Were there any families among Europe's nobility that could reliably trace their descent from Roman aristocracy as opposed to Germanic/Slavic racketeers?
I believe there was a daughter of the Palaelogian dynasty of Eastern Rome who married a prince of Swabia in the HRE, and proceeded to intermarry with other royals.
>>934856
And then some Russian leader claimed the title Tsar by marrying with the princess of the Byzantine empire.
>>934847
Byzantines married off a bunch of princesses, mostly to other Orthodox rulers.
Also Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descent_from_antiquity#Rome_to_Charlemagne
>>934847
Few families could trace any ancestry prior to the 12th century.
But a sizeable portion of France's aristocracy is of Roman origin, for instance.
>>936027
Well, presumably the Italian and Roman families, like the Borgias, the Sforza and the like.
>>934847
The Merovingians were of Jesus Christ's lineage
