Charlemagne is a historical figure you don't see a lot of in thrillers.
Katherine Neville is the only writer I can recall who’s made good use of him.
But he's fascinating. He ruled for 47 years, and lived to be 74, at a time when
kings rarely reigned more than 5 years, and people died long before age 40. He
unified a continent, laid the groundwork for the formation, centuries later, of
a modern Europe, and many of his policies and practices became proven models
for western civilization. He was a visionary who surrounded himself with smart
people and, for the first time, placed the needs of his subjects before royal
ambition. He was so progressive that it begs the question—did he have help? Was
he privy to special knowledge?
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1 comment posted.
In doing our genealogies, my husband and I found out we both had Charlemange as something like a 10 or 12X great grandfather. My husband was from the 2nd wife and me from the 3rd wife. We are lucky our children didn't have 6 fingers and toes!
(Lori Callaway 1:12pm January 22, 2009)