Saint-Simon and Charlemagne

While in prison, Henri de Saint-Simon - a French utopian socialist¹ - was visited in a dream by Charlemagne.² I thought it of interest that the man who many believe to be one of the modern founders of socialist thought and “social science”³ claimed to have been visited by one of his ancestors in a dream. Saint-Simon wrote:

During the cruelest period of the Revolution, and during a night of my imprisonment at Luxembourg, Charlemagne appeared to me and said: “Since the world began no family has enjoyed the honor to produce both a hero and philosopher of first rank. This honor was reserved for my house. My son, your successes as a philosopher will equal mine as a soldier and a statesman.”⁴

Sources:

1. “Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon“. Wikipedia. 16 November 2008.↩
2. “Charlemagne“. Wikipedia. 16 November 2008.↩
3. “Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon“. History of Economic Thought. 16 November 2008. See also “The Utopian Socialists: Robert Owen and Saint-Simon“. The History Guide. 16 November 2008.↩
4. Heilbroner, Robert L. The Worldly Philosophers. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999. 118. Google Book Search. 16 November 2008.↩

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