Re: Major new online resource: "Medieval Lands"

In message of 4 Jun, "Sutliff" <suthen@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I do hope that people here will keep in mind that this new project is
a work in progress and realize that it already contains errors.
Ultimately the success and value of the data will depend on the
sources used. I must admit I am troubled to see Alison Weir used as
a source.

For example, the four younger sons attributed to Henry III and his
wife of Eleanor of Provence (Richard, John, Henry and William) were
disproved by Margaret Howell some years ago. The alleged son William
was actually proved to be Henry III's half-brother William de
Valence and the original pedigree had been misread.

Also, John Carmi Parsons, who used to post here frequently, through
sources like the Household accounts, was able to completely revise
the listing of the children of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile by
adding previously unlisted children and subtracting children
(Beatrice & Blanche) after Edward II as there was no evidence
Eleanor was pregnant after her last son.

This is an ambitious project so it is hoped that eventually these and
other similar errors will be corrected.

I saw the presentation too and was most impressed. One thing that
Charles Cawley made clear was that he had done no research on the
English Sovereigns and major landholders. He had just copied an
outline from known secondary sources.

What we can see now is the first edition. He is already working on the
second edition, so it is likely that the first edition will not be
revised. He made one methodological point: he has now decided on a
policy of putting all unresearched, or hearsay, material in square
brackets; but this policy has not been fully implemented in the first
edition. He said that, correctly now, all the English material should
be in square brackets. Perhaps the advantage of the English major
landowners is that they are already very well researched in Complete
Peerage and its Amendments so there is no urgency for this to be done
yet.

In addition his principal attraction is that he is referencing all
known facts to published source documents. This can be seen for
instance in the article on the "Nobility in Flanders" in the Northern
France section within France within Medieval Lands data by Region. So if
you find an article without square brackets which also lacks these
reference numbers, it is not to be relied on. (I wonder if we can also
go as far as to say that if you find a fact without a reference number,
that too is not to be relied on?)

To me the totally commendable target is that of relying solely on
(mainly published) primary documents. His explicit and stated intention
is to do away with any reliance on any secondary documents. I wish him
every success in the long process of completing this massive work.
Particularly for continental European genealogy this should satisfy a
long felt need for properly referenced information in English (for our
blinkered race of non-linguists) on the early major landed families and
their rulers.

--
Tim Powys-Lybbe                                          tim@xxxxxxxxx
             For a miscellany of bygones: http://powys.org
.

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