Prior to the Reformations in Britain in 1534 and 1560, it can become significantly harder to make progress in our ancestral research. As can be seen on shows such as Who Do You Think You Are?, however, it may be possible to make a breakthrough back to the medieval era, thanks to a connection into a royal line, a parallel line within the landed classes, or even at the commoners level. The medieval era, also referred to as the ‘Middle Ages’, spans from the mid 5th century departure of the Romans from Britain, to the mid 15th century, prior to the Renaissance. For the earlier phase of this period, we can effectively rule out any meaningful research into our earlier forebears, although we can certainly understand from contemporary and near contemporary sources the history of the territories where our ancestors lived.
One of the most famous sources documenting early England, for example, is the ‘Anglo-Saxon Chronicle’ (https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2016/02/anglo-saxon-chronicles-nowonline.html), believed to have been written in the late 9th century AD during the reign of King Alfred the Great at Wessex. It documents the history of the Anglo-Saxons in southern England, and before their arrival in the country, going as far back as the year 60BC. The chronicle, in essence a series of ‘annals’ structured as a chronology drawn from earlier contemporary manuscripts, exists through many copies (which don’t always agree with each other), and continued to be updated until the early 12th century. It thus provides a detailed source bridging the gap from the Romans’ departure to the
