Related to Royalty

Yesterday, while digging through published Genealogies, I discovered that I am descended from royalty.

Here is a list, from parent to child, showing approximate birth year for each:

William I the Conqueror King of England  1027
Henry I "Beauclerc" King Of England      1068
Matilda (Maud) Empress Of Germany        1102
Henry II "Plantagenet" King Of England   1133
John "Lackland" King of England          1166
Joan Princess of England                 1188
Margred Verch Llywelyn                   1210
Maud de Clifford                         1234
Eleanor Giffard                          1275
Elizabeth le Strange                     1308
Roger Corbet                             1330
Robert Corbet                            1383
Roger Corbet                             1412
Anne Corbet                              1438
Blanche Sturry                           1472
Thomas Whitcomb                          1502
William Whitcomb                         1528
John Whitcomb                            1558
John Whitcomb                            1588
Johnathan Whitcomb                       1628
Johnathan Whitcomb                       1669
Johnathan Whitcomb                       1690
William Whitcomb                         1719
Oliver Whitcomb                          1749
Oliver Whitcomb                          1772
Hannah Whitcomb                          1806
Lucinda Haws                             1828
Mary Elizabeth Holdaway                  1856
Arthur Marion Conrad                     1882

I am a grandson of Arthur Conrad, and thus a 24th great-grandson of King John--the King John of Magna Carta fame.

This discovery is somewhat tempered by some realizations:

1. The descent is through Joan, who was an illegitimate daughter (although she married and became Princess of Wales, and later got Pope Honorius III to declare her birth legitimate).
2. King John must have millions and millions of descendants by now.
3. Although he was an innovator in some ways (ex. the Pipe Rolls), he had many disagreeable traits, and was recently selected as the "worst Briton" of his century.

Last year, in "Powers of two," I wrote about large numbers. These happen to apply in genealogy, for each of us has two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, etc.

So, by the time you reach William the Conqueror, my 28th great-grandfather, there are well over two billion ancestors in my family tree. In particular, William the Conqueror is only one of nearly 550 million 28th great-grandfathers (and an equal number of 28th great-grandmothers).

I don't know how many people were living in western Europe back then, but I doubt that it was anywhere near a billion. So, it doesn't seem very unlikely that one of them in particular was a progenitor.