Charles Martel's Family/Research Sources?

Question

I have done so much work trying to sort through good information and bad information. Sometimes a site says that someone was born in 710, sometimes 750. Is there anywhere I can find information that is accurate and detailed? (I can hardly find information on Grifo, Aude/Auda/Aldane/Alana, or Landree/Landrade... and a couple of the others anywhere...birth year/death year, marriage, children, etc.). I don't need specific information (unless you want to give it) - just a good source of information (preferably on the internet because I don't have much time to go to the library, but in-print sources are good, too). Please no Wikipedia. Sorry to be so picky.

I already used Encyclopedia Britannica Online...a Catholic website...and a few others.

Thanks.

Answer 1

ANY record online.. is not actually a record at all, especially something that happened in the 700s-800s.  The best source of information in research is an ORIGINAL DOCUMENT.. such as birth certificate, so forth. In the UK, for example, churches started parish records in the late 1500s/ early 1600s. Anything prior to that time frame is considered debatable by serious research. There may/may not be historical books on certain notable families, all of which is compiled long after the facts, and subject to interpretation or error. And many of the better known genealogical books are also disputed, or known to be faulty.

The internet has made research a million times easier for people to access.. however, the downside is that many persons avoid the tedious old fashioned route of locating documents.  Without the understanding of how documents relate to good/bad research, it can lead to misleading expectations.

edit-

please don't take my comments as hostile towards you. Your statement about sifting through conflicting info is a result of others posting "data" that no one has verified. As long as you work back from you, and use good sources.. you normally can avoid that. It also means a point at which people realize that certain limits exist on what can be found.  Persons who think they have traced their lineage back to Adam/Eve for example.. they are fooling themselves.

Answer 2

If you are trying to trace yourself or someone else from Charles Martel, the only way it can be done is to trace back from you or for the person you are tracing.

Let me explain something.  If you go back 10 generations, you can be directly descended from over a thousand individuals.  If you go back 20 generations, you can be directly descended from over a million individuals.  It pyramids.

To give you an idea of the time period of 10 generations, I am almost 73.  I have a 13xgreat grandather born in 1551.  You are probably much younger and could get back to 13 generations without going that far back.    You probably would be pushing 20 generations if you go back to 1551.

I use the word "can" as you will probably find as you go back, for instance,  you will probably find a great great grandfather in one family line is your great great great great grandfather in another.

The pyramiding is even greater when you try to trace the descendants of an individual.    You can really get lost in a big tangle.

For instance, Charlemagne's descendants are very numerous.  It is believed by some that 90% of the population of France and Germany are descended from Charlemagne.

Now, I don't know if this is your purpose but I don't believe you are going to find a website or a book giving you even a fraction of Martel's descendants.

Answer 3

He was born in Herstal, which is modern-day Belgium, around 688 AD. Dates are fluid because in that era calendars were disputable. The calendar has changed several times since then, including the bizarre French Revolutionary Calendar.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03629a.h...

Also, here is an excellent article on him, including information on his children, from a very reputable military historian named Kennedy Hickman: http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/army...

If you want to email me specific questions on specific people, I'll be happy to look them up and email the answers and sources to you. I promise, I don't use Wikipedia. Most of my sources are European and authenticated.