[ek_hornbeck]

I wonder if the Normans are sufficiently distinct genetically for us to determine what their genetic contribution has been to the average Englishman. Probably low because even though they were the conquerors and ruling class for centuries, there weren't very many of them.

[Justa]

When the Roman empire fell invasion and genocide was the order of the day for many of its colonies.

[Shadow44]

Makes sense since it’s highly unlikely the Celtic population was annihilated by the invading Anglo-Saxons.

[BwanaNdege]

I wonder if the Normans are sufficiently distinct genetically for us to determine what their genetic contribution has been to the average Englishman. Probably low because even though they were the conquerors and ruling class for centuries, there weren't very many of them.

If one is to believe the many lurid tales of "prima nocta" (First Night), then a very few Norman lords could have had a significant impact.

[odawg]

The Normans (Northmen) were Danes who lived in France long enough to speak French.

[VanShuyten]

England was a real melting pot. In addition to the Normans and other Scandinavians like the Danes and Vikings, there were the Romans and their slaves from the entire empire and also Protestant refugees from France, Germany, and Central Europe.

I read somewhere that the percent of people with original Briton blood was actually pretty small.

[centurion316]

Since the Normans were Vikings, they are likely difficult to distinguish between the other Norse immigrants in Britain and Ireland.

[ameribbean expat]

Anybody ever done anything on Frisian DNA and its presence in cross-Channel venues?

[Snickering Hound]

Celt/Roman/Anglo Saxon/Viking/Norman French, those Brit girls get around.

[frithguild]

The Normans were either Celts or Francs or both. I am not sure. Rollo, a Viking, came to rule by conquest, which came to by the Duke of Normandy and through succession William the Conqueror. Brittany is Celtic, as we know from the Breton language.

[omega4412]

As the song goes

Saxon, you can waste your stitches
Building beds for bugs in breeches:
We have woad to clothe us, which is
Not a nest for fleas.

[Buckeye McFrog]

[insert punchline containing “British Women” and “how the heck does the DNA ever get transferred anyhow?” here]

[Peter Libra]

An extremely interesting post to my own recollections., and for what it is worth. School time in WW2 England was my introduction to history. We were told of the fierce tribes from what is now Germany. The Angles, Saxons and Jutes were the invaders after the Roman legions left the land of the Brythons (Britons). They left to defend Rome from the barbarians, the Roman legions had invaded in 55BC. They ruled until about 410AD. The "Ancient Britons" started to take over their own land.

Then came the Germanic people, about 80 years after the Romans departed. As warlike as they were, they could not subdue the people where Wales is today. They also had trouble to subdue the Britons where Cornwall is today. Then came the Norsemen. They even had their own small kingdom and at one time a Danish king- he was King Cnut. Finally the Norman conquest 1066 AD. Quite the mix. It is said that about a 1000 persons claim to be descended from the original Normans. Very hard to prove though.

A bit of a ramble by me, but just had to put in a few items from all those years ago in history lessons.

[sauropod]

bfl

[cardinal4]

I wonder if the Normans are sufficiently distinct genetically for us to determine what their genetic contribution has been to the average Englishman. Probably low because even though they were the conquerors and ruling class for centuries, there weren't very many of them.

That is true, however, both Henry I and II did their best populate the Isles. I believe Henry I had about 20 illegitimate kids. (I actually hate that term). I would like to see how Plantagenet DNA was dispersed..

[Little Bill]

I M253,

[x_plus_one]

The short, dark, murdering, piratical vikings left their DNA in Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Norway, Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Norman France, Sweden, anywhere in the Baltic or the North Sea and along the rivers of Europe or Russia.

Vikings were also extreme slavers. All those tomb monuments and ring forts were built with slave labor. There was only slave labor until Christianity took root.

[Viiksitimali]

Supplementary Figures
http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160119/ncomms10326/extref/ncomms10326-s1.pdf

Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon genomes from East England reveal British migration history
http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160119/ncomms10408/full/ncomms10408.html

[Rockpile]

Looking at the triple burial photo notice that the wife and kid are still talking.

[LonePalm]

The Normans were genetically identical to the Danes and other Scandinavian groups, hence Normandy the place of the North Men.

"Ceterum censeo 0bama esse delendam."

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[Viiksitimali]

GGG Ping