Charlemagne. Karel de Grote

Many of the names in our database -of 11,000 people- are descendants of Charlemagne (Karel de Grote).  If you can trace your family tree back to ~1500 or so, then chances are that your ancestors were of noble descent. We have only 2 of his dozen children in our database. Therefore you will be better of researching it on the web.

Here is a chart of our 20 generations of Charlemagne. That brings it down from ~700 AD to the year of ~1500 or so. Hopefully you might recognize a name of your ancestors in the chart.

Here is our own simpler version of ancestry to him.

There is an excellent website in Dutch with over 200 decendency charts: https://kareldegrote.nl/

Ai thoughts
A large proportion of people in Europe and the Americas are direct descendants of Charlemagne. This is due to genealogical patterns, where, over many centuries, most people from a specific time frame (such as the post-Charlemagne era) and their descendants eventually connect to a common ancestor or a small group of very prominent ancestors, such as Charlemagne.

How it works:
The Identical Ancestors Theory:
This theory, suggested by mathematician Joseph Chang, states that all people alive today with European ancestry are direct descendants of Charlemagne.

The logic:
As you go further back in time, the number of distinct ancestors decreases, and the lines of descent intersect. Therefore, there is a point in time where many, if not all, people with connections to Europe are direct descendants of Charlemagne.

What this means for you:
High probability of descent:
If you have any European ancestors, especially from those regions that were connected to the Carolingian Empire, there's a high likelihood you're a descendant.

How to find out more:
You can use your family history to trace your lineage back. Many books and organizations are dedicated to documenting these specific lines of descent from Charlemagne.