Your depiction might not be that far off...there is an oral history on one side of my family tree that claims the ancestor that started their rise to nobility was a common archer who got knighted by a bunch of drunken young nobles who were impressed by his ability to still shoot straight after consuming prodigious quantities of ale. From the actual records i was able to chase down, this seems to be a true story. The cleaned up version which has him being knighted by the Black Prince for his skill, bravery & drinking ability seems to be a total fairy tale. (That side eventually ended up as dukes-the other side of the tree were royals that kept getting on the losing side of political conflicts & being executed, exiled, or dispossessed).
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branchandroot
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Date: 2008-12-01 08:35 pm (UTC)Your depiction might not be that far off...there is an oral history on one side of my family tree that claims the ancestor that started their rise to nobility was a common archer who got knighted by a bunch of drunken young nobles who were impressed by his ability to still shoot straight after consuming prodigious quantities of ale. From the actual records i was able to chase down, this seems to be a true story. The cleaned up version which has him being knighted by the Black Prince for his skill, bravery & drinking ability seems to be a total fairy tale. (That side eventually ended up as dukes-the other side of the tree were royals that kept getting on the losing side of political conflicts & being executed, exiled, or dispossessed).
A.