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 (430 mm) but rather not robust (total mid-shaft cross-sectional area 473 mm2, cortical area 352 mm2). Reconstructed stature of 1.84 m falls at about 99% of Medieval heights, which would be ca. 1.95 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.
Rühli, Frank J