor Emeritus of Medieval and Renaissance Studies at the University of Edinburgh.
*
Henze, Paul B. (2000). Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia. New York: Palgrave.
Paul B. Henze was a former CIA and National Security Council specialist. After leaving government service he became a consultant for the RAND Corp. Henze devotes little of his text to slavery, but notes it had ancient origins in Ethiopia, which he identifies as probably part of the Land of Punt.
*
Hitchcock, Richard. (2008). Mozarabs in Medieval and Early Modern Spain Identities and Influences. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company.
Richard Hitchcock is Professor Emeritus at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, UK.
*
Howard, L.L.D., F.S.A., Joseph Jackson; ed. (1868). Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica Vol. I. London: Hamilton, Adams, And Co.
Available as free download from Google Books. Joseph Jackson Howard (1827–1902), British attorney, started the periodical Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica in 1866 and was a founder of the Harleian Society. An extremely valuable resource for British genealogy.
*
Keay, John. (1991). The Honourable Company A History of the English East India Company. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
John Keay is a British author specializing in Asia, exploration, and Scotland.
*
Marotti, Arthur F. (1995). Manuscript, Print, and the English Renaissance Lyric. Ithaca, NY and London: Cornell University Press.
Arthur F. Marotti is professor of English at Wayne State University, Detroit, MI. pp. 41 & 196–199 discuss the poetry of William, Henry, and Thomas Skipwith.
*
Netanyahu, B. (2001). The Origins Of The Inquisition in Fifteenth Century Spain Second Edition. New York: The New York Review of Books.
Benzion Netanyahu (1910–2012) was Professor Emeritus of History at Cornell University and the father of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This massive volume is considered authoritative on Jews and the Inquisition. Of interest is a discussion of the position of Jews under the Visigoths. The background on the massacre of Jews in Toledo in 1109 following the death of Alfonso VI and the attendant conversions is especially germane to the Sancha de Ayala case study.
*
Pryce, Huw, ed.; Insley, Charles, asst. ed. (2005). The Acts Of Welsh Rulers 1120–1283 Published on behalf of the History and Law Committee of the University of Wales Board of Celtic Studies. Cardiff: University Of Wales Press.
Huw Pryce was educated at Jesus College, Oxford, and is Professor of Welsh History at Bangor University. Charles Insley is Senior Lecturer in Medieval History at The University of Manchester. This volume is essential for genealogists working with Welsh royal lines. pp. 165–166 document use of the name “Lampeter” in the reign of King Henry I of England.
*
Reinhardt, Nicole. (2016). Voices of Conscience Royal Confessors and Political Counsel in Seventeenth-Century Spain and France. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Nicole Reinhardt is Director of Postgraduate Studies and Senior Lecturer Early Modern European History in the Department of History at Durham University, UK. pp. 12-13 discusses the mid-thirteenth-century Castilian law-code Siete Partidas (a seven-part legal code) which addresses the position of the royal chaplain, stressing the importance of employing a particularly sophisticated, learned, and loyal clergyman, possibly the most prestigious court prelate. Among the chaplain’s functions was to confess the king. There was an implication that politics were part of the confession.
*
Richardson, Douglas; Everingham, Kimball G., ed. (2013). Royal Ancestry A Study In Colonial And Medieval Families Volume V. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Author.
Douglas Richardson was educated at University of California (Santa Barbara) and University of Wisconsin (Madison). Richardson is a professional genealogist and author based in Salt Lake City. His “Royal Ancestry Series”, though not without error, comprise the best books of their type. Volume V pp. 321–323 contains extensive notes on George Washington’s ancestors, including the descent from Constance Blount and the Lawrence Washington/Margaret Butler marriage.
*
Roberts, Gary Boyd. (2012 reprint). Ancestors of American Presidents 2009 Edition compiled by Gary Boyd Roberts with charts prepared in part by Christopher Challendar Child from originals by Julie Helen Otto. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society.
Gary Boyd Roberts is Senior Research Scholar Emeritus at the New England Historic Genealogical Society. pp. 659-664 show descents from Sancha de Ayala for these Presidents of the United States: William Henry Harrison, Benjamin Harrison, George Herbert Walker Bush, George Walker Bush, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, George Washington (two lines), Grover Cleveland, Herbert Clark Hoover, and Gerald Rudolph Ford. I’m not fond of omnibus volumes like this one. Anything here should be independently verified.
*
Roth, Norman. (2002). Conversos, Inquisition, and the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain With a new afterword. Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press.
Norman Roth is Professor Emeritus of Hebrew and Semitic Studies at University of Wisconsin–Madison.
*
The Publications Of The Surtees Society Established In The Year M.DCCC.XXXIV Vol. XLV. For The Year M.DCCC.LXIV. (1865). Testamenta Eboracensia. A Selection Of Wills From The Registry At York. Vol. III. Durham: Andrews And Co.; etc.
The Surtees Society, founded in 1834, is dedicated to publishing manuscripts illustrative of the ancient kingdom of Northumbria. For the will of Sir Walter Griffith see pp. 269–270.
*
Wrottesley, Major-General The Hon. G. (1905). Pedigrees From The Plea Rolls, Collected From The Pleadings In The Various Courts Of Law A.D. 1200 To 1500, From The Original Rolls In The Public Record Office. Pub: The Author.
Available as free download from Internet Archive and as reprint from Nabu. George Wrottesley (1827–1909), 3rd son of John Wrottesley, 2nd Baron Wrottesley, was a prominent English army officer and an avid genealogist specializing in Staffordshire. He was a founder of The William Salt Archaeological Society which was devoted to the history of Staffordshire. In 1936 the Society became the Staffordshire Record Society.
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LINE
1. Sancha de Ayala m. Sir Walter Blount 2. Anne Blount m. Thomas Griffith 3. Sir John Griffith m. Katherine Tyrwhit 4. Rhys (Richard) Griffith m. Margaret — 5. Joan (Jane) Griffith m. (his 1st) Sir Lionel Dymoke 6. Alice Dymoke m. (his 2nd) Sir William Skipwith 7. Henry Skipwith m. Jane Hall 8. Sir William Skipwith m. (1st) Margaret Cave 9. Sir Henry Skipwith, Bart. m. (1st) Amy (“Tresham”) Kempe 10. Diana Skipwith m. (his 2nd) Edward Dale 11. Elizabeth Dale m. (his 1st) William Rogers 12. Hannah (Rogers) Mitchell m. (2nd) Edward Blackmore 13. Joseph Blakemore m. Anne Sanders 14. Hannah Blakemore m. (1st) William Duncan 15. Joseph Duncan m. Elizabeth Peters 16. Minerva Jane Duncan m. Peyton Milton Wilcox 17. Nancy Theodocia Wilcox m. (2nd) Thomas Calvin McMillen 18. Nora Ann McMillen m. (1st) Eric Lyman Vaughan 19. Hillary Lillian Vaughan m. Jesse Otto Jeffery Scarff 20. Valerie Berniece Jeffery Scarff m. Ralph Vernon Chipman.
SKIPWITH EXCURSUS.
(G.E.C., pp. 214-215.)
Above: This pedigree from The Visitation of Herefordshire 1569 purports to show the descent of William Cecil Lord Burleigh, Queen Elizabeth I’s most trusted advisor, and brother to Margaret Cecil, from Turberville, Lord of Coytiffe and Kyrikvoell. The Tudor era saw the rise of families of Welsh descent. The accuracy of the earlier portions of the pedigree is questionable; having been raised to the dignity of a baron Cecil felt an ancient tree must grow within it.
The children of Sir Henry Skipwith, Bart., and wife Amy Kempe were, in order of birth: William (died before father); Henry, 2nd Bart.; Elizabeth; Thomas (evidently died before his brother Henry); Diana; Grey, 3rd Bart.; Anne.
Blandina Acton, 2nd wife of Sir Henry Skipwith, was the daughter of John Penvin of Badgworth, Somerset, and widow of John Acton, a prominent London goldsmith.
A Gentleman of the Privy Chamber attended to the king in the king’s private apartment within a royal residence. This office, dating to the reign of King Henry VII, was a plum as it gave the holder considerable influence with the king. This explains why Sir Henry Skipwith entertained King Charles I at Cotes, as the two were friends of some standing. However, when King Charles II ascended the throne, the Skipwith family was unable to recover any property sold to pay the fine imposed by Parliament during the interregnum. Most such transactions were left intact by the new king who didn’t wish to unnecessarily antagonize his former enemies. He contented himself with hunting down and executing those who played the most prominent roles in the beheading of his father. The Skipwith family’s loyalty to the elder Charles counted for little with the son—hardly a singular tale—proving politics can be as murderous as the block.
So Grey Skipwith and his sister Diana, lacking any prospects in post-Restoration Britain, remained in the wilderness of Virginia—which had become their home in the mid-17th century. The following, abstracted by Fleet from Lancaster Co., VA Record Book No. 2, 1654–1666, p. 345, testifies to that relationship. Though Diana Skipwith belonged to a prominent family, she wasn’t a prominent member of that family, but settling in early VA as a single woman showed no lack of courage.
Sir Henry Skipwith was a poet of some reputation who composed “An Elegie on the Death of my never enough Lamented Master King Charles the first”: “Weepe, weepe even mankinde weepe, soe much is dead,” etc. He should have wept over his lack of business acumen—after years of contracting debt, the Parliamentary fine was sufficient to push him into insolvency.
In remembrance of ancestors who were poets, I’m inspired to contribute these verses, entitled The State of the Cavalier:
The king has lost his head
And is consequently dead.
Happy cavaliers
Just pickin’ and grinnin’.
Virginny ain’t such a bad place to be
But you might get scalped when you go out to pee.
Happy cavaliers
Just pickin’ and grinnin’.
We’ll all wind up in an unmarked grave.
There’s nothing left to save.
Happy cavaliers
Just pickin’ and grinnin’.
This next item, from the records of the East India Company, illustrates the large sums Sir Henry Skipwith risked, using land as collateral. The Parliamentary fine of 1,114 pounds, stiff though it was, should not of its own bankrupted him.
Richardson reports Sir Henry Skipwith was buried on 7 Nov 1655 at Stapleford in Leicestershire (during the 2nd year of The Protectorate), the actual source being a parish register; presumably he means the old church of St. Mary Magdalen, which was rebuilt in 1783 and now only used for civic functions. It’s said most of the family memorials were moved to the new church, but I have found no reference to Sir Henry Skipwith, so perhaps his was not.
(Flag of East India Company. Founded under royal charter, the Company was also favored by Oliver Cromwell. Lost ships were part of the cost of doing business. The Company sought to discourage private trading, claiming its charter gave it exclusive right to trade between India and Great Britain.)
G.E.C.’s statement that Sir Henry Skipwith “d. about 1658” is due to confusing Sir Henry Skipwith, the 1st Baronet, with his son, the 2nd Baronet. The 2nd Baronet died unmarried in India ca. 1657, where he had traveled to repair the family fortune, but met a tragic end. See “The Asiatic Quarterly Review” of Jul–Oct 1888, pp 391–393 (article by the orientalist Colonel Sir Henry Yule):
Sir Henry Skipwith II had friends at the East India Company. The next letter dated 27 Feb 1657/8 from the same issue of “The Asiatic Quarterly Review” proves he was indigent. He was deceased by the time the letter arrived. In the days of sailing ships the voyage from England to India via the Cape of Good Hope could take 6 months, not including overland travel. The cycle of writing a letter and receiving a reply might take 18 months.
The last record concerning Sir Henry Skipwith II is from a “soc.genealogy.medieval” thread containing remarks made by MichaelAnne Guido, which I’ll cite verbatim.
I cannot locate “The Wynter Family.” However, Masulipatim where Sir Henry Skipwith II died is in the lower 3rd of India on its east coast. It was a major trading hub. Sir Henry Skipwith II had ventured deep into Asia. Across the Bay of Bengal lay Burma and Thailand.
The Act of Administration record gives Sir Henry Skipwith II’s death as 1656. The “Cholmondely” letter places the death in the summer of 1657. In any event, due to the lag in communications with India, his estate wasn’t entered until much later.
At his death Henry was living with Edward Winter (b. ca. 1622, d. 2 Mar 1686). Winter’s ship “The Tiger” was evidently named for a semi-mythical contest between Winter and a tiger, in which he drowned the beast. In 1657, “The Tiger” was leaving Masulipatim for a trading voyage to Burma when she capsized, with a loss of all of her passengers and freight. The “Masulipatim Roads” means “shipping lanes.” The loss was valued at 20,000 pounds, a very large sum for the day. This gives an idea of the scale of investment in the India trade. It was a high-stakes game and Henry was in over his head. The name of the ship and the exact date it was lost doesn’t alter the fact that Henry couldn’t absorb the loss and died a pauper. The entry of his estate in England was a formality. There was nothing to distribute to anyone, regardless of where his relatives might be found. Had Henry merely wanted to escape Cromwell, Virginia was much closer than India, but Virginia was a step down in class for Henry and his friends. Henry wasn’t a 2nd or 3rd son.
What became of the remains of Sir Henry Skipwith II? It’s very unlikely the body was shipped back to England. The East India Company had religious facilities and cemeteries for Europeans. His remains could have been deposited in the Winter property or at Fort St. George at Madras. Regardless, the cemetery probably no longer exists, being a reminder of British colonialism.
There were 3 Skipwith baronetcies, that of Metheringham, extinct 4 Jun 1756, Newbold Hall, extinct 28 Jan 1790, and Prestwould, which has survived. Sir Thomas George Skipwith (ca. 1735–1790), 4th Baronet of Newbold Hall, having no children, left his estates to Sir Grey Skipwith, 8th Baronet of Prestwould. The present Baronet of Prestwould, 12th in succession, is Sir Patrick Alexander d’Estoteville Skipwith, a lineal descendant of Diana Skipwith’s brother Grey.
(For descendants see column “Family Of Hillary Lillian Vaughan.”)
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TO THE STORY PROPER: HAVING SEEN THE END WE INQUIRE AS TO THE BEGINNING.
Sancha de Ayala (ca. 1360–1418) m. Sir Walter4 Blount (John3, Walter2, William1), and is one of my ancestors through the Griffith family. She came to England in the household of Constance of Castile, 2nd wife of John of Gaunt. Sir Walter Blount was a close associate of Gaunt, and it was through Gaunt that he met Sancha. In 1381 Sir Walter Blount purchased the manor of Barton in Derbyshire, part of which was settled on Sancha as her dower lands.
Gaunt “had a soft spot for Sancha Garcia [de Ayala], who married his knight Walter Blount, and to whom he gave a New Year’s present in 1380.” Goodman (1992), pp. 135-136.
Sancha was a member of a highly evolved and sophisticated culture in Toledo, Spain. The area became part of the kingdom of Castile on 25 May 1085 when Alfonso VI, king of Castile and Leon, ejected the Moors. The Moors had ruled Toledo since the early 8th century.
The following charts are from an article published in 2000 (in Spanish) by Balbina M. Caviro (Balbina Caviro Martinez) of the Complutense University of Madrid illustrating some maternal and paternal ancestry of Sancha de Ayala. These form a general outline of her ancestry and don’t show all of her family connections. [See Todd A. Farmarie and Nathaniel L. Taylor (1998) for information on other families.] Sancha appears in the first chart as wife of “Guater Blont.” Even without knowledge of Spanish one can comprehend the relationships. In medieval Spain people might use the surname of either parent. In Sancha’s case, she used the surname of her mother’s family because it was more prominent than her father’s. “Arbol” is Spanish for “tree,” so the charts are “Genealogical tree of,” etc. Click on images to read them.
In the next chart, “Melendo aben Lampadero Abdelaziz b. Lampader” was Mozarab, which will be discussed at length below. The chart indicates Melendo’s grandson Pedro Suarez as “primero en usar el escudo del castillo,” which I loosely translate as “first to wear the coat of arms or shield of Castille,” indicating he was the first of his family to be armigerous. It marks the acceptance of the family by the Castilian authorities, and the point at which we can consider them assimilated. We are not given the name of the wife of Pedro Suarez, but his son Gomez Perez [I] de Toledo married Orabuena Gutierez, daughter of Gutierez Armildez. Among the children of this couple was Archbishop Gutierre Gomez.
How did Sancha come to the attention of Constance, a daughter of Pedro I “The Cruel”, king of Castile? The short version is Sancha’s sister Teresa was a mistress of Pedro I, and allegedly had a daughter by him, listed as “Maria de Ayala o Castilla” (Maria de Ayala of Castile) in the chart of Ines de Ayala.
Sancha left Castile, where her family had resided for many centuries, because her parents Diego and Inez, though they had powerful connections, were not wealthy or prominent enough to secure an advantageous marriage for her—or her sister Teresa, who drifted into an illicit affair with Pedro I. In that era it was the custom with high born women like Constance of Castile to take into their household women of good family to wait in attendance upon them (hence the term “lady in waiting”). We romanticize figures like Sancha de Ayala, and in her case it’s justified. She was an ordinary woman possessed of a fascinating gene pool who found herself at the crossroads of history.
(Constance of Castile, 2nd wife of John of Gaunt and a daughter of Pedro I “The Cruel,” king of Castile and Leon. John of Gaunt claimed the throne of Castile and Leon in right of Constance his wife, but was denied it. Constance was the daughter of Pedro I by Maria de Padilla, whom Pedro I had secretly married, but was forced to repudiate and retain as his mistress. Constance’s murky origin hampered Gaunt’s campaign.)
Pedro I’s chaotic personal life, and his failure to produce an acceptable heir, eventually led to his murder on 14 Mar 1369 at the hands of his illegitimate half-brother Henry of Trastamara. Henry exploited animosity toward the Jews to secure powerful allies against Pedro I. Henry said Pedro I was too pro-Jewish.
The struggle between Pedro I and Henry was the seed of the dreaded Spanish Inquisition. Henry was a usurper and weak, which suited the nobility who didn’t want a strong monarch. The Catholic church stepped in to fill the power vacuum. Anti-Jewish riots erupted. The Inquisition peaked during the reign of the “Catholic Monarchs” Ferdinand and Isabella—the Ferdinand and Isabella who financed Christopher Columbus.
Of Sir Walter Blount, grandfather of Walter Blount, 1st Lord Mountjoy, The Complete Peerage Vol. IX, sub Mountjoy, pp. 331–333, has this:
Sir Walter Blount is a character in Shakespeare’s “I Henry IV.” His mutterings are unremarkable. Nonetheless, in battle Blount pretends to be the king, and is slain. That earned him accolades for gallantry, but he was deaf in the grave.
Sancha de Ayala isn’t a genealogical curiosity. She has thousands of descendants—including George Washington—but has never received commensurate treatment. According to Sir Walter Blount’s biography in The History of Parliament online, the couple had 5 sons and 2 daughters.
To banish any doubt regarding the Blount family’s descent from Sancha de Ayala, Burlington Fine Arts Club (1916), pp. 3-5 lists 40 shields of arms for William Blount Lord Mountjoy (d. 1534). Ayala appears in numbers 19, 20, 21, 23, 28, 29, and 36.
George Washington’s lines from Sancha de Ayala [as reported by Roberts (2009)]:
LINE 1:
Sancha de Ayala m. Sir Walter Blount
Sir Thomas Blount m. Margaret Gresley
Sir Thomas Blount m. Catherine Clifton
Richard Blount m. Dorothy de la Ford
Elizabeth Blount m. Thomas Woodford
Ursula Woodford m. Thomas Light
Elizabeth Light m. Robert Washington
Lawrence Washington m. Margaret Butler
Lawrence Washington m. Amphylis Twigden
John Washington m. Anne Pope
Lawrence Washington m. Mildred Warner
Augustine Washington m. Mary Ball
George Washington
LINE 2:
Sancha de Ayala m. Sir Walter Blount
Constance Blount m. Sir John Sutton
John Sutton m. Elizabeth Berkeley
Sir Edmund Sutton m. Joyce Tiptoft
Sir John Sutton m. Anne Clarell
Margaret Sutton m. John Butler
William Butler m. Margaret Greeke
Margaret Butler m. Lawrence Washington
etc.
[see also Richardson (2013) pp. 321–323]
Croke, Vol. II (1823), p. 189, abstracts Sir Walter Blount’s will, and I think Croke may be trusted here:
“The will of Sir Walter Blount is dated at Lyverpole, the 16th of December, 1401. He directs his body to be buried in the church of Saint Mary of Newerk, at Leicester. He mentions his wife Sanchia as living, his sons John, Thomas, and James; his daughters Constantia, Baroness of Dudley, and Anna Griffith. The Executor is John Blount, his brother, and he appointed as Supervisors of his Will, his cousin, Thomas Foljambe, and Thomas Langley, Keeper of the King’s Privy Seal. It was proved the 1st of August, 1403.”
(Account of the children of Sir Walter Blount and Sancha de Ayala from Croke Vol. II, Book III, p. 196. John Sutton, husband of Constance Blount, wasn’t Baron Dudley; it was their son John Sutton who was the 1st Baron Dudley. Wychnor, or Wichenor, is in Staffordshire, not Shropshire.)
As The Complete Peerage notes, Sir Walter Blount and Sancha de Ayala were buried at St. Mary’s, the Newark, Leicester. Leicester is the county seat of Leicestershire. One of the more endearing customs of the English are place names of great antiquity which confuse those of us expecting street signs everywhere. According to an old history of Leicester, the liberty of the Newarke was a small rectangular district lying on the east bank of the River Soar (a tributary of the River Trent), to the south of the old walled area of the borough and at the edge of the gravel terrace on which Leicester is built. The name “Newarke” means “New Work,” to distinguish it from the older part of the city. In 1330 the area was possessed by Henry, Earl of Lancaster. Of the nearby 12th century castle only traces remain. Earl Henry founded a hospital to the south of the castle, which his son Henry of Grosmont, the 1st Duke of Lancaster, enlarged. The duke also founded a chantry college known as St. Mary’s of the Newarke. The chantry employed a priest to say masses for the benefit of the dead who were thought to be working their way through Purgatory. Sir Walter Blount’s choice of final resting place was in keeping with his devotion to the House of Lancaster.
The Harleian Society, Vol. 28, The Visitation of Shropshire 1623, pp. 50–57 contains extensive material on the Blount family. On p. 55, “Ann ux….. Griffith de Wichenor in com. Staff.” is shown as a daughter of “Walterus Blount miles = Sanchia de Ayala Hispana.” who appear on p. 54.
[In this context “miles.” (Latin) means “knight.” “Hispana” in Latin and Spanish is “feminine singular pertaining to Spain”, so what is meant here is simply “Spanish woman.”]
[“ux.” (Latin) is the abbreviation for “uxor” which means “wife.”]
Below: Family records kept by Sir Walter Griffith II, son of Sir Walter Griffith I and 2nd wife Agnes Constable. The heading indicates Sir Walter Griffith II provided this list of ancestor obituaries on 26 Sep 1511. In latin. The 5th obituary, for Thomas Griffith, correctly identifies the wife of Thomas as “Anna,” but makes her the daughter of Thomas Blount, who was actually her brother. The will of Sir Walter Blount and The Visitation of Shropshire make it clear “Anna Griffith” was Sir Walter Blount’s daughter. The 8th obituary is for Agnes (Constable) (Griffith) Clifton, mother of Sir Walter Griffith II.)
(Howard, 1868, p. 64. Click on image to enlarge.)
Wichenor, the seat of the Griffith family, is 5 1/2 miles NE of Lichfield near the River Trent. Domesday Book records that Robert of Stafford held 2 hides in Wychnor in Seisdon Hundred, and Robert held it of him, and formerly 4 thegns held it; and it consisted of land for 4 ploughs, and in demesne was 1 plough, 4 villans and 2 bordars. There was a mill, 20 acres of meadow, and woodland half a league long and 5 furlongs wide. In modern terms, the woodland alone of this estate was approximately 1 1/2 miles long and 3,300 feet wide. In all, a very substantial country manor.
But not all was bucolic at Wichenor, as the following incident attests. It probably occurred toward the end of the Chancellorship of John Stafford, Bishop of Bath and Wells, perhaps ca. 1440–1443:
Thomas Nevowe was evidently harvesting peas for a religious house and the king when he was set upon by Walter Griffith, son of Sir John Griffith, and a large party of thugs from the Griffith estates. Nevowe, fearing a beating or even murder, fled the scene and was too frightened to return to his home. The cause of the attack is not stated. In the absence of an effective police force violence was common.
This rather lengthy account of the Griffith family of Wichenor, which mentions Lampeter in Cardiganshire, is from Archaeologia Cambrensis, January 1879, pp. 71-72. I have not investigated a possible link of the Griffiths to Princes of South Wales. The reference “(Shaw says daughter of Sir Walter Blount in his History of Staffordshire.)” is to The history and antiquities of Staffordshire by the Rev. Stebbing Shaw, pub. in 2 volumes (1798, 1801). (Click on pages to enlarge.)
This, from Knights of Edward I Volume 4, p. 259, amplifies what is said above regarding Sir Philip de Somerville:
An Inquisitions Post Mortem taken at Bolyngbrok in Lincolnshire dated 3 April, 11 Edward III, for Roger de Somervill or de Somervyle, states that his next heir is Philip de Somervyle, aged 40 years and more, brother of Roger.
Below: The descent of Sir John Griffith, father of Sir Walter Griffith and Rhys (Richard) Griffith, from the Somervilles to the Griffiths, is shown in this lawsuit. The Griffith family were major land owners. The date of this lawsuit—1440—was yet to presage the contest of Lancaster and York.
(Wrottesley, 1905, pp. 369-370.)
The Griffiths of Wichenor and Burton Agnes, like many Medieval gentry families, can confound even experienced genealogists. Gen. No. 4 of the line above given, Rhys (Richard) Griffith, was the brother of Walter Griffith (d. 9 Aug 1481), as Peter Sutton notes in a lengthy GEN-MEDIEVAL-L Archives post dated 29 Oct 2005 entitled “The 3 Walter Griffiths of Burton Agnes, East Riding of Yorkshire.” Sutton lists 3 Walter Griffiths (A), (B), and (C). The problem is the 3 Walters are confused. Walters (A) and (B) are in fact the same person: this Walter m. 1st Jane Neville, by whom he had no surviving children; m. 2nd Agnes Constable, by whom he produced his heir, another Walter Griffith (C). Agnes (Constable) Griffith took as her 2nd husband Gervase Clifton.
The proof that Walter Griffith who m. Jane Neville and Walter Griffith who m. Agnes Constable are the same individual is in this old chart I received from the Society of Antiquaries of London. (Click on image to enlarge.)
Under the heading “This stately tombe” we find Sir Walter Griffith interred with his first wife, Jane Neville. The girl and boy flanking Jane and Walter are their daughter and son who died young. To the right of the tomb in the circles are Walter’s parents Sir John Griffith and Katherine Tyrwhitt. From them is a line down to “F,” where Sir Walter Griffith is shown with his first wife Jane Neville to his left, and his second wife Agnes Constable to his right. The legend in Walter’s circle states he died in 1481. Walter chose to be buried with his first wife, a common practice.
The identity of Jane Neville (who was also called “Joan”) is confusing: She was the daughter of Sir Ralph Neville, son of Ralph Neville 1st Earl of Westmorland by the earl’s 1st wife Margaret Stafford; and Mary Ferrers, daughter of Robert Ferrers, first husband of Joan Beaufort, alleged illegitimate daughter of John of Gaunt. Jane Neville’s father Sir Ralph Neville is sometimes incorrectly termed the 2nd Earl of Westmorland. After the death of Margaret Stafford, Joan Beaufort became the 2nd wife of Ralph Neville 1st Earl of Westmorland. [For Ferrers see The Complete Peerage Volume II, p. 232 IV Elizabeth Baroness le Botiller and footnote (d), and p. 233 footnote (a).]
“This stately tombe” is still in existence in St. Martin’s church at Burton Agnes, East Riding of Yorkshire.
The will of Sir Walter Griffith I of Burton-Agnes was dated 8 Jul 1481 and probated at York. The will is in latin. The 8th line of this text mentions items stored at Whichnore. Lines 23 and 24 mention “Ricardo Griffith, fratri meo,” which means “my brother.” There’s no doubt as to the identity of these people.
[Surtees (1865), pp. 269-270.]
It should be noted Douglas Richardson has published the correct account of this Sir Walter Griffith.
At Wichenor in Staffordshire was a strange marriage custom, dating to the reign of King Edward III, and perhaps followed by Ann Blount and Thomas Griffith, in which this oath was sworn on a side of bacon:
“Hear ye, Sir Philip de Somerville, Lord of Wichenour, maintainer and giver of this Bacon, that I [husband], since I wedded my wife, and since I had her in my keeping, and at my will by a year and a day after our marriage, I would not have changed for none other, fairer nor fouler; richer nor poorer; nor for none other descended of greater lineage; sleeping nor waking at no time; and if the said wife were single and I were single I would take her to be my wife before all the women of the world, of what conditions soever they be, good or evil, as help me God and his saints, and this flesh and all flesh.”
The origin of this custom is quite confused, some suggesting it was entailed in a charter from John of Gaunt. Another account stated the custom was also a physical ordeal and only three couples ever walked off with the bacon. However, it was in connection with my research of this obscure practice that I solved the odd mystery of the name of a Mozarab inhabitant of 12th century Toledo, Spain, Abdul Aziz bin Lampader (see below).
(Neo-Moorish architecture: Castello di Sammezzano, Tuscany, Italy.)
In 712 a Berber army under Arab command defeated the Visigothic King Roderic of Spain and within a few years wrested control of the Iberian peninsula. The Arab elite regarded the Berbers as inferior: “Berber” meant “barbarian.” The Berbers rebelled against their Arab leaders in North Africa in 739 and in 740 the rebellion spread to al-Andalus (Islamic controlled Spanish territory).
Though the Moors remained for centuries masters of a large part of Spain, getting a straight answer as to their ethnic composition was difficult. “Moor” is slang for “Moroccan.” The Moors ranged from fair skinned blonde to dark skinned Ethiopian. The best description I can assemble is that they were initially (mostly) Berber tribesmen from Algeria and Morocco with some Arab component, but during the period of their domination assimilated black Africans from Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia, most of whom were soldiers and slaves.
(Garima Gospels, Ethiopia, ca. 4th to 7th century. Despite its Christian heritage, Ethiopia was notorious for its slave trade.)
Slave merchants took Ethiopians by caravan to lucrative slave markets like Tangier in Morocco and Tunis in Tunisia. Ethiopia also furnished soldiers. Tangier was a trans-shipping point for slaves. At its shortest extent, Tangier is only about 20 miles from Spain across the Straits of Gibraltar. Even if slaves were shipped farther up Spain’s east coast, it’s a sea journey of about 100 miles. My hypothesis is that most soldiers and slaves from Ethiopia who entered service under the Moors, voluntarily or coerced, converted to Islam, while Ethiopian slaves purchased by Christians were assimilated into communities known as Mozarabs (see below). Muslims were adamantly opposed to Muslims becoming Christians. Assimilating Christian Ethiopian slaves would not have drawn the ire of Moorish authorities. This explains why Moors and Mozarabs shared African ancestry. The British journal The Tatler for 14 Nov 1710, No. 250, contains the sentence: “The first place of the bench I give to an old Tangerine captain with a wooden leg.” This indicates the word “Tangerine” was applied to natives of Tangier, but this usage probably came after the end of Moorish occupation of Spain.
So the Moors are a mixed race people, the individuals of which could vary in appearance. They were not a distinct race of their own, but a shared culture. The Moors were sometimes called “Arabs” in the generic sense, as “Muslims,” in the same way the term “Saracen” came to be applied to Islamic peoples during the Crusades.
(Astrolabe made at Toledo in 1068.)
Historian Richard Fletcher (2006) p. 10, wrote:
“The language of common speech in al-Andalus, for Christians and Jews as well as Muslims, was Arabic; but to speak as some have done of ‘Arabic’ Spain is to give the impression that the land had been colonised by the Arabs, whereas the number of Arabs who settled there was very small. ‘Moorish’ Spain does at least have the merit of reminding us that the bulk of the invaders and settlers were Moors, i.e., Berbers from northwest Africa. But we shall need to bear in mind that they overlay a population of mixed descent—Hispano-Romans, Basques, Sueves, Visigoths, Jews and others.”
The Moorish scholar Abu Muhammad Ali ibn Sa id ibn Hazm (994–1064), son of Ahmad, advisor to the Umayyad Caliph Hisham II, described the Moors:
“All the Caliphs of the Banu Marwan (God have mercy on their souls!), and especially the sons of al-Nasir, were without variation or exception disposed by nature to prefer blondes. I have myself seen them, and known others who had seen their forebears, from the days of al-Nasir’s reign down to the present day; every one of them has been fair-haired, taking after their mothers, so that this has become a hereditary trait with them; all but Sulaiman al-Zafir (God have mercy on him!), whom I remember to have had black ringlets and a black beard. As for al-Nasir and al-Hakam al-Mustansir (may God be pleased with them!), I have been informed by my late father, the vizier, as well as by others, that both of them were blond and blue-eyed. The same is true of Hisham al-Mu’aiyad, Muhammad al-Mahdi, and Abd al-Rahman al-Murtada (may God be merciful to them all!); I saw them myself many times, and had the honour of being received by them, and I remarked that they all had fair hair and blue eyes.”
The above passage is in ibn Hazm’s The Ring of the Dove, in the chapter “Of Falling In Love With A Quality And Thereafter Not Approving Any Other Different” [Arthur John Arberry (1905–1969), trans.; Fellow Pembroke College, Cambridge]. ibn Hazm, as the son of a highly placed court official, is impeccable evidence, drawing upon his own observation, or the personal observation of his “late father, the vizier, as well as by others….” Few in the West outside of academia are familiar with ibn Hazm, but he is a very important source for this period.
Note ibn Hazm says the “blonde” trait of these caliphs was from “taking after their mothers” and became hereditary through them. Obviously the Moors had taken women indigenous to the area as wives or concubines, but this practice was not universal, as in the case of Sulaiman al-Zafir. Sulaiman’s “black ringlets” refer not to jewellery, but to his naturally curled hair. So some Moors were engaged in what can only be termed “selective breeding,” but why? Why did not Sulaiman al-Zafir?
Perhaps Sulaiman al-Zafir found all the respect he needed at the point of his sword, although many he put to the sword could not defend themselves:
“During this period the Berbers rampaged uncontrollably over the southeastern parts of Spain, living off the land and extorting protection money from the cities, doing untold damage by their depredations. Meanwhile, the situation of the Cordobans became very wretched. The city was crowded with refugees from the surrounding countryside. A wet spring in 1011 brought serious flooding of the Guadalquivir. An outbreak of plague occurred. The government was so hard up that it was driven to the expedient of selling off some of al-Hakem’s splendid library. In May 1013 Cordoba surrendered. Sulayman’s Berber followers, who had already wrecked the palace at Madinat az-Zahra, sacked and plundered the city. What remained of the caliphal library was dispersed. Enormous numbers of the citizens were massacred. The great scholar-to-be, Ibn Hazm, then aged about nineteen, witnessed the slaughter and later named over sixty distinguished scholars who met their deaths. One of them, the biographer Ibn al-Faradi, lay unburied where he had been cut down for three days. The caliph Hisham II disappears from view, presumed murdered.” So ibn Hazm had personal knowledge of Sulaiman-al Zafir, who presided as caliph in Cordoba until 1016, when one of his generals deposed and executed him. Fletcher (2006), pp. 80–81.
“Selective breeding” among elites was hardly new with the Moors. The most extreme example are the Ptolemaic pharaohs of Egypt, who married their own sisters because no other women were fit for a king. The wives of two of the sons of King Edward III of England—John of Gaunt and Edmund of Langley—were cousins of Gaunt and Langley, and both were daughters of Pedro I. It all smacks of the Nazi attempt to create a super-race, but the caliphs were not engaged in a program of racial extermination. ibn Hazm says “all but Sulaiman al-Zafir” did this; thus it’s reasonable to conclude the average Moor resembled Sulaiman al-Zafir. Or is it?
An ancient mystery: is ibn Hazm’s tale of the blonde caliph true?
“‘Abd al-Rahman III’s father Muhammad was born of the union between the amir ‘Abd Allah [d. 912] and the Christian princess Onneca or Iniga, the daughter of a king of Navarre who had been sent to Cordoba as a hostage in the 860s. ‘Abd al-Rahman himself was the child of a union between his father Muhammad and a slave-concubine, a Christian captive possibly from the same Pyrenean region, named Muzna (perhaps originally Maria?). In his immediate ancestry, therefore, the new ruler was three-quarters Spanish, or perhaps more accurately Hispano-Basque, and only one-quarter Arab. He had blue eyes, a light skin and reddish hair. We are told that he used to dye his hair black to make himself look more like an Arab. This was only one of several ways in which ‘Abd al-Rahman was skilled at the business of what today we would call projecting an image of himself.” Fletcher (2006), p. 53.
The king of Navarre for this period is Garcia Iniguez (r. 851–882). Due to military instability in the region the story of ‘Abd Allah receiving a hostage from a king of Navarre is plausible. She may have been illegitimate. Regardless of her actual paternity, and the uncertainty of her name, the notion she would ever have been set free by ‘Abd Allah to marry another is impossible.
Thus, the tale is true; only in this instance the caliph had reddish hair—but there were many women should he desire his son to be blonde. What lay behind this practice? The motive appears to be a desire to copy their white European counterparts, rather than a means to separate elites from their subjects. We tend to think of Moorish Spain as insular, but there was constant contact with Christian states, in matters of trade, diplomacy, and warfare.
What more can we say of Sulaiman al-Zafir? As Fletcher (2006), p. 80 remarks: “The Berber generals chose another descendant of ‘Abd al-Rahman III, Sulayman, as a rival caliph. Sulayman appealed for military aid to the count of Castile, Sancho Garcia, who responded positively. The two men, Christian and Muslim, joined forces, marched on Cordoba and defeated Muhammad II in November 1109. Sulayman was proclaimed caliph.” This initial usurpation lasted until May 1010 when another combination of Christian and Muslim allies ousted Sulaiman.
We may therefore conclude that even Sulaiman al-Zafir’s appearance, with his black beard and ringlets, was to some extent the result of “selective breeding,” and the Berbers who elevated him were basically black. This resemblance to his Berber troops may have helped in winning them over, but as we have seen, it ended badly for him. ‘Abd al-Rahman III would have kept a well-stocked harem, and it appears Sulaiman al-Zafir’s ancestry was not of Hispano-Basque women.
My theory is that ‘Abd al-Rahman III’s successors ran through these Hispano-Basque slave-concubines, but for political purposes he also had children by dark-skinned women, and Sulaiman al-Zafir was a descendant of one of those unions. My intent here is to reconcile the historical facts. As seen above, al-Rahman III felt he could not alienate his subjects by affecting a completely “white-European” appearance, so he dyed his hair black. For the chronology so essential to genealogists I should mention ‘Abd al-Rahman III succeeded his grandfather ‘Abd Allah in 912 and reigned until his death in 961. Fletcher (2006), p. 53. Sulaiman al-Zafir was a grandson or great-grandson of ‘Abd al-Rahman III.
ibn Hazm died a mere 21 years before Alfonso VI overwhelmed Toledo. This is as contemporary a description of the Moors as we are likely to find.
The larger caliphates disintegrated:
‘[S]tatelets emerged which were run by civil administrators who had achieved prominence under the regime of Almanzor and his son. These men were often technically slaves, or freedmen, and sometimes not of peninsular origin but drawn from the vast hordes of slaves imported into al-Andalus in the tenth century.” Slaves could be of disparate ethnic backgrounds, in civil or military service, and sometimes emerged as rulers. Fletcher (2006), pp. 83–84.
[Illustration: “Chess Problem No. 25 Five Moors, one playing harp.” Harp music set the mood for this most competitive of board games. From the Libro de los Juegos (Book of Games) of Alfonso X, king of Castile, Leon, and Galicia (1221–1284). King Edward I of England married as his first queen Eleanor of Castile, half-sister of Alfonso X. Alfonso X had the text translated from Arabic into Castlilian and added illustrations, the book being completed in 1283. During the Middle Ages, wealthy patrons commissioned illuminated manuscripts like the Book of Games. Undoubtedly the king was personally familiar with the physical appearance of a Moor as they continued to rule parts of Spain until 1492, so the illustration was taken from life. Note that on the left the servant holding a flask and dish has somewhat lighter skin than the others. From this we can deduce that to a greater or lesser degree the individual Moor possessed black ancestry.]
[The surrender of Granada, the last Moorish outpost in the Iberian peninsula, in January 1492, by Francisco Pradilla Ortiz (1848–1921). Upon ejecting the Moors from Granada, Ferdinand and Isabella ruled a united Spain. Click on image to enlarge.]
[Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640), “Four studies of the head of a Moore.” In the collection of Musees Royaux des Beaux Arts, Musee Old Masters Museum (inv. 3176), Brussels, Belgium.]
[Alfonso VI (1040–1109), king of Castile and Leon.]
The ruler of Toledo, Al-Qadir, was a hated puppet installed by Alfonso VI. Alfonso VI had been bleeding Toledo dry with demands for tribute. “Toledo also contained large communities of Jews and Mozarabic Christians. It is inaccurate to regard the Christians as some sort of ‘fifth column’ working for Alfonso VI. Nevertheless it was bound to have been the case that to be ruled by a Christian was perceived as preferable to be being ruled by a Muslim. As for the Jews of Toledo, they were probably encouraged to look favourably upon the Christian king by an episode that occurred in 1082. Alfonso had sent a Jewish ambassador to Seville to collect the tribute. A dispute took place: the Castilian delegation complained the tribute was being paid in debased coin and accompanied their complaint with insults. [The ruler] Al-Mu’tamid had the Jewish ambassador crucified. Alfonso VI was livid with rage and mounted a punitive raid to avenge his envoy’s death.” Fletcher (1990), p. 141.
Netanyahu (2001), pp. 255–257 & 296–297 provides essential background to the story of Toledo and the Jewish community: seeing for themselves favorable conditions under the lenient Alfonso VI, rather than leave the city, Jews “chose to move to it in growing numbers. Soon Toledo gave signs of becoming the most important center of Spanish Jewry.” However, their position soon became tenuous; in Aug 1109, following the death of Alfonso VI, the townspeople fell upon the Jews, killing many and forcing more to convert.
Thus, after the liberation of Toledo, the area grew as a center of Jewish learning, but many Jews converted due to political pressure. It would be very surprising if Sancha de Ayala, who was born centuries after the expulsion of the Moors, had no Jewish ancestry.
Above: Stained glass of Coat of Arms of Castile and Leon, Alcazar (Castle) at Segovia, Spain, the arms being a “castle” for Castile and a “lion” for Leon. Principal residence of Alfonso VIII, king of Castile and Toledo, and his queen Eleanor, daughter of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. On 16 Jul 1212, Alfonso VIII and a coalition of Christian forces crushed the Muslim Almohads at the Battle of Navas de Tolosa in Southern Spain. Some knights disagreed with Alfonso VIII’s lenient treatment of defeated Jews and Muslims from earlier battles. When the Christian forces had previously gathered at Toledo there had been assaults and murders of Jews in the Jewish quarter.
Here’s a mega–pill: Blanche of Castile (1188–1252), daughter of Alfonso VIII and Eleanor of England. Blanche became Queen of France as consort to Louis VIII, king of France. Her hovering suffocating supervision of her son, the future King Louis IX of France, drilled into his brain-pan the austerity and prudery for which he was known. In 1243 in Paris, at the urging of Pope Gregory IX, Louis IX burned manuscript copies of the Jewish Talmud. The incident was part of a wave of anti-Semitism that swept Europe in the 13th century. Fortunately Pope Innocent IV rescinded the edict against the Talmud. (Click to enlarge.)
King Louis IX indulged in self-scourging (flagellation), believing that inflicting pain upon himself helped atone for his exaggerated sense of sin. Overwrought individuals like Louis IX had difficulty placing an appropriate value on “natural” and “supernatural.” Their lives were a religious drama supported by the church. While Louis’ behavior was excessive, in the Medieval era morbidly intense religious devotion was common. Flagellation is still occasionally employed today as a recompense for sin.
Below: King Louis IX also allowed himself to be whipped in penance.
This account, written by John Lord Joinville, a friend of Louis IX, demonstrates the tensions between Church, State, and Jews in the Medieval epoch. (Click on image to enlarge.)
The knight chose to frame his question by referencing the Virgin Mary. A philosopher might refute this Marian theology as follows: Since God is the Prime Mover, he is causeless and there is nothing about him which is caused; therefore, there is nothing which can be caused to appear, for there is nothing to initiate a chain of causation; and God’s interaction with humanity is solely by the grace and will of God, and not any external biological or formulaic mechanism. Thus Mary can’t possibly be the Mother of God as her pregnancy couldn’t cause God to appear; for if so she would be an anterior cause. This is neo-Platonism and would get you burned at the stake.
Sancha’s claim to aristocracy came through her mother Ines de Ayala, whose family was more important than that of her father Diego Gomez. Sancha’s uncle Pero Lopez de Ayala (1332–1407), for many years a player in Castilian politics, became Grand Chancellor of The Realm of Castile under K; for she wouling Henry III of Castile. Ines de Ayala was also distantly related by blood to Roman Catholic Cardinal Pedro Gomez Barroso (d. 1348).
(Tomb effigy of Pero Lopez de Ayala in the Monastery of Quejana, near Bilbao, Spain. In addition to holding high political office, he was also a renowned poet.)
Todd Farmerie, in a thread on “soc.genealogy.medieval,” dated 24 Jul 2007, entitled “Converso ancestors of Sancha de Ayala” said:
So what made Farmerie apoplectic? The assertion that some of Sancha de Ayala’s ancestors were converted Jews—or “conversos.” As Nathaniel Lane Taylor points out, the term “converso” is properly applied only to Jews who converted to Catholicism during the Spanish Inquisition. But in actual practice, “converso” is often applied in a broader sense to Jews who converted at any point in the Medieval period. And during the 15th century it could apply to Moorish converts as well.
My response to Farmerie is that your ancestors do not lose their identity over time. If you have a Jew or African in your pedigree, THEY are a Jew and African forever, regardless of the era in which they lived. Their contribution to YOU as an organism varies over time, but you’re the sum of all of your forebears. I was unfamiliar with the phrase “turning something on its head.” Farmarie is saying: “Even if there is a Jew somewhere in the pedigree, after 25 generations it’s a misinterpretation of the pure blood standard to say such a person is a Jew.” So if the Jew is a remote ancestor, the Jewish genetic contribution to your pedigree is diluted to the point that it doesn’t matter. That’s not genealogy.
The “pure blood standard” was called “limpieza de sangre,” and was first introduced into Spain in 1414 by the archbishop of Seville, in connection with the foundation of the Colegio de San Bartolome of Salamanca. No one with any Jewish ancestor, regardless of how remote, could be admitted to the college. Jewish blood was “tainted.”
The practical application of the doctrine was in the event political. Because so many people in Medieval Spain, including the very prominent, did have Jewish ancestors, the application of the “purity of blood” standard depended partly upon who you were. If you were powerful (meaning you could marshal military force), your background wasn’t scrutinized as closely as someone further down the food chain.
The doctrine was based upon the concept that though everyone was equal in Christ, Jews were held to be biologically “inferior.” Thus was established institutionalized racism with various equations of who could do what with who: in some instances one could not have had a Jew in the family for 100 years, and in others, for 4 generations. Dispensations could be granted. The more lenient definitions of “pure blood” prevailed, and that is what Farmarie appears to be advocating. Students of history will recognize these regulations as precursors to the infamous Nuremberg Laws of Nazi Germany. The Nuremberg Laws also extended to blacks and gypsies.
Farmerie has some support from across the pond. In an article in “The Guardian” dated 11 Mar 2009, British celebrity biographer Hugo Vickers was asked for his reaction to reports that King George III’s consort Queen Charlotte had black ancestry:
[Would] our royal family be threatened if it were shown they had African forebears? “I don’t think so at all. There would be no shame attached to it all,” says the royal historian Hugo Vickers. “The theory does not impress me, but even if it were true, the whole thing would have been so diluted by this stage that it couldn’t matter less to our royal family. It certainly wouldn’t show that they are significantly black.”
Stiff upper lip and carry on.
In the same thread, Taylor says: “Sancha de Ayala’s father’s ancestors in Toledo were a mixed bag of Toledan families. Some were most likely Mozarabic families—Christians who had been living under Muslim rule before the annexation of Toledo by Alfonso VI. An example is Abdul Aziz bin Lampader, surely Sancha’s ancestor, who was alcalde [assistant judge] of the city in 1125. There is a possibility that some of these families may have been Jewish…. The bottom line is that it is conventional to say all the apparently native urban [Toledo] families who bore Muslim names in the time of Alfonso VI [1040–1109] were Mozarabic Christians, but some of them may have been Jews. But in this early era (11th–early 12th c) there was no organized persecution or forced conversion….” The actual identity of Mozarabs is discussed elsewhere; but Dr. Taylor’s last remark is wrong: anti-Jewish massacres in Toledo in Aug 1109, almost immediately following the death of Alfonso VI, brought many Jews to convert.
The position of Jews under the Cordoban caliphate had been favorable:
“Ibn Shaprut was a figure of eminence in the international Jewish community at large. He was the patron of Jewish-Andalusi poets such as Dunash Ha-Levi, the benefactor of the Talmudic academies of Mesopotamia, the author of a letter to the ruler of the ‘Thirteenth Tribe,” the Jewish Khazars of south Russia. He occupied an important position in al-Andalus as a trusted advisor as well as doctor to the caliph. For his services he seems to have been rewarded with some lucrative sinecure from the tolls and customs paid by merchants. Hasday ibn Shaprut is a remarkable testimony to the cosmopolitan character of the court of al-Andalus under ‘Abd al-Rahman III, and to the heights to which Jews could rise in service to it.” Fletcher (2006), p. 70.
“It is difficult to know what the day-to-day relations of Christians and Muslims may have been like in the cities of al-Andalus. They lived side by side. In some cities the Mozarabs inhabited distinct Christian quarters of the town, in others they seem to have lived intermingled with their Muslim neighbors.” Fletcher (2006), p. 94.
In the discussion of Abdul Aziz bin Lampader that follows, I’m going to rely on Hitchcock (2008)—this area of investigation was his specialty. Comments in italics mine.
First, what was a “Mozarab”? It means: “‘to make oneself similar to the Arabs,’ … ‘having assimilated Arabic customs’, or, most specifically designated someone who had the appearance of an Arab, was indistinguishable from Arabs, and would not stand out in a crowd of Arabs.” (p. ix) “Mozarab” doesn’t just signify a Christian living under Muslim rule. As Hitchcock states in his afterword, Mozarab “cannot, in my view, be a word employed to signify Christians who lived in al-Andalus,” which of course is at complete variance with the above comment by Nathaniel L. Taylor, but Taylor admits the possibility that “some of these families may have been Jewish.”
So the key here is primarily appearance and outward conformity, although in religion the Mozarab was mainly Christian and occasionally Jewish. The term “Mozarab” was not uniformly applied as to religion, but does mean non-Muslim and could be pejorative. The Moors and Mozarabs were related peoples, sharing a common black ancestry. Mozarabs looked like Arabs but weren’t “real” Arabs because they weren’t Muslim—but if they didn’t rock the boat, were tolerated.
Above: Mozarabs in a mid-10th century Christian religious text. A blue cross is in the center. Note the vertical beam of the cross doesn’t extend upward from the horizontal beam. The illustration depicts a Mozarab in the role of John of the Apocalypse measuring the temple with a measuring rod given to him by angels (Revelations 11:1–3). The Mozarabs have brown skin and all of their hair outside of their caps is black, indicating black ancestry. Hitchcock 2008 (jacket).
“In Toledo after 1085 AD, and the surrounding areas for a further century and a half, ‘Mozarab’ was an internally applied term. Christians used it to define other, Arabicized, Christians, and amongst the communities of the latter were those who had ‘Mozarab’ or a recognizable form of the word, as a surname.’ (p. 76) These were people who were in Toledo before Alfonso VI took it; a community he recognized as an asset in stabilizing his regime.
“In the first generation after the conquest of Toledo, there is a majority of names entirely in Arabic (59 per cent), whilst in the twenty-year period 1110–1130, this figure has reduced to 45 per cent. Between 1150 and 1170, it has dropped to 5 per cent. During the same period (1130–1170), hybrid names, of the type Abi al-Hasan b. Mika il, retain their popularity, representing over 40 percent of the instances…. By 1118, and throughout the following two centuries, being Mozarab meant, first and foremost, being Arabicized members of a Castilian community.” (pp. 86–87) In this example “Mika il” is the hybrid portion of the name.
That Mozarabs in Toledo were recognized as a separate community is indicated in a fuero (charter) cited by Netanyahu (2001), p. 1221, granted in 1101 to the Mozarabs by Alfonso VI, in which they were given special status, which did not extend to the killing or wounding of a Jew or Moor.
Hitchcock continues: “It would be fair to say that the Mozarabs flourished in the city of Toledo in the twelfth century. They still had their own mayor in 1178, Melendo Lampader, who died in 1181, and relations with the Castlian community in the city seemed positive. This same Melendo married a daughter of the Castilian alcaide, and the line was perpetuated well into the thirteenth century. The maintenance of two separate mayors, responsible for their own communities, one hundred years after the capture of the city by Alfonso VI, is an indication of the success of this king’s initial policies. Arabophone Christian communities, however they came into existence, could prosper independently within Christian territories.” (p. 96) The term “Arabophone” means the individual’s native language was Arabic. Note that Hitchcock uses the phrase “Arabophone Christian communities, however they came into existence….” So Melendo Lampader was himself recorded as a Mozarab. As of 1178, the Lampader family had not been assimilated, but about the mid-13th century it was granted a coat of arms.
Abdul Aziz bin Lampader was an Arabicized Christian who in appearance resembled his Muslim counterpart—the Moors. As I discuss above, what made an individual a Moor cannot be unequivocally stated, but by general agreement it was a person of mixed race, incorporating mainly Berber and African elements. The bin Lampader family was a mixture of Visigothic and black African ancestry sharing the Christian religion. Ethiopia had converted to Christianity in the 4th century. Slaves and soldiers entering Moorish Spain brought their religion with them. However, it would have been far more common (and safer) for a Christian to convert to Islam than a Muslim become a Christian.
Mozarab families resembled their Muslim neighbors because they both had black ancestry, from the same section of Africa.
(A view of Toledo, which barely looks more modernized than it did in the day of Sancha de Ayala. Toledo had been the capital city of Visigothic Spain in the 6th and 7th centuries. Click on image to enlarge.)
“Abdul Aziz” is a Muslim name still in use today: “Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud” was the name of the late king of Saudi Arabia, which means “Abdullah son of Abdul Aziz of the family Saud.”
One researcher claimed Abdul Aziz bin Lampader was actually Abdelacis ben Lampader, suggesting a Jewish form. In Muslim use “Abdul Aziz bin Lampader” means “Abdul Aziz son of Lampader” without a family name appended, but this was in an early age. I couldn’t locate “Lampader” anywhere in lists of Hebrew names, or in Hebrew dictionaries, or in Latin, or in Spanish, that would give a clue to the name the family held under the Moorish regime. It may have been quasi-official. A corollary is the English family of Despenser, whose name was derived from “Dispensator”—they had been stewards of the Earls of Chester or the Lacy family, Constables of Chester. Abdul Aziz and his son Melendo held public office in Toledo. Apparently this family was resident in Toledo when it capitulated to Alfonso VI, and the king took advantage of their continued service.
According to Fletcher (1990), p. 60: “Settlers also came [to Castile] from the South, Mozarabic Christians who left al-Andalus [Muslim controlled Spain] to live among their fellow Christians in the north. They can be recognized by their Arabised names which evidently caused difficulties for Castilian scribes and produced such bizarre formations as the Abolgomar who lived near Cardena about the year 900 and the Abogaleb who was a monk at Berlangas in about 950.”
Having considered these possibilities and all but abandoning the search, the solution to the meaning of “Lampader” came from Wales: in Cardiganshire there is an ancient town called Lampeter, which means “St. Peter.” This area was associated with Sir Rhys ap Griffith, grandfather of Thomas Griffith (see above), who married Joan de Somerville, heiress of Wichenor. We may never know the name by which Abdul Aziz was known to the Moorish authorities, but his new name was entered by Castilian officials, probably as Alfonso VI tightened his grip on Toledo. It reminds one of the creative work by the clerks at Ellis Island. When Abdul Aziz presented himself, his actual name was probably replaced with the name “Lampader,” which meant “St. Peter;” and thus we have Abdul Aziz “son of St. Peter,” a “son” in the spiritual sense, like a “disciple” or “servant” of St. Peter. This interpretation is validated by the third word of the initial name given in the Diego Gomez chart: “Melendo aben Lampadero.” We may substitute “Lampedro” for “Lampadero;” “Pedro” being Spanish for “Peter.” This signifies the Lampader family was definitely Christian, as were most Mozarabs.
(Click on image to enlarge.)
The entire article on Lampeter may be seen at:
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/wales/pp459-473
There are many Lampeter(s), this one from Theophilus Jones’s A History of the County of Brecknock, Vol. II, Part II.
(Church of St. Peter, Painscastle.)
And even a Lampeter in Pennsylvania (Zip Code 17537), named after Lampeter in Wales, undoubtedly the result of Welsh settlement in the area.
This interpretation is completely vindicated by the following items from Archaeologia Cambrensis of October 1878, p. 293, in an article “Notes On Records Relating To Lampeter And Cardiganshire”, which clearly demonstrate that “Lampeter” and “Lampader” are the same:
The documents referenced here are entries in a Charter Roll dating to 1284 and in a Patent Roll dating to 1330. These are official government documents. The Charter Roll of King Edward I authorizes Rhys ap Meredith to host a market at his manor of Lampeter every Thursday of the week, a lucrative privilege. The king also granted Rhys ap Meredith the right to hold a fair from October 8 to October 10. Patent Rolls were rolls of parchment in which letters written in the name of the king were recorded, in this instance King Edward III. The phrase “the town of ‘Lampader calaponte Stevene,’ in South Wales” means “the town of St. Peter at the castle of Stephen’s bridge in South Wales,” a typical English way of describing a place. “Pont” is Latin for “bridge.” One tradition states the castle had been erected by King Stephen, probably during his interminable civil war with the Empress Matilda, mother of King Henry II of England; but as seen below, Pryce and Insley (2005) suggest otherwise. The castle was a landmark, destroyed later in the 12th century, but ruins remained, and that’s how the town was known.
As further proof that the names “Lampeter” and “Lampader” were interchangeable, Bridgeman (1876) pp. 162–163 provides this passage which references King Edward I in the year 1280. A castle at Lampader was in use during the king’s military operations in Wales. It was probably a crude affair, not to be confused with the gigantic structures of his reign.
In England the “mark” was not a coin, but a monetary convention equal to about 2/3 of a pound.
Pryce and Insley (2005) pp. 165–166 have this to say about “Lampeter” in discussing a charter relating to Totnes Priory:
“For a full discussion of this charter see Crouch, ‘Earliest original charter’, which locates the church of St Peter de Mabonio at Lampeter, cmt. Mebwynion. Cadell captured the castle of Lampeter in 1146, but appears to have been incapacitated as ruler of Deheubarth after he was badly beaten by Norman knights near Tenby in 1151. As Crouch argues, the ‘house’ of Cadell may well have been Lampeter castle. The charter reveals that Totnes Priory had already held the church at Lampeter during the reign of Henry I (1100-35), and Crouch plausibly suggests that the original grantor was Stephen, constable of Cardigan.”
Stephen, Constable of Cardigan, m. (her 2nd) Nest, daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, last king of South Wales.
According to Anglican church sources, there are written mentions of churches using Llanbedr, “Bedr” being Welsh for “Peter,” dating to the mid-11th century, and obviously the usage is much earlier.
Names incorporating a religious motif were in use at this time: the name of Gospatric I, Earl of Northumberland and Dunbar (d. ca. 1074/5) meant “servant of Patrick.”
It appears the use of “St. Peter” as a surname wasn’t common in Medieval England, but Knights of Edward I, Vol. IV, pp. 192–193 lists a Sir Urian de St. Peter (Urricus de St. Petro).
The line connects to Sancha de Ayala through her father Diego Gomez through Suarez.
[Shakespeare’s immortal Moor Othello, portrayed by American/British actor Ira Aldridge (1807–1867). In 1833 Aldridge became the first black actor to play Othello on the London stage. Othello is one of Shakespeare’s greatest roles which has inspired both black and white actors—like Laurence Fishburne and Laurence Olivier. Olivier played the role in black makeup. Today we conceive of the Moors as black, and that was true in most cases. The character Othello, if played as historically accurate, would be one of the Berber generals mentioned in connection with Sulaiman al-Zafir. As ibn Hazm remarked, the mixed racial composition of the Moors covered a wider spectrum. That challenges our assumptions about race: what does “race” really mean?]
Another character who weaves in and out of this tale is Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, or El Cid (ca. 1043–1099). Although Spain’s National Hero, El Cid was a gun-for-hire or mercenary, with his own private army, fighting for Christians or Muslims as the fortunes of war dictated. One of his clients was Alfonso VI, King of Castile and Leon. El Cid’s passion was an independent principality in Valencia, which became reality, if only for awhile. After his death, his widow Ximena ruled until 1102, when she was advised by Alfonso VI that Valencia was indefensible. The city was abandoned and burned to the ground. The Arabic writer Ibn Bassam said of El Cid: “this man, the scourge of his time, by his appetite for glory, by the prudent steadfastness of his character, and by his heroic bravery, was one of the miracles of God.” Fletcher (1990) p. 185.
Blanche of Artois, a descendant of El Cid’s daughter Christina, seems to have been the uterine crossroads of Medieval Europe. Blanche married Edmund “Crouchback,” Earl of Lancaster and Leicester, bringing El Cid’s bloodline to England.
(Original tomb of El Cid and his wife Ximena at the monastery of San Pedro de Cardena. El Cid’s horse Babieca was buried in the graveyard. Babieca stayed put, but El Cid wandered around until finally re-interred at the Catedral de Santa Maria de Burgos. Fletcher (1990), p. 123 says El Cid and Ximena were married in the summer of 1074 or 1075, and certainly by May 1076. The parentage of El Cid and Ximena is disputed, although Ximena was of a noble Asturian family.)
[1864 painting by Marcos Giraldez de Acosta depicting Alfonso VI, king of Castile and Leon (in red cape) swearing on the bible that he had no complicity in the murder of his brother Sancho II. Alfonso VI is looking at El Cid. Sancho II was murdered, allegedly by a sword-thrust to the back, at Zamora on 6 Oct 1072. If the tale is true, the unhappy Sancho II could not have known his killer. Suspicion of responsibility for the murder must fall on Sancho II’s sister Urraca, whose city he was besieging, but the principal beneficiary was Alfonso VI. At the time El Cid was employed by Sancho II, but was not implicated in the murder. Paintings such as this one, made centuries after the fact, are intended to dramatize events and are not literal accounts. Click on image to enlarge it.]
Returning to the focus of this piece, Todd A. Farmarie and Nathaniel L. Taylor (1998) seems to be the latest formal genealogical investigation of Sancha de Ayala. The authors examine three possible, but as they acknowledge, unproved royal descents—one from Alfonso VI of Castile, and two from Alfonso IX of Leon—all of which have problematic illegitimate generations even if “proved.” They discount two claims of Muslim descents. Otherwise, they leave Sancha’s ethnicity a blank.
The above “soc.genealogy.medieval” thread was kicked off by references to Norman Roth’s (2002) book in a Wikipedia article. Wikipedia, while useful as a jumping off point, is of itself an unacceptable source. I obtained a copy of the book to examine it myself.
Let’s look at Sancha de Ayala and see what we can learn about her family. We begin with her maternal ancestors, the Ayala family:
Roth does not say in the text that Sancha’s uncle Pero Lopez de Ayala was of converso stock. However, in “Appendix C Major Converso Families,” Ayala is among the “Converso Families Named by Lope de Barrientos and Fernan Diaz de Toledo.” Lope de Barrientos (1395–1469) was Dominican master and bishop of Segovia, Avila, and Cuenca, and the personal confessor to King John (Juan) II of Castile, a highly influential position. Barrientos was not unsympathetic to conversos, and I see no reason he would have concocted the list. Barrientos stated that all of the Mendozas and Ayalas descended from a certain Rabbi Solomon and his son Isaque de Valladolid. As Barrientos was writing after the death of Pero Lopez de Ayala, uncle of Sancha de Ayala, this comment must include him, and thus also Sancha’s grandfather Fernan Perez de Ayala. Of interest is the inclusion of the Sotomayor family in the list, as Cardinal Pedro Gomez Barroso’s mother was Mencia Garcia de Sotomayor, a great-grandmother of Ines de Ayala. Another interesting name in the list is Osorio, as Sancha’s 2nd great-grandmother was Elvira Alvarez de Osorio. Carrillo is also a converso name appearing among Sancha de Ayala’s maternal forebears.
Turning to her father’s family, that of Diego Gomez:
Roth (2002) p. 94 identifies the wife of her 2nd-great-grandfather, Gome Perez, Aguacil Mayor (Chief Justice) of Toledo, as Horabuena, and states there is little doubt of her Jewish background. On p. 378, he lists among the “Most Frequent Converso Names in Toledo” Garcia, Gomes, de Toledo, and Vasques, all names that figure in Sancha de Ayala’s paternal pedigree.
This is the complete list in Roth (2002), pp. 377–378:
“Appendix C Major Converso Families Converso Families Named by Lope de Barrientos and Fernan Diaz de Toledo [caps are mine]
ALARCON, ALBARES, ANAYA, ARAUJO (ARROYO? cf. also ARUQUE in Toledo; same?), AYALA, BARRIONUEVO, BERNALDEZ (BERNALDES), CARRILLO, CERVANTES, CUELLAR, FERNANDEZ (family of DIEGO FERNANDEZ DE CORDOBA, mariscal of JUAN II of CASTILE), FERNANDEZ MARMOLEJO, HURTADO DE MENDOZA (not the sons of INIGO LOPEZ DE MENDOZA, DIEGO HURTADO and HURTADO DE MENDOZE, but probably the family of JUAN HURTADO DE MENDOZA, connected with the DE LUNA family, who was the mayordomo mayor of JUAN II), LUNA (the CASTILE branch), LUYAN, MANRIQUE, MENDOZA (the MENDOZAS and AYALAS all descended from a certain “RABBI SOLOMON” and his son DON ISAQUE DE VALLADOLID, according to Lope de Barrientos), MIRANDA, MONROY, MOTICON, OCAMPO, OSORIO (OSSORIO), PENA LOZA, PESTIN, PIMENTEL, PORRA, ROJA, SANDOBAL, SANTI-ESTEBAN, SARABIA, SAUCEDOS (SALCEDOS), SOLI, SOTOMAYOR, VALDEZ.
Most Frequent Converso Names in Toledo
ALCOCER, ALONSO, ALVARES, DE AVILA, DEL CASTILLO, DE CORDOBA, COTA, CUELLAR, DE CUENCA, DIAS, DUENAS, FARO (or HARO), FERRANDES, DE LA FUENTE, FUNESALIDA, GARCIA, GOMES, GONCALES (GONZALEZ), HUSILLO, DE ILLESCAS, JARADA, DE LEON, LOPES, MONTALVAN, NUNES, DE OCANA, ORTIS, DE LA PENA, PRADO, PULGAR, RODRIGUES, DE LA RUA, SANCHES, SAN PEDRO, DE SEGOVIA, SERRANO, DE SEVILLA, SORGE (SORJE), DE TOLEDO, DE LA TORRE, TORRIJOS, DE UBEDA, VASQUES (VAZQUEZ), DE VILLA REAL, DE LA XARA (JARA).”
What happened to the Jewish names of these people? When families converted to Catholicism, they changed their name, and their “Christian” name might bear no resemblance to their Jewish name.
The Spanish Inquisition is one of the most lurid episodes in Catholic history. It’s difficult to estimate the numbers of those condemned or imprisoned—but the number is in the thousands, not tens of thousands. That doesn’t take into account those who fled, or had their property confiscated. An apt comparison are the Salem Witch Trials on a much larger scale.
The following should convey the gravity of the situation, for even death might not spare one from the Inquisition:
“Also, the Inquisition proceeded against those already dead, ‘because it happened that some of these in their lives had incurred this sin of heresy and apostasy’; their bones were dug up and publicly burned and their property and the inheritances of their descendants were seized by the Crown.” Roth (2002), p. 227.
Due to the seriousness of the situation, I have to accept Lope de Barrientos and Fernan Diaz de Toledo as accurate. Unlike de Barrientos, Fernan Diaz de Toledo was a Converso. He served as secretary to John (Juan) II, king of Castile. Lope de Barrientos and Fernan Diaz de Toledo were very important men in Castile.
As Roth (2002), p. 95 remarks:
“Even though a certain amount of bragging and self-aggrandizement is evident in all this, he [Fernan Diaz] would not dare make such statements (nor would the more renowned and sober Barrientos repeat them) were they not true. As relator and secretary to the king, Fernan Diaz was ‘always with him,’ as Barrientos says in his Cronica, and personally knew all the nobility.”
One of the difficulties here is the perception that only Jews who had converted to Catholicism and subsequently returned to Judaism were subjected to persecution; but there was a separate, older stream of persecution aimed at Jews generally. So it’s true families named in the lists are indeed Jewish, but some members had converted at an earlier date. The trunk of the family tree was Jewish, but not all of its branches converted at the same time.
“Although there did exist some country-dwellers among the Jews of al-Andalus, the vast majority of them lived in the cities. These urban Jewish communities could be sizeable: there were at least twelve synagogues in Toledo.” Fletcher (2006), p. 95.
The tendency of Jews to reside in urban areas made repression relatively easy and effective.
Catholic apologists blame the persecution on evil men. But the popes encouraged and supported the process. By the 13th century papal bulls were reserved for formal or solemn communications from the pope. The “bull” was so named for the pope’s lead seal that authenticated the document. The popes vacillated in their Jewish policy, at times pleading for better treatment of Jews. It’s fair to say papal instructions for sanctions against them resulted in sustained suffering, but the impact was not always uniform, as witnessed by the necessity for repeated orders by various pontiffs. Though technically not forcible conversion, nonetheless these measures should be construed as intimidation to exert pressure on Jews to convert.
In 1205 Pope Innocent III issued Esti Judaeos which allowed Jews their houses of worship but prohibited them from eating with Christians and owning Christian slaves.
In 1207 Innocent III ordered Jews of Spain to pay tithes on possessions obtained from Christians.
In 1218 Pope Honorius III issued In generali concilio, to the archbishop of Toledo, ordering Jews to wear clothing to distinguish themselves from Christians, and that they must pay tithe to local churches. The requirement stemmed from the 4th Lateran Council of 1215.
The 1239 bull Si vera sunt of Pope Gregory IX, addressed to kings and prelates of France and Spain, ordered seizure of the Talmud and all other Jewish books suspected of blaspheming Jesus. Renewed in 1264 by Pope Clement IV.
In the bull Turbato Corde (1267), addressed to inquisitors of heresy, Clement IV fulminated against wickedness: “With a troubled heart we relate what we have heard, that [several reprobate Christians] have abandoned the true faith and have wickedly transferred themselves to the rite of the Jews…. Against Jews whom you may find guilty of having induced Christians of either sex to join their execrable rite, or whom you may find doing so in the future, you shall impose fitting punishment. By means of appropriate ecclesiastical censure you shall silence all who oppose you. If necessary you may call on the secular arm.”
(My point here is by the early 13th century the Catholic church began to place restrictions on the activities of Jews. It could not have been a secret that the church was moving into a more confrontational policy regarding Jews, so some families of Jewish descent probably began to conceal their ancestry prior to this time. Only an idiot would put a Jewish ancestor in their family history.
Given the corruption of the age, bribing officials must have been common. Today we call it “protection money.” The late 14th century “de Ayala” family history, portions of which are known to be wrong, should not be taken at face value.)
Rather than offer another estimate of Inquisition victims, let’s view the matter from the vantage point of a Catholic archivist who witnessed the proceedings:
“10 June 1491. Some 126 burned.”
On one day. In Barcelona. A little hazy on the exact number. The flames washed it all away.
[Puerta de Bisagra Antigua (gate to the city of Toledo), 10th century.]
The Inquisition has never entirely disappeared. Today it’s known as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Norman Roth’s book is required reading for those with ancestors in this time and place.
To sum up: much of Sancha de Ayala’s ancestry on both sides of her family was Sephardic Jewish in origin, and she had at least one known Mozarab ancestor. The tolerant polity in Toledo established by King Alfonso VI of Castile began to deteriorate after his death in 1109, and in the second half of the 14th century succumbed to political strife and religious agitation, which culminated in the Spanish Inquisition.
Studying these historical streams from their different perspectives challenges our assumptions of how the modern world was created.
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