My Family Tree Link to Alfonso II – King of Aragon
While doing some research on the last name of Gumucio (my mother’s maiden name), back in the early 2000’s, my uncle was able to identify that the founder of Bilbao, an individual by the name of Diego Lopez V de Haro, Lord of Vizcaya (born around 1090) is directly related to the Gumucio family.
Diego Lopez V de Haro, Lord of Vizcaya
That was a fortuitus link in that it allowed us to trace de Haro’s mother’s direct line to Alfonso II, King of Aragon, born in 1157 in Huesca, Spain and died in Perpignan, France in 1196.
That sent me into research mode and I started to work backwards from Alfonso II to see what his ancestry looked like and how far back in time I might be able to extend the line.
Alfonso II, King of Aragon
That effort turned into a monumental project that, in the end, consumed four 3-inch binders worth of paperwork and over 5 months worth of research.
It is interesting to see that, once you land on a royal in your family tree, you are in for a long ride through royalty that crosses country boundaries and ethnicities, creating a very interesting and diverse family tree.
In my case, with the Gumucio family, I was able to identify that from Alfonso II back to the 500’s, almost everyone has either a Prince, Princess, Duke, Duchess, Count, Countess, King or Queen in their title, either inherited or through marriage.
What a fascinating list of characters it turned out to be! As royals of one country couldn’t find other suitable royal mates to marry within their countries, they were forced to extend their search for spouses into other near and far off regions.
The ancestry path for my family meandered from Spain to France, England, Germany, Sweden, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Croatia, Italy, Austria, and even into the Middle east, to the Byzantine Empire, and the Ottoman Empire.
What an incredible journey this has been for me. It has certainly broadened my perspective on the world at large.
James I Stewart, King of the Scots
I am now doing research on my wife’s family tree. Her’s is starting to take a similar slant towards the royal side given that her ancestry runs through James I Stewart, King of the Scots, born in 1394 and who lived until 1437.
Another journey awaits me!
