Several days ago I came across a Facebook add for a new company My True Ancestry Link.  The advertisement went on to say that they can take your DNA sample from various companies ( such as Living DNA, Ancestry.com etc.) and match it to sample’s from ancient archeological sites.  I found this to be fascinating, so I click the ad, having never heard of a site that does this process. This is what they offer: Explore your Ancient past using your DNA…   Ancient DNA – Real History 5000 years of history at your fingertips – compare yourself to thousands of ancient DNA samplesfrom real archaeological sites!   Compare yourself with ancient people Direct analysis – find your ancient relatives. Perform DNA breakdowns of 250+ ancient peoples, modern nationalities and ethnicities Click here to join our Facebook Group From various historical records, I have been able to trace my paternal grandmother’s mother, back to medieval times, so a site like this was right up my alley.  They offer a free service, so that you can upload a file and get a glimpse.  Free is always good, and they do not require a credit card.  One of the best things is that it took less than 10 minutes to see the results, and you have 48 hours to decide if you want to purchase an upgrade.  They presented a basic map and timeline for my results.  This basic information did indeed support some things that I already knew, such as ties back to ancient Greece, Catalonia and Crusader Knights.  Ok, so now I am hooked. My True Ancestry offers five levels of membership: Commoner Partial analysis for 1 kit. Basic Maps. Timelapse Maps.Free account – your results expire in 24 hours.10 Ancient samples (without classification) Footman Full analysis for 1 kit. Basic Maps. Timelapse Maps.20 Ancient samples + classification shown Knight Full analysis for up to 2 kits. Premium Maps. Timelapse Maps.40 Ancient samples + classification shownPartial Deep Dive Analysis/Timelines (No Deep Dive Map). King Full analysis for up to 5 kits and Complete Timelines. Archaeological, Premium, Deep Dive, and Timelapse Maps.Full Deep Dive Analysis!60 Ancient samples + classification shown. Caesar Maximum analysis for up to 10 kits (with full sample/dig site links) and Complete Timelines.Full Deep Dive Analysis! (with full sample/dig site links)Detailed Archaelogical, Premium, Deep Dive and Timelapse Maps.60 Ancient samples + classification shown.Classify Ancient samples based on Modern groups and display similiar samples I wasn’t sure which was best for me so I went to their Facebook Page and asked a question.  They got back to me in less than two hours and helped me to make my decision.  I decided to go for Knight for $55, to unlock some more information with more samples.  Another good feature is that you can upgrade at any time and just pay the difference.  I hope to do that soon ( maybe they can help me out after the review ).   These are some answers from My True Ancestry FAQ’s. Samples are retrieved from archaelogical digs (e.g. a tooth from human remains) and the DNA is scanned in a complex process aligning the data with the human genome. Samples which are of high quality can then be processed as Ancient DNA samples. By combining the latest archaeogenetic techniques with powerful admixture algorithms and cloud computing, MyTrueAncestry can accurately compare anyone with a wide variety of Ancient DNA samples. Via data triangulation and clustering, one can be categorized and compared with ancestors separated by thousands of years. Unlike other companies which try to cater to target audiences pre-conceptions about their identity, MyTrueAncestry focuses in accurately determing one’s closest match based on tens of thousands of data samples. So in conclusion, I would give them 4 out of 5 stars.  I’ll reserve the 5th star for when I do the upgrade and as they add more features.   I also think that they are wee bit pricey for the data, but I understand that they are starting out and hope to see more data as time goes on.  They do say it’s a one time fee.  

Most of the migration from Italy to the United States, Canada, Australia and South America came mostly from the regions in southern Italy.  Over the past couple of weeks we have been posting the history of these regions and have started to document the north also.  We’ll complete soon, so if you do not see your region, please check back. My ancestors mainly come from Apulia and Campania, however,  I can trace back further to Molise, Sardinia and Calabria.  My father line also shows migration pattern through Sardinia.  If you like these articles please request to join our Facebook page by clicking the button below or on any of the posts. We appreciate feedback and please comment and share with your friends that may be researching their Italian ancestors. Click here to join Italian Genealogy on Facebook

New Links added We searched the internet for the best articles, blogs and books to help you with your ancestry research.  Click the hyperlink to go to the site. Interactive Map of Italy — Rough Guides Campania — Municipal Guide From the Genealogy Blogspot — How to read Italian Birth Records Sicily — Sicilian Family Tree Professional Translations– Proz.  From The Ancestor Hunt — US College Newspapers         New Links added   Six tips from Family Tree Magazine — “Can’t Find Your Ancestor”? From the NY Public Library ( This one is full of more links )  —  Genealogy Research TipsFrom Find My Past — 20 Things To Do When Your Stumped From the Genealogy Road Show — Getting Started This is one of the best that I have found.  There is a treasure trove of links and resources — Ancestral Findings For Pintrest people, this is an amazing board with 868 pins.  Pretty much everything you can think of to search.  Worth getting on Pinterest, if you are not — Lisa’s Board.  From Genealogy.com — Developing Your Research Skills         Click here to join Italian Genealogy Group on Faceback Starting Italian Research How to research noble ancestors My friend Alessandro, he helped with some brick walls

My roots go back to two important families in the region.  The Sforza family and the Gonzaga family. Lombardy The resort town of Bellagio on Lake Como, Lombardy, Italy.© Index Open   Lombardy, Italian Lombardia, regioneof northern Italy. It is bordered on the north by Switzerland and by the Italian regioniof Emilia-Romagna(south), Trentino–Alto Adige and Veneto (east), and Piedmont (west). Administratively, Lombardy consists of the provincieof Bergamo, Brescia, Como, Cremona, Lecco, Lodi, Mantova, Milano, Monza e Brianza, Pavia, Sondrio, and Varese. The capital is Milan. Lombardy is divided physically into three parts from north to south—a mountainous Alpine and pre-Alpine zone; a zone of gently undulating foothills; and a zone of alluvial plains sloping gently to the Po River in the south. The Alpine division reaches a height of 13,284 feet (4,049 metres) in the Bernina. The foothill zone is partly composed of morainic material and contains a number of scenic lakes. The regioneis drained southward by many rivers, all of them tributaries of the Po, including the Ticino, the Adda, and the Oglio, with its affluents the Mella and Chiese, and the Mincio. The regioneabounds in lakes and contains all or part of Lakes Garda (Italy’s largest lake), Maggiore, Lugano, Como, Iseo, Idro, and Varese and the lakes of the Brianza (Pusiano, Annone, Alserio, and Segrino). The climate is generally continental, with hot summers and cold winters, and rainfall varies from about 24 inches (610 mm) annually in the area near the Po River to 80 inches (2,032 mm) in the mountainous regions. Lombardy was inhabited by Celtic peoples from the 5th century bceand was conquered by Rome after the Second Punic War (218–201 bce), upon which it became part of Cisalpine Gaul. The region suffered heavily in the barbarian invasions that ended the western Roman Empire, and from 568 to 774 ceit was the centre of the kingdom of the Lombards, a Germanic people who gave their name to the region. The Lombard kingdom ended in 774, and Lombardy became part of the empire of the Frankish king Charlemagne. Frankish rule continued until 887, and after the breakup of the Carolingian empire a number of independent units, mostly towns ruled by counts or bishops, emerged in Lombardy. These towns’ growing prosperity by the 11th century was based on the role of the middle Po River valley as a transit point for trade between the Mediterranean and the trans-Alpine lands. A number of Lombard towns—Milan, Cremona, Brescia, Bergamo—were able to throw off their feudal rulers and evolve into communes (self-governing municipalities) that became the commercial leaders of Europe at the time. The Lombard communes reached the height of their power in the 12th century, when, in an effort to resist encroachments by the emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, they formed the Lombard League; the league defeated the emperor at the Battle of Legnano in 1176 and forced him to recognize its members’ autonomy in the Peace of Constance (1183). Conflicts within the Lombard communes between Guelfs and Ghibellines were only resolved in the 13th and 14th centuries by the rise of overlords or despots, some of whom, such as the Visconti and Sforza in Milan and the Bonacolsi and Gonzaga in Mantua, founded local dynasties. Milan became the strongest city in Lombardy early in the 14th century and went on to establish its rule over most of the neighbouring towns, though it had to yield Brescia and Bergamo to Venice and the city of Mantua remained independent. Lombardy lost territory to the Swiss, Venetians, and other neighbours in the early 16th century, and in the chaotic wake of the French invasions of Italy, the duchy of Milan came under Spanish Habsburg rule in 1535. Mantua managed to remain independent until 1713, at which time both it and Milan passed to the Austrian Habsburgs. Austrian rule yielded to that of France from 1796 to 1814. In 1815 Lombardy was restored to Austria as part of a newly created Lombardo-Venetian kingdom. In 1859 a Franco-Piedmontese army expelled the Austrians from Lombardy, which joined newly unified Italy. Lombardy has the largest population of any Italian region, though it covers less than one-tenth of the country’s area. The population is concentrated in the industrial cities of the upper plains and foothills, with secondary concentrations in the rich farmlands in the south. Lombardy is the leading industrial and commercial regioneof Italy. Milan, the chief city, is one of the largest industrial centres of Italy. It makes iron and steel, automobiles and trucks, and machinery and is also a centre of banking and wholesale and retail trade. Lombardy’s other major cities include Brescia, Bergamo, Cremona, Pavia, Como, Mantua, and Monza. Their varied manufactures include electrical appliances, textiles, furniture, processed foods, chemicals, and leather. Lombardy is also Italy’s leading agricultural area. The region’s highly productive agriculture is centred on the irrigated plains of the Po River valley, which produce rice, wheat, corn (maize), sugar beets, and fodder crops for beef and dairy cattle. The higher plains produce cereals, vegetables, fruit trees, and mulberries. The foothill region produces fruit, vines, and olives, and the Alps afford excellent grazing for cattle, pigs, and sheep. Milan is the hub of northern Italy’s rail network and has direct rail links with Switzerland, France, and Germany via passes and tunnels through the Alps. Lombardy is linked to other regions of Italy by an excellent system of railroads, highways, and expressways. Area 9,211 square miles (23,857 square km). Pop. (2011) 9,704,151. This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen, Corrections Manager.  Citation InformationArticle Title:LombardyWebsite Name:Encyclopaedia BritannicaPublisher:Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.Date Published:03 February 2015URL:https://www.britannica.com/place/LombardyAccess Date:June 14, 2019 Click here to join our Facebook Page TheLombardplain, locatedin thecentralpartof Lombardyat theconfluenceof severalAlpinepasses,hasforcenturiesbeena muchcovetedandfrequentlyinvadedarea,andit hasbeena battlefieldin manywars.Firstinhabitedby a Gallicpeople,theregionbecame(3dcent.B.C.)partof theRomanprovinceof CisalpineGaul.It sufferedheavilyduringthebarbarianinvasionsthattookplacetowardtheendof theRomanEmpire.In A.D.569theregionwasmadethecenterof thekingdomof the Lombards , forwhomit wasnamed.Lombardywasunitedin 774withtheempireof Charlemagne . Aftera periodof confusion(10thcent.),powergraduallypassed(11thcent.)fromfeudallordsto autonomouscommunes,anda generaleconomicrevivaloccurred.TradebetweenN EuropeandtheE Mediterraneanwaslargelycarriedon viathePo valley,andLombardmerchantsandbankersdidbusinessthroughoutEurope.In the12thcent.severalcitiesunitedin the Lombard League  inorderto defyEmperorFrederickI, whowantedto asserthisauthorityoverthecommunes,anddefeatedhimat Legnano(1176).The13thcent.wasmarkedby strugglesbetweenGuelphs(pro-papal)andGhibellines(pro-imperial),whichresultedin warsamongcitiesandrivalriesbetweenfamilieswithincities.In the11th–12thcent.therewasa characteristicLombardRomanesquearchitecture,andduringtheRenaissanceLombardyhada flourishingschoolof paintingwhoseleadingfigureswereBernardinoLuiniandGaudenzioFerrari. ExceptforMantua (ruledby theGonzag family),Lombardyfell(14th–15thcent.)undertheswayof the Visconti familyandthe Sforza  dukesof Milan.However,BergamoandBrescia(1428)andCremona(1529)werelostto VeniceandtheValtellinavalleywastakenby theGrisons(1512).Aftertheend(mid-16thcent.)of the Italian Wars , therestof Lombardyfollowedthefortunesof Milan.Spanishrule(1535–1713)wasfollowedby thatof Austria(1713–96)andof France(1796–1814).TheLombardo-VenetiankingdomwasestablishedunderAustrianrulein 1815.LombardybrieflyoustedtheAustriansin 1848–49;in 1859theywerepermanentlyremovedandthekingdomwasdissolved. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia™ Copyright © 2013, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyFk-VbSgeI

Have you ever wondered if you have any Noble Italian Roots? Chances are you do, especially if your family migrated from places like Naples, Rome, Milan, Venice or Florence.  Even if they came from smaller cities or towns, it is quite possible.  Before the unification of Italy in the mid 1900’s there where a lot of “noble” families.  I’m going to provide some insight on how to find out if you are, but remember that even if you find your name, it does not mean that you are directly related.  More often than not, peasants living on the land of a Prince, Duke or Count took a form of that name.   If by chance, like I did, you have some sort of documentation from a grandmother or grandfather with a crest, that is the place to start.  Also, don’t discount a family story, my grandmother would tell my older cousins that her grandfather was a prince.  They never believed her.  It was true! My journey began with this card.  My grandmother brought a box of these from Italy when she came to the US in 1915.  This is her dad.  My dad always told us that his grandfather was a count of sorts.  Piromallo is not a very common name, so when I searched google I found this record. Line 5C shows the marriage of Emilia Caracciolo di Torchiarolo to Count Nicola Piromallo.  I was pretty sure these were my great grandparents, but I never heard the name Caracciolo.  So I asked my older cousin that lived with my grandmother and she confirmed.  Also, first names matched.  My dad, the second son, was named after his maternal grandfather, my aunt the first daughter was named after her maternal grandmother. From here it was pretty easy to trace back the Caracciolo family by using various links found on my links page.  Further confirmation was found by using the Antenati.  And other documents,  like the newspaper articles  below, Another tip off may be the style of clothing, if you have any old photos.  You can see from the photos below that my grandmother is not wearing peasant clothing.   Another sign of possible nobility is if you have ever heard of a distant ancestor being  a military officer.  For the most part only those well connected or noble were in the officer corps.  Good luck in your search. Don’t miss a post, or ask for help by joining our Facebook group.  Just click the button below. Join Italian Genealogy Facebook Group This link gives you the list of the Noble Families in Naples. This link gives you the link for the Government of Naples pre unification. This link gives you the Italian Titles of Nobility. Link to Everything you need to know about Italian Nobility The Libro d’Oro lists all the Italian Noble families.  Many of the records are up to date to the present, if the line continues. A few of the many family crests associated with my great grandparents families For more on my family research