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Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 1999-06 > 0928246200


From: <Michelle.Murphy%>
Subject: Breaks in the line of succession?
Date: Tue, 01 Jun 1999 15:10 +0100 (BST)


I noticed recently that someone on this list pointed out that when we trace a
descent from antiquity, we are going on what our ancestors pass down to us
regarding the identity of their parents. It's very possible that somewhere in a
descent from Charlemagne is a child who was passed off as the son of its
mother's husband, but was actually the son of someone else entirely. If the
child's mother's husband was the person descended from Charlemagne, then the
ancestry would end with this child: the child's descendants may have no
connection to Charlemagne or any other illustrious ancestors.

So what I am wondering is this: in your opinion as genealogists, what is the
most _likely_ occurrence of a royal child actually being fathered by someone
other than the accepted/claimed father? Notable examples that spring to my mind
are:

Juana la Beltraneja: her nickname indicates the popular belief that her father
was not the king. The fact that she signed herself as the Queen throughout her
life only proves that she _believed_ herself to be the king's daughter, not that
she actually was. She could not succeed to the Castilian throne because the
doubts over her paternity were so grave.

James "III" (The Old Pretender): The famous "warming pan" story claimed that a
baby was smuggled into Mary of Modena's bed, in place of her own. This enabled
enemies to claim that the boy was not really the King's son, and had no right to
succeed ahead of his two daughters by his first marriage, Mary and Anne.

Edward of Lancaster, Prince of Wales: gossip claimed that he was the son of
Margaret of Anjou's lover, Edmund Beaufort Duke of Somerset. Moreover, there's
the famous comment by Henry VI to the effect that the child's birth was thanks
to the Holy Spirit!, perhaps indicating that it certainly had nothing to do with
him!

Other possibilities include Charles VII of France (his own mother claimed he was
not the son of King Charles VI, but of his brother); Edward III (his mother took
at least one lover, and his father may very well have been gay - so is there a
possibility that Edward was not the King's son)?

The problem with such claims is that the best way to slander a royal heir is to
cast doubts on his/her paternity and right to succeed: such slurs have been cast
on many royal figures and most of them were probably just attempts at blackening
the person's name e.g. claims that Edward IV was the son of an archer who became
Cicely Neville's lover in Rouen.

Do any of you think there is an actual case where we can reasonably suspect a
royal heir's paternity?

regards,

Michelle Murphy

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