Chaucer (originally posted in Feb 2015)

My 18th great grandmother, Kathryn de Roet Swynford, was the wife of John I Plantagenet and sister in law of Geoffrey Chaucer, the "father of English Literature."  There have been other English ancestors that have gotten me excited, but this one blew me away.  My passion has been English Literature since high school because of an inspiring teacher, Mrs. Comstock.  She was the reason I became an English major in college. I loved studying Chaucer so much in college that I took every single course taught by Chaucer scholar, Dr. Rosemary Sprague.  I even learned Middle English so I could read Chaucer's works in the original language. I had a strong drive to know everything about that time period.  I know the line of descent is not direct, but still... any connection at all is amazing.

Kathryn Swynford is an ancestor through my paternal great grandmother, Georgia Powell.

Postscript: Tragically, the beloved Dr. Sprague died in her bed during a fire at her old Victorian home in Farmville, Va. I own one of her books, and still remember her fondly.