When I have thoughts of nobility it is usually associated with royalty or more particularly with Kings and Queens of long ago and from far off lands. I remember, as a youth, hearing a family story that my mother had descended from an Indian ‘princess’ and I thought, at the time, that we were somehow special, even maybe having royal blood. Then a few years ago while writing my mother’s history, I researched her ancestry and she, in fact, did have a Chippewa Chief’s daughter in her direct line only three generations prior to my mother. As I read more about Native American traditions, I came upon an article about royalty and it said that Native Americans did not use the term royalty or Kings, Queens, and Princesses etc.. That terminology came only from the European traders and trappers and was neither a common nor appropriate term among the Native Americans whom they traded with.
As I became more and more involved in family history research I would frequently hear the advice, among others involved in this work, ‘That if you can trace your line back to royalty then you will be able to go back several generations easily because royal lines are already available.’ I later learned that there were well-to-do merchants in the middle ages, who wanted to be tied to royalty, so they would hire a genealogist to inappropriately tie them to royal lines. So, in reality, not all royal genealogies are accurate and true, many are bogus. How a person could determine one from another I have no idea. Prior to fifteen hundred, there were very few records available so most of the family history work during those periods are going to have to wait for the millennium for verification. That which can legitimately be traced has already been done. Temple work is approved for only those names that the Church can verify as authentic.
Royal families intermarried to maintain their royal lines; they were not allowed to marry a commoner. Many royal families have been referred to as ‘blue bloods’ identifying the condition of hemophilia, which some royal families members were known to have. This condition and other common diseases were kept in the family through the practice of inter-marrying.
Being somewhat of a history buff I have read somewhat about European royal families during the middle ages and how corrupt and cruel many of them were. It made me wonder why anyone would want to be related to them. There were a few benevolent kings and queens but the majority were not. When a person is raised in a privileged environment, with it being drummed into them daily that they are royalty and better than others of a lower class or social standing, they become puffed up. Some believed that they could get away with anything while taking advantage of the common folk. It seems to be human nature as described in the scriptures: “We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion. (D&C 121:39) When in reality all authority should be exercised in only one way, as also described in the Doctrine and Covenants: “No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood (authority, royalty), only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;” (D&C 121:41-43) Yes! Many may have worn a jeweled crown but there was often very little nobleness or nobility in their character nor in their royal edicts.
However, I have met many common folks who by nature of their dispositions and the way they have responded to others have shown nobility of character. George Bernard Shaw said that: “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” Many have created a life of respect and, yes, even nobleness. No, they were not born into royal families but they became noble by virtue of the way their lives were lived. Christ, who is known as the King of Kings is the greatest and most noble of all. His nobility is based on His kind heart, His loving nature and words of hope and encouragement. Without ever having met a King or any other member of a royal family, I have looked into the face of nobility many times and in looking I have seen a friend, a neighbor, even a member of my own family and yes, even a stranger. I saw nobleness because I saw in their faces those Christ-like characteristics of love and kindness. The wonderful thing about common nobility is that it can be contagious. A sage by the name of Lovell has said: “As one lamp lights another, nor grows less, so nobleness enkindles nobleness.” May we live such that when one looks into our faces, that they will see a value that they would like to emulate.
Too! As a people who have been encouraged to become involved in family history, let us not get caught up in trying to tie ourselves to royal lines. Those lines have been mostly worn out and worn thin, rather, stick with the common folk where real nobility is often common.