Godes History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The surname Godes was first found in Hamburg, where the name contributed greatly to the development of an emerging nation which would later play a large role in the tribal and national conflicts of the area. In later years the name branched into many houses, each playing a significant role in the local social and political affairs. Gode is also connected to several place names in the Holstein region.

We did find this interesting entry that we felt we should include. William Godel (fl. 1173), was a historian, who "is only known from the allusions in his chronicle, in which he never mentions himself by name. Under the year 1145 he says: ‘This year I, who compiled this work from various histories, entered a monastery; in age a youth, and by race an Englishman.’ But at the end of the manuscript (Bibliothèque Nationale, 4893, sec. xiii) there is a note in a hand of the fourteenth century, stating that the author was William Godel, a monk of St. Martial at Limoges. . He was ordained priest of Leuroux by Pierre de la Châtre, archbishop of Bourges, who died in 1171. Godel seems to have been fond of travel, and so perhaps often changed his monastery till, dying at St. Martial, he left his chronicle there. " 1