Which Castle Builder are you most closely connected to?

Question

This week we're featuring Richard the Lionheart in the Connection Finder to mark his birthday on September 8. Richard famously built Chateau Gaillard.

Featured alongside him are other Castle Builders:

• Gilbert de Clare, Caerphilly Castle
• Gustav Vasa, Vadstena and Uppsala Castles
• Edward Longshanks, Caernarvon Castle
• Robert Dunsmir, Craigdarroch
• Bess of Hardwick, Hardwick Hall
• Ludwig II, Neuschwanstein
• William Randolph Hearst, Hearst Castle
• Louis XIV, Château de Versailles
• Wilhelm Moritz Graf zu Solms-Greifenstein, Castle Braunfels
• William Burges, Cardiff Castle

Who are you most closely connected to? If you're one of the 23,587,000 of us who are connected to each other on our big tree you can check with the Connection Finder.

You can check for shared ancestors with the Relationship Finder. Are you a cousin to any of them? Your Relationship Finder Quick Links page (see your profile pull-down menu under "Relationships") has quick links for several notable groups.

Special feature: Check out how you're connected to other great builders by searching the featured royalty category and related categories like Architects and England Architects, using the green MyConnections button in the upper right hand corner of the page.

Let us know how you're related below! If you want to share your connection on social media with cousins and friends, click the "get shareable image" below the results, e.g. Gustav Vasa and Richard Lionheart. Then just upload it along with the URL of your direct connection. (Please refrain from sharing your connection on the featured profiles themselves, though. It clutters conversations on research and collaboration. Thanks!)

P.S. Help us choose and improve profiles for next week's feature on Pirates!

Comments

22 Degrees from Gilbert de Clare

24 Degrees from Gustav Vasa

23 Degrees from Edward Plantaganet, he is my 23 great grandfather.

21 Degrees from Robert Hamilton Dunsmuir

22 Degrees from Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm

18 Degrees from William Hearst

21 Degrees from Louis Dieudonne

24 Degrees from Wilhelm Moritz

30 Degrees from William Burges

18 Degrees from Bess Hardwick.

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To recognise and celebrate your relationship to King Richard I of England, you can put this sticker on your own profile in the Biography section (to get the Relationship Finder to work). Just copy and paste the following code into your own profile. You will need to replace "Whatever your relationship is" with your real relationship!

{{Relationship Sticker
|image=UK_Flags-47.png
|imagetext=Crown of St Edward
|relationship=Whatever your relationship is
|name=King Richard I (the Lionheart) of England
|id=Plantagenet-248
}}

The sticker features the crown of St Edward the Confessor, which is the coronation crown of Great Britain.

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Jo Fitz-Henry,

Thank you very much for posting this.  Appreciate it. ;)

Betty

Answer 1

Bess of Hardwick at 21 degrees! I suggested her because she's one of my favourite historical figures, she also the closest connection amongst the featured profiles.

Comments

I'm reading a v. interesting book about her at the moment.

Answer 2

• 19 degrees from William Randolph Hearst - 17c3xr
• 19 degrees from Louis Dieudonné (Bourbon) de France - 9c12xr
• 20 degrees from Elizabeth Hardwick - 3c13xr
• 21 degrees from Robert Hamilton Dunsmuir
• 22 degrees from Gustav (Eriksson) Vasa - 13c15xr
• 22 degrees from Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm (Wittelsbach) von Bayern - 16c5xr
• 23 degrees from Edward Plantagenet - 21 great grandfather
• 23 degrees from Gilbert (Clare) de Clare - 23 great grandfather
• 23 degrees from Wilhelm Moritz (zu Solms-Greifenstein) zu Solms-Braunfels-Greifenstein-Hungen - 12c12xr
• 26 degrees from Richard (Plantagenet) of England - 23 Great Uncle
• 30 degrees from William Burges

Answer 3

17 degrees to William Randolph Hearst is the closest connection.  Not a cousin, as there is one marriage on the path.

Richard Plantagenet's father Henry is a direct ancestor, making me a 23rd great grandnephew of Richard. Apparently I'm descended from Henry 6 ways, most often through immigrants from Holland to New York.  There are also a couple of paths through England.

I'm also a 23rd great grandnephew of Gilbert de Clare, and Edward is a 1st cousin 22 times removed.

Louix XIV, Hearst, Gustav Vasa, Ludwig II, Wilhelm Moritz, and Elizabeth Hardwick are all some sort of distant cousins.  This is many more than usual, but perhaps no surprise since people with castles tend to be heavily researched, and people love to trace their ancestry to them.

Comments

We have to be related as our results are similar with the distant cousins and moreover Longshanks is a 23rd great grandfather of mine and de Clare a 22nd great grandfather. I am also a direct descendant of the Plantagenet family from other siblings. My dna and Gedmatch are connected to my profile so if you know yours we should see.

 Cheers!

 Becky Elizabeth

(Simmons- 11603)

Answer 4

I am most closely connected to Bess of Hardwick at 23 degrees.

Answer 5

Blood relation with all but two. Direct descendant of two, cousins to the others. Closest direct ancestor is Gilbert (Clare) de Clare, 22nd great-grandfather. To determine which of the "cousins" was closest I had to go back to the Connection Finder--William Randolph Hearst, 18 degrees or 16th cousins, 3 times removed.

Comments

Very similar to me, Nelda. Looks like we're 14th cousins once removed.

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Nelda and I are 18th cousins, and you and I are 19th 2x removed!

Nelda (Gilchrist) Spires and Yula Flournoy are both descendants of Katherine (Mortimer) de Beauchamp (abt.1314-abt.1369).

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  Isn't it amazing, Yula? Just to think that if only one of them hadn't existed, we wouldn't be here either. I never cease to marvel. 

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We have the same 22nd great grandfather :) So Hey Cousin !

  Becky Elizabeth (Simmons-11603)

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So we are! Amazing. 

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I think everyone is related to everyone else, it's just a matter of how far back and whether it is documented.  

Nelda	12c 
Frances 17c1r
Yula	17c3r
Becky   12c3r

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Is the "Becky 12c3r" relating to me? 12 cousin 3x removed? Just confirming...if so thanks for posting; well even if not that's for sharing :)

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Yep!  That was for all the folks on replies to this answer.  N.B. that relationship is with Douglas but we are also 13c2r through Auchinleck on a path that is much the same for your line but very different for mine starting at gen 3

An, of course, there are scores of more distant relationships.

Answer 6

23 degrees from Richard I of England. I am his 20th great grandnephew.

21 degrees from Gilbert de Clare. My 19th great grandfather.

21 degrees from Gustav Vasa. 10th cousin 16 times removed. MRCA Magnus Bengtsson (abt 1150 - aft 1207).

22 degrees from Edward Longshanks I of England. My 20th great grandfather.

20 degres from Robert Dunsmuir.

18 degrees from Bess of Hardwick. 6th cousin 13 times removed. MRCA Reynold de Grey (1323 - 1388).

20 degrees from Ludwig II. 11th cousin 5 times removed. MRCA James Stewart IV of Scotland (1473 - 1513).

18 degrees from William Randolph Hearst. 12th cousin 7 times removed. MRCA John Kennedy (1436 - aft 1508). Some uncertainty on my end. I have serious doubts about this one, but that's what Wikitree gives. Supposedly, you can get there three ways through my Watson line, the very line that represents a point of contention for me.

16 degrees from Louis XIV of France. 8th cousin 11 times removed. MRCA John Plantagenet of Gaunt (abt 1340 - 1399).

21 degrees from Wilhelm Moritz Graf zu Solms-Greifenstein. 8th cousin 13 times removed. MRCA Elisabeth (Wettin) von Meissen (1329 - 1375).

29 degrees from William Burges.

Comments

...which makes us 16th cousins. Thomasine (Gresley) Darell is our 15th GGM. Amazing.

Answer 7

Wow!!

16 degrees from Ludwig of Bayern (Bavaria) - 17C3R
19 degrees from Wilhelm Moritz - 12C12R
20 degrees from Louis 14th of France - 10C10R
20 degrees from Gustav Vasa - 13C15R
20 degrees from Robert Dunsmuir - Not related
21 degrees from Bess of Hardwick - 6C13R
23 degrees from William Hearst - 16C6R
23 degrees from Gilbert De Clare - 21st great granddaughter
23 degrees from Edward 1st of England - 21st great granddaughter
23 degrees from William Burges - Not related
26 degrees from Richard Lionheart - 23rd great niece
(I am descended from his brother - the horrible King John of England)

Answer 8

13 degrees from Wilhelm Moritz Graf zu Solms - 3rd cousin, 10 times removed

14 degrees from each of Ludwig II, King of Bavaria (fifth cousin, four times removed), Louis XIV, King of France (3rd cousin, 11 times removed) and Gustav Vasa, King of Sweden (12th great, grandfather)

18 degrees from Beth of Hardwick (5th cousins, 14 times removed)

22 degrees from Edward I, King of England (21st great, grandfather)

23 degrees from Gilbert de Clare (22nd great, grandfather) and Richard I, King of England (20th great, grand uncle)

Answer 9

While I build 'castles in the sand' at the beach, I have a number of Castle Builders who are also related by blood (albeit a drop or two):

18 degrees: Elizabeth Hardwick; 9c11x MRCA John (Butler) deVerdun

21 degrees: Gilbert de Clare; 2c20x MRCA Isabel (Clare) Marshal AND William Hearst; 18c3x MRCA Robert de Holland

22 degrees: Edward I; 1c22x MRCA John Plantagenet of England AND Louis XIV; 12c7x MRCA Margaret Eleanor Mortimer

24 degrees: Gustav Vasa; 14c14x MRCA Adele Capet de France AND Ludwig II 19c MRCA Edmund Mortimer

25 degrees: Richard I of England; 22great uncle MRCA Alienor de Aquitaine AND Wilhelm Moritz; 15c9x MRCA Isabelle (Morialmes) de Bethune

Answer 10

18 degrees from Elizabeth Hardwick (5th cousins, 16x removed)
19 degrees from William Hearst (16th cousins, 6x removed)
19 degrees from Ludwig II von Bayern (17th cousins, 2x removed)
21 degrees from Louis XIV de France (10th cousins, 11x removed)
21 degrees from Robert Dunsmuir
21 degrees from Gustav Vasa (13th cousins, 15x removed)
22 degrees from Wilhelm Moritz zu Solms-Braunfels-Greifenstein-Hungen (10th cousins, 11x removed)
23 degrees from Edward I Plantagenet (21st great grandson)
24 degrees from Gilbert de Clare (24th great grandson)
26 degrees from Richard I of England (23rd great grand nephew)
30 degrees from William Burges

Answer 11

23 degrees from Richard I of England, 21st great grand niece

18 degrees from Louis XIV de France, 7C11R

17 degrees from William Hearst, 11C2R

21 degrees from Gustav Vasa, 10C14R

22 degrees from Ludwig II von Bayern, 11C3R

21 degrees from Wilhelm Moritz zu Solms-Braunfels-Greifenstein-Hungen, 8C11R

26 degrees from William Burges, no relationship

17 degrees from Elizabeth Hardwick, 5C13R

22 degrees from Robert Dunsmuir, no relationship

20 degrees from Gilbert de Clare, 18th ggd

21 degrees from Edward I Plantagenet 19th ggd

24 degrees from Dagmar Thorisdottir 24th Cousins

Answer 12

I am most closely related to Louis XIV of France, "the Sun King."  Another (if accidental) connection that might explain why I did so well at studying French.  Any detail would be bragging.

Richard I "Lionheart" has a special significance for English lawyers.  Some rights must have existed since "time immemorial."  Legal memory officially started running in 1189 when Richard came to the throne.  Australia did not exist back then, so those rights cannot exist here.  Walt Disney's version of "Robin Hood" assumes that the events took place during Richard's absence at the Crusades, when John was Regent.  (T.H. White's "The Sword in the Stone" has Wart and Kay as boys, going on an outing with Robin Hood, under the motherly care of Maid Marian.)

Answer 13

In theory, Gilbert de Clare is my 20th Great Grandfather.

Comments

And my 22nd so it is nice to meet another relative Laurie! Cheers! Becky Elizabeth (Simmons-11603)

Answer 14

I am most closely connected to Elizabeth Hardwick and William Hearst at 20 degrees of separation.

• 20 degrees from Elizabeth Hardwick
• 20 degrees from William Hearst
• 23 degrees from Louis XIV de France
• 23 degrees from Gustav Vasa
• 23 degrees from Ludwig II von Bayern
• 24 degrees from Robert Dunsmuir
• 24 degrees from Wilhelm Moritz zu Solms-Braunfels-Greifenstein-Hungen
• 26 degrees from Edward I Plantagenet
• 27 degrees from Gilbert de Clare
• 29 degrees from Richard I of England
• 30 degrees from William Burges

Answer 15

Gilbert (Clare) de Clare - 23rd great grandfather
Edward (Edward I) "Longshanks -  23rd great grandfather
Richard I, the Lionheart - 24th great grand uncle

Bess of Hardwick - 5th cousins 16 times removed
Louis XIV - 9th cousins 12 times removed
Wilhelm Moritz - 9th cousins 15 times removed
Gustav Vasa - 13th cousins 17 times removed
Ludwig II - 14th cousins 4 times removed
William Randolph Hearst - 16th cousins 5 times removed

Answer 16

I'm
17 degrees from Robert Dunsmuir
18 degrees from Elizabeth Hardwick  (3rd cousins, 15 times removed)
18 degrees from Louis XIV de France (9th cousins, 10 times removed)
19 degrees from Ludwig II von Bayern (15th cousins 3 times removed)

And while I'm 21 degrees from Edward I Plantagenet but I'm a direct descendant - his 19th great granddaughter,  22 degrees from Gilbert de Clare, and a direct descendant - 21st great-granddaughter & 24 degrees from Richard I of England but also his 21st great grand niece 

The others range from 21 to 32 degrees & only no known genealogical relationship with 2 - Robert Dunsmuir & William Burges. 

 32 degrees from Dagmar Thorisdottir - though 25 cousins 4 times reoved  

Never ceases to amaze may how interconnected we really are.  

Answer 17

• Gilbert de Clare, Caerphilly Castle - 20th ggrandaughter
• Gustav Vasa, Vadstena and Uppsala Castles - 11th cousins 17 x removed
• Edward Longshanks, Caernarvon Castle  -20th ggrandaughter
• Robert Dunsmir, Craigdarroch
• Bess of Hardwick, Hardwick Hall  -4th cousins, 14x removed
• Ludwig II, Neuschwanstein  - 12th cousins, 4x removed
• William Randolph Hearst, Hearst Castle -  12th cousins, 4x removed
• Louis XIV, Château de Versailles-  7th cousins, 12x removed
• Wilhelm Moritz Graf zu Solms-Greifenstein, Castle  Braunfels - 8th cousins, 14x removed
• William Burges, -Cardiff Castle

Answer 18

Oh boy, this will be interesting.

17 degrees from Elizabeth Hardwick (10th cousin 18 times removed)
18 degrees from William Hearst (19th cousin 8 times removed)
19 degrees from Louis XIV de France (10th cousin 16 times removed)
20 degrees from Ludwig II von Bayern (17th cousin 7 times removed)
21 degrees from Robert Dunsmuir
22 degrees from Gustav Vasa (12th cousin 18 times removed)
23 degrees from Wilhelm Moritz zu Solms-Braunfels-Greifenstein-Hungen (11th cousin 15 times removed)
24 degrees from Gilbert de Clare (5th cousin 26 times removed)
25 degrees from Edward I Plantagenet (26th great grand uncle)
27 degrees from Richard I of England (28th great grand uncle)
31 degrees from William Burges

Answer 19

Closest is 15 degrees from William Hearst.

28 degrees from Richard I of England

22 degrees from Louis XIV de France

26 degrees from Gustav Vasa

26 degrees from Ludwig II von Bayern

26 degrees from Wilhelm Moritz zu Solms-Braunfels-Greifenstein-Hungen

31 degrees from William Burges

20 degrees from Elizabeth Hardwick

24 degrees from Robert Dunsmuir

26 degrees from Gilbert de Clare

25 degrees from Edward I Plantagenet

34 degrees from Dagmar Thorisdottir

Answer 20

 24 degrees from Richard I of England

 17 degrees from Louis XIV de France - 9th cousin 10x removed

 17 degrees from William Hearst - 11th cousin 5x removed

 22 degrees from Gustav Vasa - 11th cousin 17x removed

21 degrees from Ludwig II von Bayern - 12th cousin 5x removed

 22 degrees from Wilhelm Moritz zu Solms-Braunfels-Greifenstein-Hungen - 9th cousin 11x removed

28 degrees from William Burges, 

18 degrees from Elizabeth Hardwick, - 4th cousin 13x removed

19 degrees from Robert Dunsmuir

 21 degrees from Gilbert de Clare - 20th great grandfather

22 degrees from Edward I Plantagenet - 20th great grandfather

30 degrees from Dagmar Thorisdottir