The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman conquest of England that culminated with William being crowned King of England on Christmas day, 1066. A complete list of the Conquerers known companions can be obtained through Wikipedia. The complete list includes only those companions that were referenced by the contemporary chroniclers, William of Poitiers and Orderic Vitalis, or that appear in the Bayeux Tapestry. William brought upwards of 10,000 men with him, so there are undoubtedly many others who were present, but none have yet been confirmed by contemporary sources. The list shown here is incomplete, including only those companions found in this genealogical database.

The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a number of crusades that attempted to recapture the Holy Land, called for by Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont in 1095. Urban called for a military expedition to aid the Byzantine Empire, which had recently lost most of Anatolia to the Seljuq Turks. The resulting military expedition of primarily French-speaking Western European nobles, known as the Princes' Crusade, not only re-captured much of Anatolia but went on to conquer the Holy Land (the Levant), which had fallen to Islamic expansion as early as the 7th century, and culminated in July 1099 in the re-conquest of Jerusalem and the establishment of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. (Wikipedia)

The Second Crusade (1147–1150) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The Second Crusade was announced by Pope Eugene III, and was the first of the crusades to be led by European kings, namely Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany, with help from a number of other European nobles. The armies of the two kings marched separately across Europe. After crossing Byzantine territory into Anatolia, both armies were separately defeated by the Seljuk Turks. Louis and Conrad and the remnants of their armies reached Jerusalem and participated in 1148 in an ill-advised attack on Damascus. The crusade in the east was a failure for the crusaders and a great victory for the Muslims. It would ultimately have a key influence on the fall of Jerusalem and give rise to the Third Crusade at the end of the 12th century. (Wikipedia)

Baldwin III ... seized Ascalon in 1153, which brought Egypt into the sphere of conflict. Jerusalem was able to make further advances into Egypt, briefly occupying Cairo in the 1160s. However, relations with the Byzantine Empire were mixed, and reinforcements from Europe were sparse after the disaster of the Second Crusade. King Amalric I of Jerusalem allied with the Byzantines and participated in a combined invasion of Egypt in 1169, but the expedition ultimately failed. In 1171, Saladin, nephew of one of Nur ad-Din's generals, was proclaimed Sultan of Egypt, uniting Egypt and Syria and completely surrounding the crusader kingdom. Meanwhile, the Byzantine alliance ended with the death of emperor Manuel I in 1180, and in 1187, Jerusalem capitulated to Saladin. His forces then spread north to capture all but the capital cities of the Crusader States, precipitating the Third Crusade. (Wikipedia)

The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by the leaders of the three most powerful states of Western Christianity (England, France and the Holy Roman Empire) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. It was partially successful, recapturing the important cities of Acre and Jaffa, and reversing most of Saladin's conquests, but it failed to recapture Jerusalem, which was the major aim of the Crusade and its religious focus. (Wikipedia)

The Crusade of 1197, also known as the Crusade of Henry VI or the German Crusade was a crusade launched by the Hohenstaufen emperor Henry VI in response to the aborted attempt of his father, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa during the Third Crusade in 1189–90. Thus the military campaign is also known as the "Emperor's Crusade" (echoing the name "Kings' Crusade" given to the Third Crusade). (Wikipedia)

The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first conquering the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid Sultanate, the strongest Muslim state of the time. However, a sequence of economic and political events culminated in the Crusader army sacking the city of Constantinople, the capital of the Greek Christian-controlled Byzantine Empire, rather than Egypt as originally planned. (Wikipedia)

By the mid-13th century, the Crusaders became convinced that Egypt, the heart of Islam's forces and arsenal, was an obstacle to their ambition to capture Jerusalem, which they had lost for the second time in 1244. In 1245, during the First Council of Lyon, Pope Innocent IV gave his full support to the Seventh Crusade being prepared by Louis IX, King of France. (Wikipedia)

The Mayflower is one of the very first ships to arrive in America at the start of the Great Migration. The Mayflower left Plymouth, England on September 6, 1620 and arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts on December 21, 1620.

Gateway ancestors are those immigrant ancestors (usually puritans) that are descended from nobility (usually European).

Iago was the first ruler of Gwynedd in the northern part of Wales. His male descendants continued the rule until Cynan Dindaethwy's son Hywel died without a male heir at which time Cynan Dindaethwy's son-in-law, Merfyn Frych (of the House of Manaw), took it over. The House of Manaw continued their rule until Rhodri Mawr's children went to war at which time the kingdom was split into Gwynedd, ruled by his son Anarawd and grandson Idwal Foel (now the House of Aberffraw), and Deheubarth ruled by his other son, Cadell. Cadell's son Hywel Dda reunited the kingdoms. This family ruled for several more generations before turmoil ensued with several leaders ursurping each other. Llywelyn ap Seisyll (of the House of Rhuddlan), one of these ursurpers, held it briefly, alongwith Deheubarth (becoming the 1st Prince of North Wales), before a great grandson of Idwal Foel reseized the kingdom for the House of Aberffraw, but then lost it again to Llywelyn's son Gruffyd. Bleddyn ap Cynfyn (of the House of Mathrafal), and the King of Powys was given Gwynedd by the English King, but lost it again to the Gruffyd ap Cynan, another descendant of Idwal Foel. The House of Abberfraw held it seperately until Llewellyn Fawr once again united all of the kingdoms, including those of Dyfed and Powys in the South, to become the 1st Prince of Wales.

The Holy Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. The Empire was considered by the Roman Catholic Church to be the only legal successor of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The title was held in conjunction with the title of King of Italy from the 8th to the 16th century, and, almost without interruption, with the title of King of Germany throughout the 12th to 18th centuries. (Wikipedia)