To increase the rigidity of bearings-shaft systems, the shaft is often supported by a series of double-row rolling bearings. Little work on multiple-row rolling bearings has been published. A comprehensive model is proposed which permits the determination of the internal interactions. The total elastic deflection between bearing rings is described using a vector-and-matrix method. A variety of double-row rolling bearing types are analysed, such as tapered roller bearing, cylindrical roller bearing, spherical roller bearing, self-aligning ball bearings and angular contact ball bearing. The basic internal geometry (including the internal clearance) and the effect of the initial preload (in term of the initial axial compression) are considered.