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Perhaps because I'm an American, stumbling through the marriages, alliances, and various titles of European nobility is, well... cumbersome. Especially when I don't know where most of the fiefs are. I have this map of France, but sifting through who owned what territory at any given time is aneurism-inducing.
For example - Lorraine was in a separate line for a while, then ended up as a royal domain. Meanwhile, Anjou was separate for a bit, then royal, then separate again. During all of this, there are far-reaching family ties which means that - while the territory falls to a royal domain - there might be cousins running around with existing titles... but no rights to the land.
Um. What?
So, are there any good sources for explanation for such things? Any help would be appreciated as I would dearly love to understand it.