Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross

Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross
Studio album by Christopher Lee
Released	15 March 2010 (2010-03-15)
Genre	Symphonic metal, orchestral, spoken word
Length	62:21
Label	Charlemagne Productions Ltd.
Producer	J. Aneiros, C. Canonici
Christopher Lee chronology
Revelation (2006) Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross (2010) Charlemagne: The Omens of Death (2013)

Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross is a symphonic metal concept album by actor and singer Christopher Lee. It was released on 15 March 2010. This was Lee's first full-length album in the genre, having previously worked with such bands as Rhapsody of Fire and Manowar.

It tells the story of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, to whom Lee can trace his ancestry. Geneticists have pointed out however that virtually everyone of European ancestry is directly descended from Charlemagne,^[1] and Scott Hershberger writing for Scientific American stated that Lee’s enthusiasm for his link to Charlemagne “may have been a tad excessive”.^[2]

The album's promotional MySpace page garnered over 20 million hits from around the world.^{[citation needed]} The album features two bands and a number of guest vocalists playing the different roles in the story. Music was composed by Marco Sabiu. A music video for "The Bloody Verdict of Verden" was released in June 2012.^[3] A heavy metal follow-up album, titled Charlemagne: The Omens of Death, was released in 2013.