Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Support our non AI content from £3 on Patreon or YT Memberships for extra videos & bonus content, funded and influenced directly by you! patreon.com/cw/OfficialMedievalMadness
When we think about medieval kings and queens, our thoughts often conjure up images of glittering palaces. Of monarchs who are draped in ermine, velvet and dripping in jewels living a life of luxury. But behind the gleam of polished crowns and the pomp and ceremonial splendour, their world was anything but perfect.
Because European royal families have a long, dark and twisted history of tangled genetics, with generations of intermarriage that they would prefer the royal record keepers kept buried. Let’s travel back and take a look at bricks and mortar, bloodlines and blind ambition.
0:00 Introduction
0:57 A New Beginning
02:53 Start From the Very Beginning
05:09 Back to the Beginning
10:04 The Beginning of the End
Narrated by James Wade
Written by Lisa E Rawcliffe
Edited by Jamit Productions
Thank you for watching!
SOURCES:
Cebellos, F.C. & Alverez, G. (2013) Royal dynasties as Human inbreeding Laboratories, Heredity, Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
Cummings, J. (2024) Royal Inbreeding and Other Maladies: A History of Royal Intermarriage and its Consequences, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, Yorkshire.
Dimuro, G. (Nov 2023) The Habsburg Jaw and the Disturbing Cost of Royal Inbreeding, All That’s Interesting Website.
Gonzalo, A. & Cebellos, F. (2015) Royal Inbreeding and the Extinction of Lineages of the Habsburg Dynasty, Human Heredity, JSTOR Website.
Hippocrates and Aristotle, The History of Genetics, Word Press Website.
Sharply, C. et al. (Spring 2022) Aristotle’s Concept of Heredity, Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, JSTOR Website
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement is intended. If you are, or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please email us at info@top5s.co.uk
Copyright © 500 AD to 1500 All rights reserved.
Support our non AI content from £3 on Patreon or YT Memberships for extra videos & bonus content, funded and influenced directly by you! patreon.com/cw/OfficialMedievalMadness
When we think about medieval kings and queens, our thoughts often conjure up images of glittering palaces. Of monarchs who are draped in ermine, velvet and dripping in jewels living a life of luxury. But behind the gleam of polished crowns and the pomp and ceremonial splendour, their world was anything but perfect.
Because European royal families have a long, dark and twisted history of tangled genetics, with generations of intermarriage that they would prefer the royal record keepers kept buried. Let’s travel back and take a look at bricks and mortar, bloodlines and blind ambition.
0:00 Introduction
0:57 A New Beginning
02:53 Start From the Very Beginning
05:09 Back to the Beginning
10:04 The Beginning of the End
Narrated by James Wade
Written by Lisa E Rawcliffe
Edited by Jamit Productions
Thank you for watching!
SOURCES:
Cebellos, F.C. & Alverez, G. (2013) Royal dynasties as Human inbreeding Laboratories, Heredity, Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
Cummings, J. (2024) Royal Inbreeding and Other Maladies: A History of Royal Intermarriage and its Consequences, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, Yorkshire.
Dimuro, G. (Nov 2023) The Habsburg Jaw and the Disturbing Cost of Royal Inbreeding, All That’s Interesting Website.
Gonzalo, A. & Cebellos, F. (2015) Royal Inbreeding and the Extinction of Lineages of the Habsburg Dynasty, Human Heredity, JSTOR Website.
Hippocrates and Aristotle, The History of Genetics, Word Press Website.
Sharply, C. et al. (Spring 2022) Aristotle’s Concept of Heredity, Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, JSTOR Website
DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement is intended. If you are, or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please email us at info@top5s.co.uk
Copyright © 500 AD to 1500 All rights reserved.
