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CharlemagneCharlemagne, Emperor of the Known World (36) (742-814) married Princess Hildegarde of Swabia (36) (757-782). Can trace to Geoffrey Plantagenet (1113-1151) who married Matilda of England (1103-1167), granddaughter of William I the Conqueror, whose granddaughter Eleanor married Alphonse, 9th King of Castile, who died 1214). His son was Louis Le DeBonnaire of France (35) (778-840), reigned 814-840, married Judith (35), daughter of Guelph, Count of Andech and Bavaria (36). They had Princess Giselda (34) and Louis I of Bavaria (35), who had Carolman (34) who had Arnolph I (33) who had Princess Hedwige, daughter of Arnolph (32).)
Web site: Charlemagne - Charles the Great, King of the Franks and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire - http://pages.prodigy.com/charlemagne/ From Encyclopaedia Britannica: Charlemagne b. April 2, c. 742, d. Jan. 28, 814, Aix-la-Chapelle, or Aachen, Austrasia also called CHARLES I, byname CHARLES THE GREAT, French CHARLES LE GRAND, Latin CAROLUS MAGNUS, German KARL DER GROSSE king of the Franks (768-814), king of the Lombards (774-814), and emperor (800-814). As king of the Franks, Charlemagne conquered the Lombard kingdom in Italy, subdued the Saxons, annexed Bavaria to his kingdom, fought campaigns in Spain and Hungary, and, with the exception of the Kingdom of Asturias in Spain, southern Italy, and the British Isles, united in one superstate practically all the Christian lands of western Europe. In 800 he assumed the title of emperor. (He is reckoned as Charles I of the Holy Roman Empire, as well as Charles I of France.) Besides expanding its political power, he also brought about a cultural renaissance in his empire. Although this imperium survived its founder by only one generation, the medieval kingdoms of France and Germany derived all their constitutional traditions from Charles's monarchy. Throughout medieval Europe, the person of Charles was considered the prototype of a Christian king and emperor. JD Comments: I find it interesting that Charlemagne created the Kingdom of Aquitaine for his son Louis Le DeBonnaire, and that area would play a big part in later history and family history with Eleanor of Aquitaine and Richard I Coeur de Lion in their struggles with Louis VII and Philip. There are no portraits of Charlemagne, but I found a description of him in The Age of Charlemagne by Donald Bullough, published in 1966. On page 42, it states: "The common features of these early or probably early representations are the long drooping moustaches, beard and hair cut all round in a straight fringe. Einhard describes Charles as heavily built and 'seven times the length of his own foot' in height and nineteenth-century examination of his reputed skeletal remains suggests that he was in fact a man of over six feet which, in view of the lower average height of people at this period, means that he would have towered over most of his court and followers. Einhard also speaks of him as having light coloured hair and being bright-eyed and of good hearing. In other respects, however, his description -- admittedly based on acquaintance with the king only later in life -- does not suggest a particularly impressive-looking person: his neck was short and thick, he had a paunch and his nose was on the long side. His voice was 'clara,' by which is probably meant shrill rather than clear, especially as Einhard says that it didn't really match his body. He was, on the other hand, a vigorous and healthy man until the last years of his long life. His normal wear according to his biographer was what he describes as 'the Frankish national costume,' that is to say linen undershirt and drawers, over them a tunic and breeches and leggings. In winter a cape of otter or marten skins covered his shoulders and chest and at all times a sword hung from his sword-belt. His usual outer garment was a blue cloak. This is more or less the garb shown in the crude representation of Charles in an early manuscript of Capitularies and in the stylistically much superior representation of Charles' son and successor Louis in a manuscript from Fulda. Einhard is almost certainly right in suggesting that similar costume was worn by the Frankish magnates. Only on ceremonial occasions, when he wore a cloak of more magnificent design and material and carried the royal or Imperial insignia would Charles' dress have distinguished him clearly from his greater subjects." For those of us who come down through the Godfrey family line, I found something of passing interest on page 45 of the same book, where the author talks about Charles' wives: "After only a year, however, Charles repudiated his Lombard wife, without incurring any recorded protest from the Frankish clergy and subsequently married Hildegard, 'a Swabian, of the highest nobility.' A number of scholars have supposed that the rise and fall of the Carolingian Empire can be explained almost entirely in terms of marriage alliances and family rivalries -- which, in the extreme form in which this view has sometimes been expounded, is certainly not true. There is a particular temptation to look for a political purpose behind Charles' second marriage. Hildegard was, through her mother, a great-great-granddaughter of the heroic Swabian duke GODFREY, whose sons and grandson had continued to oppose Charles' ancestors as usurpers of the authority of the Merovingian kings. Her father, however, was a Frank from the middle Rhine region whose association with the Carolingians brought profit and influence to himself and his descendants...." I know it doesn't mean anything, but I thought it was interesting that Hildegard's great-great-grandfather was named Godfrey, and he would have been one of our earliest known ancestors! Return to the Genealogy Overview page or the Indexes on the Detail page.
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