Quote Originally Posted by tripleblessed View Post
Also realized all descent is direct: that is, you either are or aren't descended. Primogeniture is an artificial
structure not universally practiced or even accepted. My Normans would applaud the concept, my Celts would
laugh, saying you only know who you're mother is, you mostly take her word about your father. The arrival of
DNA testing only reinforces that understanding. The talk shows doing "who's your daddy?" testing have shed
more light on what the the testers refer to as "non - paternal events". Runs about 1 in 10, at a minimum, so
primogeniture quickly becomes untenable. Thus the term "a duke's mixture".
Very interesting thread, thank you for the perspective. However, I want to add one more complication. Primogeniture aside, somewhere five generations back, I am apparently connected to landed gentry. Problem is that she was dis-inherited for marrying a sea captain. I doubt claims to be part of that family would be valid.