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Charlemagne was very tall, but not robust

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  • Rühli, Frank J.
  • Blümich, Bernhard
  • Henneberg, Maciej

Abstract

The left tibia of Charlemagne, the Medieval "Father of Europe" has been X-rayed and CT scanned to determine his still highly debated stature. We found the healthy bone to be long (430Â mm) but rather not robust (total mid-shaft cross-sectional area 473Â mm2, cortical area 352Â mm2). Reconstructed stature of 1.84Â m falls at about 99% of Medieval heights, which would be ca. 1.95Â m in present-day Europe. Thus, tall stature indeed could have contributed to the success of "Charles the Great" as a king emperor and soldier.

Suggested Citation

  • Rühli, Frank J. & Blümich, Bernhard & Henneberg, Maciej, 2010. "Charlemagne was very tall, but not robust," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 289-290, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:8:y:2010:i:2:p:289-290
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Herpin, Nicolas, 2005. "Love, careers, and heights in France, 2001," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 3(3), pages 420-449, December.
    2. Heineck, Guido, 2006. "Height and weight in Germany, evidence from the German Socio-Economic Panel, 2002," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 4(3), pages 359-382, December.
    3. Deaton, Angus & Arora, Raksha, 2009. "Life at the top: The benefits of height," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 133-136, July.
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    1. Schleifring, Joachim H. & Galassi, Francesco M. & Habicht, Michael E. & Rühli, Frank J., 2019. "Autopsing history: The mummy of Charlemagne (c. 747 – 814 AD), father of Europe," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 11-17.

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