"Did your ancestor fight in the hundred years war?" Topic

"If you've ever wondered whether your ancestors served as a medieval soldier in the Hundred Years War, a newly launched website from historians at the universities of Southampton and Reading may have the answer.

The names of over 3,500 French soldiers linked to the Battle of Agincourt (1415) have been added to medievalsoldier.org. They join the quarter of a million names already available for English armies who fought in a number of campaigns, including Agincourt- forming what's believed to be the largest database of medieval people in the world. This latest stage of the Soldier in Later Medieval England project has been supported by the charity Agincourt 600 and by both universities…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Probably.

Looks like it. Certainly relatives.

52% of Brits are still fighting it.

There was an extra full stop. Try
medievalsoldier.org

No, he was sick.

With respect how is possibly to trace a direct family line back to the 11th century? I'd have thought more than a few hundred years would be tricky in most cases.

Huh. A welsh archer in King Henry V's army shares my last name.

willlucv, if you have a famous ancestor it gets easier. My mother is into family geneology and is lucky that her ancestry has been well documented for hundreds of years. On her side I'm descended from a lot of famous royalty during the early middle ages. Even after they had lost status (too many younger daughters in my line)and eventually immigrated to North America there were traceable records kept. Now my dad's family is tougher. We can only track back as far as his grandparents or great grandparents and then hit dead ends.

Never checked specifically about the 100 Years War but there's a very high chance that if a direct ancestor wasn't involved close relatives would have been. My ancestor seem to have been involved in a lot of the major events in English history from 1066 to the early 17th century.

Interesting. Looks like a possible distant ancestor, or at least a guy who shares my name, was a Man-at-Arms under the command of Captain Eyton Fulk at Cuadebec. How cool! I'm actually reading Arthur Conan Doyle's "White Company" and "Nigel Loring" adventure books set during the 100 Years War -- perfect timing!

It does kind of lose the personal touch when you find out someone born say 1500 has about 32000 descendants besides yourself.

Thanks for the better link.

Yep, looks like 240 hits with the family name, and some with my exact name.

Outside of our Finnish side, which arrived in Canada in the 1920s, there's too much of a disjoint between those who showed up in North America and those who left Europe to do things like this. In a couple of cases they went to the now-US first, then made it up to Canada, and there's almost no lineage to follow before arriving here.

The best trace is with a well-described Scottish clan, but it's still a case of "five James Elliots left Scotland in the 1790s, and five arrived in North America"; based on one letter, we might be able to identify the connection, but that's it.

Yep. 14 entries, although some look like repeats, though Thomas, John, Richard and Ralph would have been rather common names. I was impressed by the number of archers (I've always had a knack for accuracy; maybe it runs from there). There was also one knight. Several were in the forces of Henry V, so Agincourt is indeed a possibility. Others served Lancaster and John of Gaunt (which is surprising, as my leanings are Yorkist). And some were with Stanley…

Of course, their presence on the list doesn't surprise me, as my family surname is traceable to the Domesday Book. I had originally thought the line was Saxon, but further research pegged my lot as Norman invaders!

Not likely.

Can probably find my surname there, but the original version was anglicized by immigration.

My mother even sent off 50 years ago and got the 'family arms.'

Pity they were English when the ancestors were Slovenes.

Of course. Almost any European is directly related to the royal houses of France and England. My progenitors are the Plantagenets. So, HYW "veterans" all. :)

Perhaps not the HYW per se, but my ancestors did put Charles the Bold in his place.

I fear my ancestors were all abed. For the whole thing. I guess that explains the family motto: "We hold our manhoods cheap!"

My mothers maiden name was Asson so its a nice rare name to research. I happily found an archer with that surname.

Ap'rently, there was a guy with my surname in the English garrison at Verneuil in the 1430s. While he just conceivably might be my ancestor, the surname is definitely a coincidence, since mine was given to his children by a nineteenth century ancestor who didn't like his own.

Going back twenty generations one has approximately 1,000,000 great, great . . . great grandparents, so it's likely that one of my ancestors fought in this war.

Many relatives from my mother's side (Sanson), alas none at Agincourt. Lots of Millers but that is a more common name.