Broken Lines: Genealogical Literature in Medieval Britain and France (review)

Genealogy structured European medieval culture at its most basic levels—from the spirituality of Biblical paternities to the practicality of land ownership. As the editors of Broken Lines underscore, genealogy is fundamentally embedded in relations of power and authority. By drawing connections among past, present, and future through family structures, genealogy encompasses the mutually reinforcing effects of both historiography and prophecy. At the same time, narrative and diagrammatic genealogies make certain connections visible as readily as they hide others; they effectively sever as many relations as they forge.

The essays collected here touch on all of the major themes associated with genealogy: legitimation, prestige, unity, continuity, stability, inheritance, sovereignty, politics, fantasy. They also range across a number of different genres: lists, chronicles, portraits, diagrams, tombs, brasses, cartularies, romances, letters, oral performance. Most essays encompass a broad chronological sweep, making them effective surveys of issues related to specific narrative forms or regions. Unusually, then, for an essay collection of this type, Broken Lines offers a valuable introduction to students interested in British historiographical literature as well as a thought-provoking compendium for experienced scholars. The collection fulfills well the editors' goal of making genealogical literature more well-known (p. 5).

The book begins with a brief introduction by the editors, which locates genealogy within the broader scope of historiographical representation. Thirteen essays follow; they range from royalty to gentry, narrative to diagram, Latin to English and French, London to Wales and Scotland. (I will group the essays thematically, rather than strictly following the table of contents.) The first two essays examine broad interactions among historical and fantastical narratives from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries. In "Genealogy in Insular Romance," Raluca L. Radulescu surveys the influences of legendary characters from chronicles on romances (including Joseph of Arimathea, King Arthur, and Havelok the Dane). Lesley Coote's "Prophecy, Genealogy, and History in Medieval English Discourse" examines how prophecies (especially those concerned with lineage) shaped political consciousness throughout the later Middle Ages. Coote usefully underscores the dual roles of memory and forgetting in historiography. These two essays demonstrate both the longevity and malleability of narrative patterns initiated in the twelfth century.

Royal genealogies feature in three essays. In "A New Pattern of English History: The First Genealogical Rolls of the Kings of England," Olivier de Laborderie discusses genealogical diagrams accompanied by text in Anglo-Norman, arguing that the rolls contributed substantially to royal propaganda by asserting legitimating genealogies. De Laborderie also suggests that the rolls reached a much broader audience than contemporary narrative works. Marigold Anne Norbye also examines diagrammatic genealogies in the one essay focused on the Continent, "Genealogies in Medieval France." Alongside a survey of the principle diagrammatic sources, Norbye argues that visual representations of genealogies engage many of the same issues as narrative histories (p. 101). Nia M. W. Powell, in "Genealogical Narratives and Kingship in Medieval Wales," analyzes how claims to royal kinship shaped not only dynastic claims but social structures in general. Indeed, obsession with lineage became stereotypical in negative depictions of Welshmen by English commentators. All of these essays highlight the role of ancient lineage in efforts to legitimize royal authority, compensating for weaknesses of various kinds.

The aristocracy's genealogical concerns figure in three essays. In "Genealogies of Noble Families in Anglo-Norman," John Spence focuses on three family narratives: Genealogy of the Lords of Brecknock, the Delapre Chronicle, and the Mohun Chronicle. Spence identifies two major reasons behind decisions to commit family genealogies to writing: securing land and enhancing prestige. Similarly, John Denton's "Genealogy and Gentility: Social Status in Provincial England" explores some of the few written records of aristocratic genealogies produced prior to the sixteenth century (on tombs and in cartularies, using brass, stone, and paper). Denton argues that individuals sought to create durable records when oral memory seemed on the verge of failure or in response to specific lineal crises. Emilia...