When I began my search for my ancestors, little did I know that I would uncover that I would find at least 23 saints that were direct ancestors. Of course, once you go back this far, there are millions of cousins out there, but you have to be able to find that starting point. I was lucky enough to find that link through my paternal great grandmother Emilia Caracciolo Di Torchiarolo.
Saint Elizabeth Aragon’s relation to you: Direct ancestor (22 generations)
1. Nicholas Victor Sorrentino is your father
2. Maria Luigia Piromallo is the mother of Nicholas Victor Sorrentino
3. Maria Emilia Caracciolo is the mother of Maria Luigia Piromallo
4. Filippo Caracciolo is the father of Maria Emilia Caracciolo
5. Prince Luigi Caracciolo is the father of Filippo Caracciolo
6. Prince Ambrogio II Caracciolo is the father of Prince Luigi Caracciolo
7. Prince Luigi Caracciolo is the father of Prince Ambrogio II Caracciolo
8. Ambrogio Caracciolo is the father of Prince Luigi Caracciolo
9. Prince Marino III Caracciolo is the father of Ambrogio Caracciolo
10. Prince Francesco Marino Caracciolo is the father of Prince Marino III Caracciolo
11. Francesca D’AVOLOS is the mother of Prince Francesco Marino Caracciolo
12. Inigo Aragon is the father of Francesca D’AVOLOS
13. Ferrante Francesco Aragon is the father of Inigo Aragon
14. Maria Aragon is the mother of Ferrante Francesco Aragon
15. Fernando Aragon is the father of Maria Aragon
16. Ferdinand I Naples is the father of Fernando Aragon
17. Alfonso V Aragon is the father of Ferdinand I Naples
18. Ferdinand I De Antequera Aragon is the father of Alfonso V Aragon
19. Eleanor Aragon is the mother of Ferdinand I De Antequera Aragon
20. Leonore Sicily is the mother of Eleanor Aragon
21. Afonso IV Portugal is the father of Leonore Sicily
22. Saint Elizabeth Aragon is the mother of Afonso IV Portugal
From Encyclopedia Britannica
Saint Elizabeth of Portugal, byname the Peacemaker, or the Holy Queen, Portuguese Santa Isabel de Portugal, or a Pacificadora, or a Rainha Santa, (born c.1271—died July 4, 1336, Estremoz, Port.; canonized 1625; feast day July 4), daughter of Peter III of Aragon, wife of King Dinis (Denis) of Portugal.
She was named for her great-aunt St. Elizabeth of Hungary and received a strict and pious education. In 1282 she was married to Dinis, a good ruler but an unfaithful husband. Despite the corrupt court life, Elizabeth maintained her devout habits, helped the sick and the poor, and founded charitable establishments. When her son Afonso rebelled against his father, Elizabeth rode between the two armies and reconciled father and son. She also helped settle disputes among other royal relatives. After Dinis died in 1325, she lived at Coimbra, Port., near a Poor Clare convent that she had founded, and devoted herself to people in need. She died on her way to the battlefield to make peace between her son, then King Afonso IV, and Alfonso XI of Castile.
Franciscan Media Visual Story
Catholic News Agency
On July 4, the Catholic Church celebrates St. Elizabeth of Portugal, a queen who served the poor and helped her country avoid war during the 13th and 14th centuries.
Elizabeth of Portugal was named for her great-aunt, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, who was canonized in 1235. Their lives were similar in some important ways: both of them were married at very young ages, they sought to live the precepts of the Gospel despite their status as royalty, and finished their lives as members of the Third Order of St. Francis.
The younger Elizabeth was born in 1271, the daughter of King Pedro III of Aragon and his wife Constantia. Even in her youth, Elizabeth showed a notable devotion to God through fasting, regular prayer, and a sense of life’s seriousness. While still very young, she was married to King Diniz of Portugal, a marriage that would put her faith and patience to the test.
King Diniz was faithfully devoted to his country, known as the “Worker King” because of his diligence. Unfortunately, he generally failed to live out the same faithfulness toward his wife, although he is said to have repented of his years of infidelity before his death. Diniz and Elizabeth had two children, but the king fathered an additional seven children with other women.
Many members of the king’s court likewise embraced or accepted various forms of immorality, and it would have been easy for the young queen to fall into these vices herself. But Elizabeth remained intent on doing God’s will with a humble and charitable attitude. Rather than using her status as queen to pursue her own satisfaction, she sought to advance Christ’s reign on earth.
Like her namesake and great-aunt Elizabeth of Hungary, Elizabeth of Portugal was a devoted patroness and personal friend of the poor and sick, and she compelled the women who served her at court to care for them as well. The queen’s bishop testified that she had a custom of secretly inviting in lepers, whom she would bathe and clothe, even though the law of the land barred them from approaching the castle.
Elizabeth’s commitment to the Gospel also became evident when she intervened to prevent civil war in the kingdom on two occasions. Alfonso, the only son of Diniz and Elizabeth, resented the king’s indulgent treatment of one of his illegitimate sons, to the point that the father and son gathered together rival armies that were on the brink of open war in 1323.
On this occasion, St. Elizabeth placed herself between the two opposing armies, insisting that Diniz and Alfonso come to terms and make peace with one another. In 1336, the last year of her life, she intervened in a similar manner to prevent her son from waging war against the King of Castile for his poor treatment of Alfonso’s own daughter.
Following King Diniz’s death in 1325, Elizabeth had become a Franciscan of the Third Order, and had gone to live in a convent that she had established some years before. The testimony of miracles accomplished through her intercession, after her death in 1336, contributed to her canonization by Pope Urban VIII in 1625.
Saint Adelaide of Italy
It’s really amazing to see who your ancestors were, assuming that you are lucky enough to find that one recent ancestor that has links back as far as the 6th or 7th century. Before then, much of the history is suspect and there is also a lot of myth and speculation involved. Many of the saints are pretty well documented though and St. Adelaide is one. Saint Adelaide de Bourgogne’s relation to you: Direct ancestor
Saint Arnulf of Metz My 40th Great Grandfather
Saint Arnulf ( Patron Saint of Brewers ) Click St. Arnulf PDF to see lineage. St. Arnulf. Arnulf was born to an important Frankish family near Nancy in Lorraine around 582.[3] The family owned vast domains between the Mosel and Meuse rivers.[4] As an adolescent, he was called to the Merovingian court of king Theudebert II (595–612) of Austrasia[5] where he was educated by Gondulf of Provence.[3] Arnulf was later sent to serve as dux
Saint Ancestors of Maria Emilia Caracciolo Di Torchiarolo/Saint Louis IX Capet of France
Click here to Join Italian Genealogy Group on Facebook So far I have found twenty-two saints that are direct ancestors of Maria Caracciolo Di Torchiarolo. Saint Louis is her 18th great grandfather and my 21st great grandfather as indicated in the chart at the bottom of the page. Louis IX, also called Saint Louis, (born April 25, 1214, Poissy, France—died August 25, 1270, near Tunis [now in Tunisia]; canonized August 11, 1297, feast day
Saint Adela Capet — 29th Great Grandmother
Saint Adela Capet of France is my 29th Great Grandmother. It’s a long road there through French, Flemish, Spanish and finally Italian ancestors. Her father was Robert II Capet King of France. Saint Adela (3), January 8 (Adelais, Adelaide). + 1071. Princess of France. Countess of Flanders. Abbess of Mecsene. The countess-queen. Daughter of Robert the Pious, king of France, 996-1031. Sister of Henry I, 1031-1000. Wife of Baldwin V. (of Lille), count of Flanders,
Saint Ferdinand of Castile my 21st GG
There is a long history of Ferdinand’s ancestors and descendants across many of my great great grandparents from Castile, Aragon and Leon. Ferdinand III Ferdinand III, also called Saint Ferdinand, Spanish San Fernando, (born 1201?—died May 30, 1252, Sevilla; canonized February 4, 1671; feast day May 30), king of Castile from 1217 to 1252 and of Leon from 1230 to 1252 and conqueror of the Muslim cities of Córdoba (1236), Jaén (1246), and Sevilla (1248).
Prince ( Saint ) Mikhail Vsevolodovich and Princess Maria Romanovna my 23 Great Grandparents
Saint Michael of Chernigov[1] or Mikhail Vsevolodovich[2] (c. 1185 – Saray, 20 September 1246) was a Rus’ prince (a member of the Rurik dynasty).[3] He was grand prince of Kiev (1236–1240, 1240, 1241–1243); and he was also prince of Pereyaslavl (1206), of Novgorod-Seversk (1219–1226), of Chernigov (1223–1235, 1242–1246), of Novgorod (1225–1226, 1229–1230), and of Halych (1235–1236).[2] Realtionship Chart to Prince Mikhail Relationship Chart Archaeological evidence reveals that Chernihiv towns enjoyed an unprecedented degree of prosperity during his
