....and those original german barbarians who dismantled the roman empire became known as the inheritors of the 'holy roman empire'. they vowed to repair the western empire and challenge the eastern (byzantium) empire, and the papal states were at the center of this whole thing. so in my humble opinion he is w/o doubt a germanic race, and coppola had no choice but to include the german element in a story that deals w/ the papal states.