Thom, the Saxon - Problematic line

Private User

8/17/2020 at 9:52 AM

I'm having real trouble with this line -- the Overview to this profile states that the line is unproven, though it appears in a book.

I think it's not only unproven but impossible.

Thom the Saxon is supposedly the son of the comte de Nevers and his wife, and went to England with William the Conqueror.

The name Thomas did indeed go into England with the Normans, fair enough -- however, this abbreviation -- Thom -- did not exist. Also, if he came from Normandy, he wasn't a Saxon. Also, if he came from Nevers, he wasn't a Norman.

Then he has a child, Toen of Cornwall. Toen is a name that is found in various countries across the globe, but none of them are Saxon, Welsh, Cornish, Norman, or anything that this person could possibly be. Also, if Thom has suddenly become a Saxon (which he didn't, since he was supposedly from Normandy, which he couldn't have been), why does he have a child in Cornwall? With some name that came from the Netherlands, or Norway, or maybe Cambodia?

The line goes down for a bit, but it is very problematic indeed.

If there is some actual real evidence of these people, then yay!

But they will not be having these names.

And mostly likely they weren't there.

Brian Johnson

8/17/2020 at 8:17 PM

Pointers here

https://lists.rootsweb.com/hyperkitty/list/tompkins@rootsweb.com/th...

The second edition has been digitized by the LA library and is online somewhere.

Some of the poor-quality fantasy in tne first edition was dropped and replaced by a diffferent poor-quality fantasy. But of course the internet will mix them up.

Brian Johnson

8/17/2020 at 8:54 PM

It's LA Public Library not County Library

https://www.lapl.org/branches/central-library/departments/history/t...

Private User

8/17/2020 at 9:39 PM

Brian Johnson many many thanks for the links.

Here is what I now know:

The information about the apocryphal Thom and his descendants does not come from a book. It comes from a typescript manuscript distributed by the author.

This means that no publisher vetted it.

Also, it contains few citations, and they don’t include Thom the Saxon.

This means that there is no evidence for that claim.

This line is fictional, and needs to be cut, isolated, mastered, and given notes explaining the issues.

Just for some clarity’s sake, I’d like to add that amongst historians the general response, when handed something like that manuscript, sounds more or less like “ AAAAAAAGH!”

Steven Mitchell Ferry C

8/18/2020 at 6:48 AM

In the words of that great philosopher, Barney Fife: "Nip it, nip it in the bud."

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Thom, the Saxon - Problematic line

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