I'm sure some of you have heard of certain historical personages being related to other noteworthy people. Perhaps you've heard of some that others haven't heard of.
For example:
John of Gaunt's favored mistress, Katherine Swynford, had a sister Philippa who married Geoffrey Chaucer. This makes Chaucer a distant relative of Henry VII and all the rest of the Tudors.

Does anyone else know of such interesting relations?

Well, BB King is a cousin of Bukka White, and Otis Spann was the half-brother (I think) of Muddy Waters. That's what comes immediately to mind!

I'm sure some of you have heard of certain historical personages being related to other noteworthy people. Perhaps you've heard of some that others haven't heard of.
For example:
John of Gaunt's favored mistress, Katherine Swynford, had a sister Philippa who married Geoffrey Chaucer. This makes Chaucer a distant relative of Henry VII and all the rest of the Tudors.

Does anyone else know of such interesting relations?

well, to continue on your train of thought, Chaucer was also a private tutor to John of Gaunt's daughter, Philippa of Lancaster. I believe Froissart also possibly tutored her. She would marry João I of Portugal, and they had many famous offspring, one of which was Henry the Navigator.....

The British author Robert Graves ('I, Claudius' etc.), well, his full name was Robert von Ranke-Graves, and his grandfather was the Monumentally Huge German historian Leopold von Ranke ('wie es eigentlich gewesen').

Most European monarchs are inbred related to each other. ;)

Henry James was the brother of William James, of course.

And Erasmus Darwin was the grandfather of (amazingly) Charles Darwin.

Pierre Jurieu was, I believe, the grandson of Pierre Du Moulin.

And Erasmus Darwin was the grandfather of (amazingly) Charles Darwin.
Wasn't Darwin (Charles I mean) also related to Josiah Wedgewood, the one with the plates?

Babur, the first Mughal ruler of India, was a descendant of both Chengiz Khan and Timur, both of whom directed their "attentions" towards India at one time of another. However, it was only Babur who built a lasting empire here.

Arthur Wellesley, younger brother of Lord Wellesley, Governor General of India, was given the "opportunity" to lead the assault against Tipu Sultan by his older brother, despite being only a colonel. That he was successful, and later went on to win great triumphs against Napoleon is a different matter.

Wasn't Darwin (Charles I mean) also related to Josiah Wedgewood, the one with the plates?
Yup, on his mothers side.
The Wedgewoods were heavily involved in the movement for the abolition of slavery as well, not just plates.

Darwin was also the cousin of Francis Galton, the inventor of both fingerprinting and eugenics.

Oh, just remembered that Nestorius was said to be the cousin of Theodore of Mopsuestia. However, I'm not sure if this was really true, or was said to discredit Theodore.

Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt were second cousins. President Martin van Buren was Teddy's Great-grandfather and Franklin's great-great-grandfather.

well the kennedys come to mind

I believe the German airforce has had a Richtofen in its ranks from 1918-1990s. Not sure about currently.

Not sure about hereditary peerage of Germans, but I'm fairly sure more than one Baron Richtofen has served.

I believe that the city of Bombay was given to the British crown as part of Catherine of Braganza's (Portuguese) dowry to some English dude (can't remember who). It was called Bom Baia back then.

I believe that the city of Bombay was given to the British crown as part of Catherine of Braganza's (Portuguese) dowry to some English dude (can't remember who). It was called Bom Baia back then.

Tangiers was also ceded to the English as part of Catherine's dowry to Charles II. The English held it for some years, but then backed off it. Another important center of Portugese power in Morocco, Ceuta, had passed under Spanish Rule after Sebastião's disastrous crusade. It was formally ceded to the Spanish upon Spain officially recognizing Portugal's independence, which incidentally was a few years after the dowry gift which had ceded Tangiers.

One of the main streets in Windhoek, Namibia is Göring Street. Hermann Göring's father, Heinrich Göring, had been Reichskommissar of the former German colony of Southwest Africa, which became Namibia.

Catherine II, the Russian empress, was the granddaughter of Russian emperor Peter I, but also of Karl XII, the Swedish king, Peter's enemy in the Northern war.

Catherine II, the Russian empress, was the granddaughter of Russian emperor Peter I, but also of Karl XII, the Swedish king, Peter's enemy in the Northern war.
It was not Catherine but her husband Peter III :)

Oh, yes, really, he was. Thank you, Commy :)

It was not Catherine but her husband Peter III :)This is the same Catherine who had "historical relations" with her horse no? :groucho:

Weren't Kaiser Wilhelm II (Last emporer of the German Empire) and Nicolas II (Last czar of Russia) cousins?

This is the same Catherine who had "historical relations" with her horse no? :groucho:

No, that's just a myth, alas!

No, that's just a myth, alas!*sniff sniff*

Weren't Kaiser Wilhelm II (Last emporer of the German Empire) and Nicolas II (Last czar of Russia) cousins?

Yep!

Adler

No, that's just a myth, alas!

what about Caligula? :mischief:

Kaiser Wilhelm II was the grandson of Queen Victoria. If they had used the new rules of inheritance in 1901, she would have been succeeded by her daughter, also Victoria, and then the Kaiser would have become king of the United Kingdom.

Wilhelm and Nicholas corresponded with each other for years in English, the language that they both had in common.

BTW, George V was also Wilhelm's and Nicholas' cousin.

Yeah. Wilhelm as British king! I think then the Hohenzollern should at first try to get the British throne. What uproar would happen in Britain then...

Adler

From George I on, the kings (and most of the queens) of England have been German.

George I, who was Elector of Hanover, succeeded Anne in 1714 because his mother was a granddaughter of James I. All his other great-grandparents were German. The Brits wanted a Protestant king, and George was the closest in the royal line of the correct religion. His wife was German. Their son, George II, also married a German princess.

George II's son, Frederick, also married a German princess (he predeceased his father--"Here lies poor Fred/Who was alive and is dead./Had it Been his father/I would have much rather/But since 'tis only Fred/There's no more to be said.").

Frederick's son, George III, also married a German princess. His fourth son, Edward, Duke of Kent, married a German princess and they had a single child, Victoria. Since none of Edward's older brothers had surviving legitimate children, Victoria became queen on the death of William IV.

Victoria married Albert, who was (you guessed it) a German prince.

Victoria's oldest son, Edward VII, broke the tradition, and married a Danish princess. However, the next king, George V, properly married a German princess.

George's eldest son, Edward VIII, wanted to marry an American, so he had to abdicate. (Seriously, the objection to Mrs Simpson was not that she was American, but that she was Mrs Simpson, and her involvement with Edward started while she was still married to Mr Simpson. In fact, Simpson was her second husband--she divorced her first husband because he was an alcoholic who beat her when he was drunk. She divorced Simpson so she could marry Edward.)

George V's second son, George VI, married Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (the "Queen Mum", who died a couple of years ago at 101), who was English/Scots.

Elizabeth II married Phillip Mountbatten (formerly Battenberg), whose father was a Greek prince, but whose mother was the daughter of a German prince and princess.

Yep, the British Royal family could get a German passport without big trouble...

Adler

However, I don't think royalty counts in this thread, because they're all related to each other by definition!

Not completely OnT but: The current King of Nepal (Gyanendra) rose to the thrown after his nephew (The Crown Prince and heir to the thrown) shot dead about 6 or 7 of the [then] current ruling royal family, then shot himself. Uncle Gyanendra returned from a holiday last year to find he was king. Huzzah!

Yes, that really seemed like a Real Life parody of "King Ralph" :D.