Thank you for sharing this information and the web site, Karen. I too have found this topic interesting! We cannot apply today's standards, customs or traditions when trying to understand the lives of our ancestors. It almost seems as if we (as a society) have become more close-minded in our view of births outside marriage. On Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 10:47 PM, Karen Crisalli <[email protected]>wrote: > I am usually a "lurker" and not a poster, but I have been watching the > comments about illegitimacy with some interest. I found the following > information on www.understandingyourancestors.com and it may give yet some > more insight into birth customs in Europe at the time. I have found > several > sites on the internet which voice the same general attitude about such >