We should cut the parents of this Other (later called Otho). The idea that he was the son of Gherado Gheradini, {Fictional} is one of the most famous frauds in the history of genealogy. It was debunked by Victorian scholar J. H. Round, who also showed that Other was not lord (dominus) of Stanwell.
Nothing is known about Other except that his son is named as Walter fitz Other in the Domesday Book (1086).
Round's article is quoted in the profile of Walter FitzOtho, Castellan of Windsor.
The document at http://www.geraldini.com/documenti/before-america/Before-America-Pa... and the confident statement repeated through this line of profiles that the descent is "Probably Correct" are pure fantasy.
Hi Justin,
I find that I have some relationships with Walter fitz Other and others in the "The Garretts - Before America" story.
King Cnut is my 1st cousin 30 times removed.
Richard, duke of Normandy, is my 27th great grandfather
King Edward the Confessor of England is my 27th great uncle.
Eustace of Boulogne is my 27th great grandfather
Robert, duke of Normandy, is my 26th great grandfather
Count Baldwin V, Count of Flanders is my 26th great grandfather
Walter FitzOtho (Geraldini) is my 25th great grandfather
William the Conqueror (King William I) is my 25th great grandfather
Mathilda of Flanders is my 25th great grandmother
Gwladus verch Rhiwallon is my 25th great grandmother
Beatrice De Offaly is my 25th great grandmother
Rhys ap Twedwr Mawr is my 25th great grandfather
Henry I is my 25th great grandfather
William Rufus is my 25th great uncle
Robert Courteheuse is my 25th great uncle
Nesta Rhys is my 24th great grandmother
Gerald of Windsor is my 24th great grandfather
Nicholas de Carew is my 3rd cousin 22 times removed
Best regards,
John Pat
Four years later, the bogus Gherardini connection is BA-ACK!!! Or else it never went away because NOBODY BOTHERED TO CUT.
To me the strongest "tell" against is the absolute silence of Giraldus Cambrensis (a great-great-grandson) on the matter. If he didn't know the facts, no one did.
Much of the confusion is because just about all the records from this period are IN LATIN - and the names are Latinized accordingly. Someone described as "Dominus" was almost certainly not named that - it was a title indicating that he was at least a local bigwig. And as for Otho, its sometime transcription as "Other" shows a clear derivation from the Norse "Ohthere" - and while this may have been a transmission through Normandy like the then-popular "Anketil", it had absolutely nothing to do with Italy. Not even Lombard Italy - Lombard names were Germanic, *not* Norse, and the Lombards had in any case been pretty well assimilated by the 111th century.