Do I have any potential Norman heritage?

[Forgione]

So, I have not done a DNA test to find this out. However, my Italian side of my family comes from a village in the Avellino province of Campania named Vallata. I have a few family members (ones that I am related to by blood, not by marriage) who have red hair and pale skin. Could this be a sign that I may have Norman heritage? If so, what would the haplogroup be?


P.S.: There is a Norman castle in Ariano Irpino, another village in that same province. Vallata and Ariano Irpino are 33 minutes away from each other by car. Hope this extra piece of information helps. My Italian uncle also believes that we may have a bit of Norman heritage.

 

[Forgione]

One more thing, I am 188cm and have a pretty big frame. This definitely comes from my Italian side, because they're all like that. Whereas my Armenian side is average height and rather thin.

 

[Vallicanus]

You could be connected to the Longobards of Benevento.

 

[thejoker]

There are Italians like that in Italy even in places where Normans have never been or where Germanic dna is vey low but all is possible.
I have a friend from Sicily that is almost 2 mt, deep blue eyes, ash blonde hair and big framed. In his dna test he turned out like a regular West Sicilian.

 

[Joey37]

Interesting, my great-grandfather's family is West Sicilian, and my father observed a dichotomy in his relations from that side, with half being short and Mediterranean looking, being descended from the native Sicanian and Elymian tribes, while the other half being tall and somewhat lighter and most likely being of Albanian descent, as my great-great-grandparents' hometown of Palazzo Adriano being historically an Albanian settlement and half of my DNA from my great-grandfather (which can be easily isolated, as the rest is northwest European with a little bit of Native American) is Balkan.

 

[thejoker]

Interesting, my great-grandfather's family is West Sicilian, and my father observed a dichotomy in his relations from that side, with half being short and Mediterranean looking, being descended from the native Sicanian and Elymian tribes, while the other half being tall and somewhat lighter and most likely being of Albanian descent, as my great-great-grandparents' hometown of Palazzo Adriano being historically an Albanian settlement and half of my DNA from my great-grandfather (which can be easily isolated, as the rest is northwest European with a little bit of Native American) is Balkan.

My friend has not Albanian ancestry for what i know but I don't know if his city had Albanians settlement but i guess he would have told me. In any case Dna results don't point to anything related to Albanians .

Albanians in Italy are not taller or lighter than Italians, at least not taller or lighter than people in my region as far as i observed. They are just a bit more endomorph body wise, while Italians tend to be thinner and mesophorm\ectomorph.

 

[torzio]

@post 6

Maybe................the Normans invaded Byzantine owned Albania 3 times from norman owned southern Italy and Sicily

Byzantium and Venice: The Rise and Fall of a Medieval Alliance

The story of the Venetian-Byzantine military alliance is a complex one, with many questions that need to be answered.

www.medievalists.net

 

[HereToLearn]

Red hair and pale skin have been in Italy at least since the Bronze Age if not earlier. Cato and Nero were gingers for example. I wonder if those traits were not present even during the Neolithic farmers' migration considering that I've seen quite a few red headed Near Easterners.

 

[Forgione]

Red hair and pale skin have been in Italy at least since the Bronze Age if not earlier. Cato and Nero were gingers for example. I wonder if those traits were not present even during the Neolithic farmers' migration considering that I've seen quite a few red headed Near Easterners.

Alright, thank you four your input. Are there any DNA tests in which the results can go back 1000 years? If so, can you tell me?