Many people has the questions from where they are, who are their ancestors... The answer is often unsatisfactory because the majority of them knows only their parents but seldom knows also their grandparents.

In order to get more details about my ancestors I made a little research in 1993. I began with searching various data about my family and so as a pure beginner I met with the genealogy. I confess that I am not expert in this field but in spite of it I give here some advices for them who don't know how to begin their own research. Just to the beginners I wish a lot of success!

Every day we meet a lot of signs and we respect them unintentionally. The signs have its own speech and we obey them because every one has its unique meaning. Also in the past the people used them. One of most remarkable signs were Coats of Arms.

The Coat of Arms has the military origin and it represented the owner ( knight) on the battle field but later it was used in civil life as the personal sign. In the XI. century the knights began to painting their shields with various symbols. The scope of it was to enhance the visibility of the shield from larger distances on the battle field and consequently to show who is the owner. From these first beginings soon came out new technique - heraldry. The persons who took care of this were named heralds.

The heralds created very soon the severe order in the heraldry with numerous rules and through the centuries the rules were changed just a little. The real Coat-of-Arms has to meet the prescribed requirements and the complete one consists of shield, helmet, coat and crest. Some suppliments are also allowed. Another important thing is the description which is named the blazon.

Who has the right to have the Coat-of-Arms? All (little limitations only). The words of the lawyer Bartol of Saxoferrato are:
"Quilibet potest sibi assumere arma et insignia illa portare et in rebus propriis impingere".

What is the Genealogy? The main topic of the genealogy is researching the family tree on the base of relationship. Moreover there are also aspects for the other relations regarding to the family. The base unit is the family and our goal is to find out all the possible relative data. Our research is therefore based on more levels:

• date of birth
• place of birth
• date of marriage
• date of death
• place of death
• education
• deseases
• promotions
• decorations
• important approvements
• family stories

How to begin is our next question. The first source of data are our parents and we shall ask them for the following facts:

1. when they were born and where;
2. where did they grow up;
3. when and where they were married;
4. who were their parents - names, surnames;
5. when their parents marry and where;
6. where are their parents buried - when, place, cemetery;
7. are there any other family members buries there or close by;
8. who were their Aunts and Uncles;
9. when-where they were born, married, lived, buried;
10. ask them who their oldest living relative is;
11. make plans to visit these persons as soon as possible;

From here and now our research starts. The data are not found on one place therefore we have to find them step by step. Where to find them it depends from country to country. At last we need the software for arranging all data. I suggest the programs Brother's Keeper or Cumberland Family Tree.