This week’s writing prompt is most. I decided to discuss my 39th (and 40th) great-grandfather, Charlemagne, who was a Holy Roman Emperor in the 9th century. I am only one of his innumerable descendants. He has countless offspring. I venture to guess he has the most known descendants of any of my ancestors. He had at least 18 children with his wives and concubines, including Charles the Younger, Pippin the Hunchback, and Drogo of Metz. 

Many Europeans and Americans trace their ancestry back to Charlemagne. Some of the Mayflower Pilgrims in America, being of British ancestry, are included in his descendants. The primary line of his Carolingian family became extinct in 987, however, the secondary branches were very fruitful, leading to the belief that around 30% of individuals with European ancestry are related to Charlemagne.

Charlemagne is renowned for his achievements in uniting Western Europe, leading the Carolingian Renaissance, implementing religious reforms, and creating the seignorial system. He is frequently mentioned as the Originator of Western Culture.

My ancestry can be traced back to Charlemagne (Charles the Great) and his spouse Hildegard, the daughter of Gerold of Anglachgau. Hildegard had a noble background, with Frankish and Alemannian ancestry. I discovered my connection to Charlemagne when Cindy Crawford was revealed to be his descendant on the TV show Who Do You Think You Are? I share in common with her, English and Colonial American Trowbridge/Marshall ancestors.

The list of famous descendants of Charlemagne is HUGE! Some famous royal descendants include Henry VIII and four of his wives: Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr. Also Charles, the current King of England (via his mother Elizabeth II), Princess Diana (via a different line than Charles), Catherine Middleton, Princess of Wales, and Megan Markle.

The list comprises numerous US Presidents such as George Washington, William Henry Harrison, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Quincy Adams, Benjamin Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Grover Cleveland, Calvin Coolidge, Theodore Roosevelt, Rutherford B. Hayes, Ulysses S. Grant, William Howard Taft, Warren G. Harding, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard Nixson, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.

The list also features numerous First Ladies and U.S. Vice Presidents, along with writers, actors, inventors, politicians, astronauts, athletes, and other well-known individuals. Some of the performers included in the roster are Humphrey Bogart, Lillian Gish, Orson Welles, Steve McQueen, Judy Garland, Bette Davis, Joanne Woodward, Christopher Reeves, Matt Damon, siblings Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal, Vincent Price, Bing Crosby, sisters Olivia De Havilland and Joan Fontaine, Katharine Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball, Elizabeth Montgomery, Geena Davis, Kyra Sedgwick, Tilda Swinton, Jodie Foster, Jennifer Lawrence, Tim Robbins, Tom Hanks, Richard Gere, Glenn Close, Angelina Jolie, Kevin Bacon, Ben Affleck, Hugh Grant, Kit Harington, and Brad Pitt.

The descendency lines from Charlemagne that I know of are both on my mother’s side, with one being closer than the other. Here is the first line:

1. Charlemagne, Holy Roman Emperor and Queen Hildegard.
2. Holy Roman Emperor Louis I and Ermengarde of Haspengau.
3. Lothair I, Emperor of the Carolingian Empire and Ermengarde of Tours.
4. Ermengarde of Lorraine and Gilbert, Count of Maasgau.
5. Rainier I, Duke of Lorraine and Alberade.
6. Giselbert, Duke of Lorraine and Gerberga of Saxony.
7. Alberade of Lorraine and Renaud, Count of Rheims and Roucy.
8. Giselbert, Count of Roucy.
9. Ebles I, Count of Rheims and Roucy, Archbishop of Rheims and Beatrix of Hainaut.
10. Adelaide (Alice) de Roucy and Hilduin IV, Count of Montdidier.
11. Marguerite (Margaret) de Roucy (aka Margaret of Montdidier) and Hugh I, Count of Clermont.
12. Adeliza (Adelise/Alix) de Clermont-en-Beauvaisis and Gilbert Fitz Richard, Lord of Clare
13. Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare and Alice (Adeliza) (daughter of Ranulf Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester and Lucy of Bolingbroke).
14. Roger de Clare, 2nd Earl of Hertford and Maud de St. Hilary (daughter of James de St. Hilary and Aveline).
15. Aveline de Clare, Countess of Essex and Geoffrey Fitz Peter, 1st Earl of Essex.
16. Hawise Fitz Geoffrey and Reynold De Mohun, II, Lord of Dunster, Somerset.
17. Alice de Mohun and Robert de Beauchamp, Lord of Hatch.
18. Humphrey de Beauchamp, Lord of Ryme, Intrinseca, Dorset and Oburnford and Sybil Oliver.
19. Eleanor Beauchamp and John Bamfield.
20. John Bamfield and Isabel Cobham.
21. John Bamfield and Joan Gilbert.
22. Thomas Bamfield and Agnes Coplestone.
23. Agnes Bamfield and John Prowse.
24. Richard Prowse, Gentleman and Margaret Norton.
25. John Prowse, Lord of Chagford and Joan Orchard.
26. Robert Prowse and Christian ____.
27. John Prowse and Alice White.
28. John Prowse and Elizabeth Colwick/Collack.
29. Agnes Prowse and John Trowbridge.
30. Thomas Trowbridge and Elizabeth Marshall. (At this point, my shared ancestry with Cindy Crawford ends. Her line continues with the son Deacon James Trowbridge and his wife Margaret Jackson, mine continues with the son William Trowbridge, Sr. and his wife Elizabeth Lamberton).
31. William Trowbridge and Elizabeth Lamberton.
32. Elizabeth Trowbridge and Peter Mallory.
33. Judith Mallory and Jeremiah Canfield, II.
34. Pvt. David Canfield and Mary Northrup.
35. David Canfield, Jr. and Sarah Gray.
36. Esther Canfield and Amos Prindle.
37. David Prindle, Sr. and Hannah Elizabeth Greatsinger/Kritsinger.
38. Daniel Prindle and Sarah Jane “Jennie” Doman.
39. Anna Cora Prindle and Joseph Edward Cole (my great-grandparents).

The ancestry above demonstrates that Charlemagne is my thirty-ninth great-grandfather. I am the offspring of two of his sons. My ancestry on this first line is via Louis I, Holy Roman Emperor, and his wife Ermengarde of Haspengau. Pepin I, King of Italy, another son of Charlemagne, is also my ancestor, he and one of his unnamed mistresses/concubines. They are the forebears of Beatrix Hainaut (spouse of Ebles I, Count of Rheims and Roucy), located in line #9 mentioned above.

My second line of descendancy is as follows:

1. Charlemagne, Holy Roman Emperor and Queen Hildegard.
2. Pepin I, King of Italy and unknown named mistress/concubine.
3. Bernard, King of Italy and Cunigunda of Laon.
4. Pepin II, Count of Vermandois and unknown named wife.
5. Herbert I, Count of Vermandois and unknown partner.
6. Beatrice of Vermandois and Robert I, King of West Francia.
7. Hugh the Great, Duke of Franks and Count of Paris and Hedwige of Saxony, daughter of the German king Henry the Fowler.
8. Hugh Capet, King of the Franks and Adelaide of Aquitaine.
9. Hedwig of France and Reginar IV, Count of Mons.
10. Beatrix of Hainaut and Ebles I, Count of Rheims and Roucy, Archbishop of Rheims.

At this point both lines link up together with Beatrix of Hainaut and Ebles I, Count of Rheims and Roucy, Archbishop of Rheims.

To learn more about Charlemagne:

1. History. Charlemagne (c. 747 – c. 814). BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation).
2. Charlemagne. By: History.com Editors. Updated: July 22, 2022 | Original: November 9, 2009.
3. #203: Life of Charlemagne. Christian History Institute.
4. Catholic Encyclopedia – Charlemagne. newadvent.org
5. Charlemagne – Wikipedia.

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