Geni Projects

Posted on by Justin Durand

These are a few of the projects I started at Geni.com.

Many of my Geni projects reflect the work I did many years ago in graduate school about fictional genealogy in the Middle Ages. Back then, my primary interest was in the chansons de geste, the Arthurian legends, and the Scandinavian sagas.

Nowadays, my interest has broadened to include all forms of fictional genealogy, as well as ongoing academic attempts to find the Holy Grail of genealogy — a verifiable Descent from Antiquity.

I’ve mostly left the projects in other hands now, but many of them still contain good research summaries and sources.

America and the American West

There are many interesting stories in the world without resorting to fake genealogy.

Biblical Links

There are no proven links between Western Europe and biblical genealogies. There is a possible link through Paloma, but it’s controversial, More importantly, there is no proven descent from Makhir of Narbonne. The connection to Makhir was an academic theory that didn’t stand up to further research, but it is still alive in Internet fantasies.

Chivalric Orders

Descents from Antiquity

Despite what you might find on Geni, there are no proven descents from antiquity to western Europe. The oldest line generally accepted as proven is the O’Neill family back to about 600 — not quite far enough to reach Niall of the Nine Hostages himself. If you find a line on Geni that shows you are a descendant of Roman emperors, the kings of Troy, King Arthur, Cleopatra, King Herod, or Alexander the Great, it’s a known fake. These lines are on Geni only because so many people keep trying to add them back.

DNA for Genealogy

DNA is one of the best modern tools we have for investigating ancient stories.

Family Projects

Fictional Genealogy

Western Europe has a rich tradition of genealogies invented by different royal families as propaganda to create the illusion of antiquity. Some of the projects in this area are:

Heraldry

Irish Kingdoms

Jewish Genealogy

Locality Projects

These are places that have captured my attention, where I am interested in almost any connection someone has.

Modern Nonsense

  • Fake Titles. Geni has a few dozen users who are fake knights, princes, countesses, and so on. They are generally engaged in personal projects to prove they are the heirs of old royal families, descendants of Jesus, Grail princes, or members of a holy bloodline.
  • Holy Blood, Holy Grail. An idea drawn from popular culture, not history, that Jesus married Mary Magdalene, had children with her, and was the ancestor of the Merovingian dynasty.

Mormon History

Mythology

It should not surprise us that many tribal cultures believed they were descended from their gods.

  • Odin’s Kin. Descents from the Norse god Odin to the kings of Scandinavia, England, and Scotland.

The Scandinavian Sagas project isn’t one I created, but it’s pivotal to work in this area. The saga genealogies, some good, some bad. Most of them will start a shouting match between opposing camps.

New Age and Metaphysical Connections

Occupations

Royal & Noble

Saga Genealogies

Scottish Clans

The umbrella project for Scottish Clans was created and is administered by June Barnes.

Swedish Genealogy

Miscellaneous