signs of the Charles

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 the French fleur de lis here

 the German coat of arms by Virgil Solis, (16th c.)

here

Charlemagne 

by Durer, 1512

Founding father of France and Germany, Charlemagne united Western Europe for the first time since the fall of the Roman Empire.The tall one, at 6 foot 3 inches-he could carry a small cathedral about. (his father was Pepin the Short, so go figure)

(footnote)-Charlemagne had twenty children over the course of his life with eight of his ten known wives or concubines. Nonetheless, he only had four legitimate grandsons, the four sons of his third son, Louis. In addition, he had a grandson-Bernard only son of his third son, Pippin- who was born illegitimate but included in the line of inheritance. So, despite twenty children, the claimants to his inheritance were few.

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