Charlemagne or Charles the Great, a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the Emperor of the Romans from 800. Charlemagne succeeded in uniting the majority of western and central Europe and was the first recognized emperor to rule from western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire around three centuries earlier. The expanded Frankish state that Charlemagne founded was the Carolingian Empire, which is considered the first phase in the history of the Holy Roman Empire. He was canonized by Antipope Paschal III—an act later treated as invalid—and he is now regarded by some as beatified in the Catholic Church.
Louis the Pious, also called the Fair and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aquitaine from 781. As the only surviving son of Charlemagne and Hildegard, he became the sole ruler of the Franks after his father's death in 814, a position that he held until his death except from 833 to 834, when he was deposed.
Charles Edward Anderson Berry was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive with songs such as "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music" (1957) and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958). Writing lyrics that focused on teen life and consumerism, and developing a music style that included guitar solos and showmanship, Berry was a major influence on subsequent rock music.
Carloman I, also Karlmann, was king of the Franks from 768 until his death in 771. He was the second surviving son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon and was a younger brother of Charlemagne. His death allowed Charlemagne to take all of Francia and begin his expansion into other kingdoms.
Jena Laine Malone is an American actress, musician, and photographer. Known for her roles in both independent films and mainstream blockbuster features, she has received numerous accolades, including nominations for a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Pippin is a 1972 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Roger O. Hirson. Bob Fosse, who directed the original Broadway production, also contributed to the libretto. The musical uses the premise of a mysterious performance troupe, led by the Leading Player, to tell the story of Pippin, a young prince on his search for meaning and significance. The 'fourth wall' is broken numerous times during most traditional productions.
Crimson Tide is a 1995 American action thriller film directed by Tony Scott and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. It takes place during a period of political turmoil in Russia, in which ultranationalists threaten to launch nuclear missiles at the United States and Japan.
Bowfinger is a 1999 American satirical buddy comedy film directed by Frank Oz. The film depicts a down-and-out filmmaker in Hollywood attempting to make a film on a small budget with a star who does not know that he is in the movie. It was written by Steve Martin, who also stars alongside Eddie Murphy in two roles, and Heather Graham as an ambitious would-be starlet.
Steve Berry is an American author and former attorney currently living in St. Augustine, Florida. He is a graduate of Mercer University's Walter F. George School of Law. He was a trial lawyer for 30 years and held elected office for 14 of those years. He is a founding member of International Thriller Writers—a group of more than 4,200 thriller writers from around the world—and served three years as its co-president.
Shoot to Kill is a 1988 American buddy cop action thriller film directed by Roger Spottiswoode and starring Sidney Poitier, Tom Berenger, Clancy Brown, Andrew Robinson and Kirstie Alley.
Kart Racer is a 2003 Canadian-German sports drama film directed by Stuart Gillard, and starring Will Rothhaar, David Gallagher and Randy Quaid. In the United States, it premiered on television on ABC Family in 2005.
The Alexandria Link is a 2007 novel by Steve Berry. On the heels of Berry's New York Times best seller The Templar Legacy, this thriller is based on the mystery of the ancient Library of Alexandria. An amalgam of fact and fiction, the novel received mixed responses from readers. However, most responses to the plot and the style of writing were positive.
The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne is an Irish prose narrative surviving in many variants. A tale from the Fianna Cycle of Irish mythology, it concerns a love triangle between the great warrior Fionn mac Cumhaill, the beautiful princess Gráinne, and her paramour Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. Surviving texts are all in Modern Irish and the earliest dates to the 16th century, but some elements of the material date as far back as the 10th century.
Pepin, or Pippin the Hunchback was a Frankish prince. He was the eldest son of Charlemagne and noblewoman Himiltrude. He developed a humped back after birth, leading early medieval historians to give him the epithet "hunchback". He lived with his father's court after Charlemagne dismissed his mother and took another wife, Hildegard. Around 781, Pepin's half brother Carloman was rechristened as "Pepin of Italy"—a step that may have signaled Charlemagne's decision to disinherit the elder Pepin, for a variety of possible reasons. In 792, Pepin the Hunchback revolted against his father with a group of leading Frankish nobles, but the plot was discovered and put down before the conspiracy could put it into action. Charlemagne commuted Pepin's death sentence, having him tonsured and exiled to the monastery of Prüm instead. Since his death in 811, Pepin has been the subject of numerous works of historical fiction.
Barbie as the Island Princess is a 2007 computer-animated musical film. It was released to DVD on September 18, 2007, and made its television premiere on Nickelodeon on September 23, 2007.
Son of the Navy, also known as The Young Recruit in the United States, is a 1940 American comedy-drama film directed by William Nigh and starring Jean Parker, James Dunn, and Martin Spellman.
The Venetian Betrayal is Steve Berry's sixth novel, and is the third to feature the former U.S. Justice Department operative turned Antiquarian book dealer, Cotton Malone.
Between 2002 and 2004, Ariel Castro kidnapped Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Georgina "Gina" DeJesus from the streets of Cleveland, Ohio and later held them captive in his home of 2207 Seymour Avenue in the city's Tremont neighborhood. All three girls were imprisoned at Castro's home until 2013, when Berry successfully escaped with her six-year-old daughter, to whom she had given birth while imprisoned, and contacted the police. Police rescued Knight and DeJesus, and arrested Castro hours later.
Charleymayne, or the Distracted Emperor is an early modern play dated around 1600, derived from the Egerton Collection manuscript formerly in the British Museum and now British Library, MS Egerton 1994. It is the only Jacobean play to survive in manuscript form. Its first printing appears to be by A. H. Bullen in his A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume II. Bullen gives this text the title The Distracted Emperor, but on Egerton it is entitled simply, Charleymayne. Although in manuscript the play is anonymous, the script shows signs of a collaborative effort, with Act One possibly by George Chapman, and the rest by a young John Fletcher.
