-Genealogical Roll

This roll, over twenty feet in length, illustrates the genealogy of the Kings of England, beginning with the biblical Adam and Eve and ending with the contemporary King Henry VI. This work doesn’t mention any imaginary places, but it does reference King Arthur, whose name is one of twenty-eight decorated with a crown. Arthur is shown to have descended from the legendary King Brutus, the Trojan descendant of Aeneas to whom Geoffrey of Monmouth attributes the founding of Britain.

It was digitized as part of the Bibliotheca Philadelphiensis project funded by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) and in collaboration with the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries (PACSCL). Genealogical scrolls were popular between the 13th and 15th centuries.