We are not talking about getting married, having a child, retiring, or selling those stocks you bought using a tip from your fourth cousin.
We are talking about that term, cultural practice, or lifestyle that you’ve discovered and decide to learn more about with a quick Google search.
Separate from the fact that anyone can post anything on the internet, there are bigger concerns if you want to make certain you are understanding things about your ancestor as correctly as you can given the amount of time that has elapsed between their life and yours.
Time is one of those concerns.
Was the “thing you learned about” a “thing” in the 1500s or the 1800s? Make certain that the “thing” you have learned about was a “thing” in the time period and place where your ancestor lived.
Don’t get so excited about learning what something means that you fail to consider if it was applicable during the time period your ancestor actually lived. It’s true that not many people had books in the 1300s and they were generally only owned by the wealthy. Don’t assume that was true in the late 1800s as well because by then life had changed.
Not everything changes over time as much as printing, but things do change.
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