Verwandtschaft ohne Diagramm?

Abstract

Tree diagrams have dominated the visual diagrammatic representation of kinship since the late fifteenth century. Such diagrams were often part of proofs of ancestry in late medieval and early modern Europe. But especially in the Spanish Empire existed proofs of ancestry that lacked diagrams altogether. This paper explores what reasons, circumstances and processes can be argued for the fact that certain proofs got along without any diagrammatic visualization of ancestry. Furthermore, it tries to explain what makes it necessary to represent ancestry visually through diagrams. Finally, by showing alternative ways of representing descent, it aims to question the western diagram as a logical and natural model of visualizing kinship.