Medieval Flow Chart

Below is a link to a Genealogical Chronicle of English Kings. It is an early use of graphic design.

http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/virtualbooks/#

The use of a roll in creating the Genealogical Chronicle of the English Kings was very engaging. A continuous timeline providing information about the royalty is presented in flow chart. This provides ease of use and understanding. The contrast of color and shape is used to represent changes and progressions. Blue is used to denote royalty and red to denote the bloodline. There is the obvious use of a tree to represent the ancestry. The circle is repeated in the use of the portraits, however, the size of the circles are different depending on the strength implied. Alignment is evident in the generations with the horizontal rows representing immediate family and the center is saved for the portrait of the family member who is/was the direct heir to the throne. Proximity is shown again in the horizontal grouping of siblings. The roll and the timeline is the proximity. At fifteen meters, the distance between the beginning and the end of the rolls represents the difference between the years 1272 and the 1400’s.