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Meaning ‘descended from Charles’, this adjective refers to the powerful dynasty of the Frankish kings who ruled much of France and Germany from 751AD to just before the end of the first millennium. In monarchical terms, such dynasties usually take their name from its founding king, but when you consider that the first King of the Franks was Pepin the Short, you can see why the family preferred the name of his father, Charles Martel. Known as ‘The Hammer’, though he never took the title of king, Charles was a great warrior who united the Franks and fought off the Muslim invaders from the south, paving the way for Pepin to take the kingship. Though a good king himself, Pepin was succeeded by his son, another Charles, better known in history as Charlemagne, or Charles the Great.

Martel and Charlemagne were both called Carolus in Latin, so the dynasty came to be called Carolingian, though by rights it should have been named after the true founder, and termed ‘Peninian’. And that’s the long and the short of it.