DESCENT FROM THE TROJANS - Charlemagne and the Franks claim descent from the Trojans. There is some evidence to support this as the Franks migrated to the area of what is now Belgium from the area below the Danube where they called themselves the Sicambrians. Before that, they had come from somwhere near the Black Sea . Since no one is sure whether the people of Troy were part of a larger group, or where the Trojans went after they were defeated by the Greeks, it is possible that the Franks were, in fact, descended from the Trojans. It is interesting that once they conquered Gaul (now France), they founded the towns of Paris (named after the hero of Troy) and Troyes. Ironically, the Britons (who were the initial inhabitants of England), and the Romans (including Julius Caesar) also claimed descent from the Trojans. From a linguistic perspective, all people who speak Indo-European languages (including English, French, Spanish, Italian, and German) are descended from people who initially inhabited the area above the Black Sea where the Indo-European pro-language originated. This is interesting because some scientists have argued that the flooding of the Black Sea might have been the event described as the Great Flood in both the Bible and the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilamesh.