ABSTRACT
The genre of genealogical texts experienced a transformation across the tenth century. Genealogical writing had always been a part of the Judeo-Christian tradition, but the vast majority of extant genealogies from the Continent before the year 1000 are preserved in narrative form, a literary account of the progression from one generation to another. Clearly, there was a considerable shift of interest in the tenth/eleventh century towards genealogical texts, which sparked the creation of new diagrammatic versions. In Speyer, at a burial place that had been newly redefined as a familial burial place rather than simply a dynastic one, the Salians were intensely focused on concerns about consanguinity and Carolingian descent through female ancestors. In the face of serious challenges by other rival kings and by the pope, the Salian dynasty was in process of legitimizing its power and rulership through claiming that they were part of an unbroken line of emperors stretching back to Charlemagne.
