> How many people know their family history that far back? Very common to be able to do this in Europe. I've traced my family back to the early 1500s via Ances

> How many people know their family history that far back? Very common to be able to do this in Europe. I've traced my family back to the early 1500s via Ancestry.com, and my family tree isn't anything special. Before that period, records get very sparse among the common folk, though, and you pretty much need to have a strong connection with nobility to go further back in time.