The Talk Genealogy Podcast

Send us Fan MailThis book offers a practical guide for family historians who have researched their pedigree back to the start of parish registers, but view the Middle Ages with some trepidation. I’ve written for readers who are well-versed in Modern Genealogy but may have only a popular understanding of Medieval history.  The accession of Henry VIII marks the beginning of Modern Genealogy. His reform of the English church introduced parish registers, his strengthening of local administration empowered the vestry, and his Dissolution of the Monasteries prompted a redistribution of property, accelerating the engrossment and enclosure of open fields. In short, the Tudor tyrant gave us the parish chest and instructed church wardens to fill it with documents of record that continue to inspire fledgling family historians nearly five hundred years later. Those principles just won’t do across the pre-Henrician landscape. While the apparently barren landscape beyond the parapet of the Parish Chest might prompt a despair that a family’s history has stalled at a brick wall,  a better metaphor of the upper reaches of a faltering river is more encouraging.  Sometimes, the evidence will take us, trouble-free, from one generation to the next. Sometimes, we might draw on a source of legal standing. But, more often, we will find ourselves building a case based on circumstantial evidence and corroboration. Any researcher into Medieval Genealogy spends much energy in pursuit of corroboration.  But genealogies which do not end in a brick wall they must prepare to fade into uncertainty. The number of generations may vary, but all well-prepared genealogies culminate in ambiguity. The genealogist’s task is to bring clarity rather than elusive certainty to that ambiguity A template for accessing this unfamiliar world was provided by the genealogist, Horace Round, who presented a paper to London’s 4th International Congress of Historical Sciences (April 2–9, 1913)7 which is seen as a landmark event in the development of history studies, even today.  “The scheme I propose is based upon the feudal system alone,” he wrote. “I would therefore discard the Old English divisions, the county, the hundred and even the township and would restrict myself to that newer and rival system of the manor. By working on feudal lines it will be possible to construct the great network of tenure that the system had spun about the land and to base upon the sound footing the pedigrees not only of the tenants-in-chief but of their undertenants.” The book begins with guidance on developing research strategies,  followed by a detailed account of the English manor—the bedrock of Medieval Genealogy. From there, we move through a sequence of  sources,  from which fragments may be drawn into a synthesis of evidence, building on a knowledge of the time, place and people (a three-legged-stool) and defined by triangulation or other corroboration. Thus, the research pathway becomes implicit in his definition. By opening up his method in this way, he hands the tools to his audience—not so much to challenge his position, but to pick up the cudgels and further the research. Check out  A Practical Introduction to Medieval Genealogy by Malcolm Noble

Send us Fan MailUnderstanding the Medieval Church: Parish Life and Historical InsightDescription: Based on a detailed early 20th-century historical work, this episode unpacks the complexities of medieval church structure, parish communities, and the evolving tensions that led toward the Reformation. A must-listen for anyone interested in medieval history, church organisation, and the craft of historical research.Alex Hamilton Thompson studied classics at Cambridge University,  He joined Leeds University in 1922, where he became the head of the department, became a professor, and was the leading light in the study of mediaeval history of his time. So it's quite a treat when we're given a 1926 pamphlet by him because not only is it the height of his career, but he is talking to an educated audience, a specialist audience even, but in a slightly less formal tone. And that's what makes this paper such a delight.It is something of a misnomer to call this a pamphlet, certainly in soft covers, but it's about 20,000 words long, so it's no one’s light homework. He begins by outlining the history of communities in pre-conquest England. He then talks about the coming of the church in a very detailed way so that we learn not only why bishops, archbishops, deacons, archdeacons, rural deans, and incumbents are important, but we understand the hierarchy, and we understand their function, or as he will put it, their mission.So that's an important structure if we're going to follow Thompson's line of research. I'm then going to lead to the last chapter of his pamphlet because I think he discussed the architecture of the church last in order to round off his talk. Actually, in terms of structure, that architecture needs to come in next, and it makes an important point that we need to research the incumbents because we need to know what the parishioners were being told.Most incumbents at the time just wanted to do what they were told. So they followed the party line and were quite happy to, and most people sat and listened to it. The difference is that as we approach the Reformation and a little bit before that, about 100 years before that, the people who did not want to follow the party line became a lot more vociferous.He encourages not to get involved in the mythology of the particular church. Every church has its stories and its legends. I would say yes, accept those myths as stories of the time, try to bottom them out, try to get to the truth of it. Always look out for a scandal. Always look out for people taking sanctuary, looking out for forced marriages, and look out for presentments and penitence. They give a very good highlight. The other thing I would say, really, I guess this should be an episode on its own, is do look at the carvings.  He then goes into the actual breadth of resources that are available to the parish historian, not just the stuff in the parish chest, but also the maps, especially giving some time to that.From 1937 until his death in 1952, he was the president of the Listershire Archaeology Society. He died way down in Exmouth at the age of 78. He wrote several works, as you would expect. He produced the ground plan of the English Parish Church in 1911, a copy of which I'm still looking for, the growth of the English Church that was in 1911, 1912, military architecture in England during the Middle Ages, and in 1913, English monasteries. What a nice little clutch of books they would make on the bookcase. He gave us three volumes of visitations of religious houses in the Diocese of Lincoln. What a pity I'm not researching Lincolnshire.To the popular audience, I guess he has pretty much disappeared, but he certainly has a place amongst those of us who want to follow hiCheck out  A Practical Introduction to Medieval Genealogy by Malcolm Noble

Send us Fan MailHow the medieval taxation policy of forced knighthood not only raised funds, demanded loyalty and collected information but it also further defined the class order of settlements during England's Middle Ages.  Supported by case studies and analysisCheck out  A Practical Introduction to Medieval Genealogy by Malcolm Noble

Send us Fan MailIn this episode of the Talk Genealogy Podcast, the family history podcast for genealogist with too much time on their hands, takes a tour around a doctor's house from the eighteenth century. Check out  A Practical Introduction to Medieval Genealogy by Malcolm Noble

Send us Fan MailA discussion of the old English fiction that the father is whoever the marriage indicates.  Not only the legal cases that lasted for more than two hundred years but also the implication for family historians.  The talk genealogy podcast builds an audio library for genealogists with too much time on their handsCheck out  A Practical Introduction to Medieval Genealogy by Malcolm Noble

Send us Fan MailEducation in London's grammar school was disrupted during World War Two. The usual examinations were both unsafe and impractical. Check out  A Practical Introduction to Medieval Genealogy by Malcolm Noble

Send us Fan MailThe first of three  episodes looking  into my new  book, A Practical Introduction to Medieval Genealogy.  This one talks about the practical keys to research and how to find, evaluate and analyse evidence for your medieval family tree.To coincide the publication this episode had disrupted our schedule somewhat. But things will sort themselves outCheck out  A Practical Introduction to Medieval Genealogy by Malcolm Noble

Send us Fan MailLet's takes a close look at how the UK Victorian Census can help us build our family history.  Here, is the Talk Genealogy Podcast fro Genealogists with Too Much Time on Their Hands. Check out  A Practical Introduction to Medieval Genealogy by Malcolm Noble

Send us Fan MailHere is a bonus episode for the Genealogists with Too Much Time on Their Hands.  In this episode of the Talk Genealogy podcast, medievalist Malcolm Noble talks about how to get the support of your Member of Parliament for issues related to genealogyCheck out  A Practical Introduction to Medieval Genealogy by Malcolm Noble