10. Charles The Great Was Also a Great Perv
Charles the Great, or Charlemagne (742 – 814), towered over early medieval Europe. He led a series of campaigns that expanded his Frankish realm, and eventually unified much of western and central Europe into what became known as the Carolingian Empire. In 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne “Emperor of the Romans“. He became the first in a line of Holy Roman Emperors that lasted until Napoleon abolished the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. While inarguably a great man, Charlemagne was also a weirdo, who was into incest and necrophilia.
Charlemagne had an incestuous relationship with his sister, Gillen. Medieval accounts report that he was eventually overcome with guilt, and visited the tomb of Saint-Gilles, near Nimes, where he prayed for forgiveness. An angel showed up and placed a parchment on the altar, declaring that the saint’s intercession worked and that God forgave Charlemagne so long as he did not repeat the sin. While the part about the angel showing up is just myth, many modern scholars give credence to the reports of incest. Charlemagne probably did sleep with Gillen, and fathered upon her a son/ nephew, named Roland.