These are things I’ve heard or read. Are they so? I do not know,
I was not there.
If it’s truth you seek, please proceed with caution and with care.

Charlemagne, King of the Franks, and Emperor of the West, reigned from 768 to 814. From the 12th century through the late 19th, tales of Charlemagne and his peers, the paladins, were mainstream, wide-spread elements of popular culture.

A leading figure within these tales is “the knight of the white plume and shield”, perhaps the original white knight, Charlemagne’s legendary niece, Bradamante.

During her adventures, Bradamante:

• Casually defeats Sacripant, king of Circassia.
• Discovers Merlin’s tomb.
• Outwits Brunello, a crafty thief with a ring which can make him invisible.
• Outwits the enchanter, Atlantes.
• Rescues the knight Rogero, her future husband.
• Repels an invasion of the ancient port city of Marseilles.
• Challenges any who might wish to wed her to prove themselves worthy through facing her in day-long combat.
• Becomes Empress of the Bulgarians.

She is a legendary ancestress of the royal houses of England, Denmark, Norway, and Spain, as well as the House of Estes, lords of the onetime dukedom of Ferrara.