Dr. Nico F. Declercq
The investigations compare genetics with the genealogy provided in this work. They show, for instance, that the author is a male descendent of the Desclergues of Montblanc and is equally blood-related to them through his mother, consistent with what the records provide. Furthermore, an autosomal analysis reveals a percentage-wise appearance, in agreement with the documents, of DNA strings originating from Spain, where the Desclergues came from, and Brittany, where they had their ancient paternal roots. The book describes the life of Bertrand Du Guesclin and the fact that he begot offspring in Spain, based on a comprehensive literature survey on this subject. A major Part describes the Desclergue family of Montblanc and their settlement in Belgium. A lot of this knowledge had already been described by earlier investigators, and an exhaustive overview of all existing knowledge about the family is provided insofar as published in the past. In addition, the author provides extensive research results not described formerly, particularly of the Desclergues who left Spain for Flanders around 1600 and their descendants. The unravelled archives include civil and ecclesiastic records and documents found in the libraries of some Spanish military strongholds in Flanders. The book situates the facts in history and supplies valuable general knowledge to broad readers. The data range from the 1500s until the present and cover the author’s paternal ancestry line. Numerous military campaigns in the 16th and 17th centuries are clarified, with particular attention to the lives and involvements of the Desclergues. As a coincidence, the author’s mother also stems from the Desclergues, and this line is equally represented A large part is devoted to the de Silva family of Uduwara from whom the author’s wife stems. This is particularly interesting to globe trotters and describes the long paternal history of the author’s wife, Shirani de Silva. The bloodline originated in the North West of
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