Benjamin and the Merovingian Monarchs of France
Saul was described as being head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the Kingdom.
In terms of today this would mean more than 7 feet high.
An historical Personage who is believed to have been about that tall is Charlemagne.
Charlemagne (748 - 814) was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian Empire from 800, holding these titles until his death in 814. He united most of Western and Central Europe and was the first recognised emperor to rule in the west after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, approximately three centuries earlier. In effect, he founded the Holy Roman Empire. Charlemagne helped complet the Christianization of Germanic Tribes in the West. He encouraged learning and was favorable towards the Jews.
Chalemagne belonged to the Carolingian Dynasty.
Before then the Merovingians (ca. 450 -751 CE) were in power. In France. They were known for never cutting their hair. There is a group that claims the Merovingians were descended from the Tribe of Benjamin.
Wikipedia Sources:
n.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holy_Blood_and_the_Holy_Grail
A work of historical fiction appeared recently:
"The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail," by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln, London: (1982).
A sequel to the book, called The Messianic Legacy, was originally published in 1986.
The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail claims the "Order of Sion" created and later broke off from the Knights Templar. The Order (Priory) of Sion protects Merovingian dynasts who they claim should be the rightful rulers of France. In continuation the authors were to say JC escaped the cross, married Mary Magdalene and had children whose decendants have maintained his 'blood royale' across the intervening centuries. In the Dark Ages they married into the Merovingian royal family. In the 1200s they were protected by the Cathars. The Cathars (also known as "Abigensians") were Christian heretics in southerrn France who broke away from the Catholic Chruch and were wiped out in a Crusade. Now, it is alleged, the "Order of Sion" constitute a powerful contender group for the throne of France which at present is a republic.
Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln used as a major source for their book a forgery known as "Dossiers Secrets" at the Bibliotheque nationale de France which, though alleging to portray hundreds of years of medieval history, were actually all written by Pierre Plantard and Philippe de Cherisey under the pseudonym of "Philippe Toscan du Plantier". Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln apparently claimed to have been unaware that the documents had been forged.
Margaret Starbird in her 1993 book The Woman with the "Alabaster Jar," and Dan Brown in his 2003 novel "The Da Vinci Code," both built on these ideas.
Contrary to Plantard's initial Franco-Israelist claim that the Merovingians were only descended from the Tribe of Benjamin, they asserted they are the lineal descendants of the historical Jesus and his alleged wife, Mary Magdalene, and trace themselves back to King David.
Yair Davidiy adds:
Several decades back I read "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail," as well as parts of "The Messianic Legacy." Personally I was not impressed.
These works were not convincing nor did they, as far as I could see, contain facts of value.
Nevertheless, they became best-sellers and aroused much interest.
This too, is worth noting.