Mythologies of the Norman Tribes

The Normans (Norman: Normaunds; French: Normands; Latin: Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Francia followed a series of raids on the French northern coast mainly from Denmark, although some also sailed from Norway and Sweden. These settlements were finally legitimized when Rollo, a Scandinavian Viking leader, agreed to swear fealty to King Charles III of West Francia following the siege of Chartres in 911. The intermingling in Normandy produced an ethnic and cultural "Norman" identity in the first half of the 10th century, an identity which continued to evolve over the centuries. The Normans adopted the culture and language of the French, while they continued the martial tradition of their Viking ancestors as mercenaries and adventurers. In the 11th century, Normans from the duchy conquered England and Southern Italy. The Normans are noted both for their culture, such as their unique Romanesque architecture and musical traditions, and for their significant military accomplishments and innovations. Norman adventurers played a role in founding the Kingdom of Sicily under Roger II after briefly conquering southern Italy and Malta from the Saracens and Byzantines, and an expedition on behalf of their duke, William the Conqueror, led to the Norman conquest of England at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Norman and Anglo-Norman forces contributed to the Iberian Reconquista from the early eleventh to the mid-thirteenth centuries. Norman cultural and military influence spread from these new European centres to the Crusader states of the Near East, where their prince Bohemond I founded the Principality of Antioch in the Levant, to Scotland and Wales in Great Britain, to Ireland, and to the coasts of north Africa and the Canary Islands. The legacy of the Normans persists today through the regional languages and dialects of France, England, Spain, Quebec and Sicily, and also through the various cultural, judicial, and political arrangements they introduced in their conquered territories.

Norman, member of those Vikings, or Norsemen, who settled in northern France (or the Frankish kingdom), together with their descendants. The Normans founded the duchy of Normandy and sent out expeditions of conquest and colonization to southern Italy and Sicily and to England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. The Normans (from Nortmanni: “Northmen”) were originally pagan barbarian pirates from Denmark, Norway, and Iceland who began to make destructive plundering raids on European coastal settlements in the 8th century. During the later 9th century their raids on the northern and western coastlands of France grew in scale and frequency, and the Vikings had secured a permanent foothold on Frankish soil in the valley of the lower Seine River by about 900. A Viking named Rollo, who had already won a reputation as a great leader of Viking raiders in Scotland and Ireland, soon emerged as the outstanding personality among the new settlers. In 911 the Frankish king Charles III the Simple made the Treaty of St. Clair-sur-Epte with Rollo, ceding him the land around the mouth of the Seine and what is now the city of Rouen. Within a generation the Vikings, or Normans, as they came to be known, had extended their rule westward to the districts of Lower Normandy. From then on until the mid-11th century, the history of the Normans in Normandy was marked by a line of ruthless and forceful rulers calling themselves counts, or dukes, of Normandy and struggling to establish political hegemony over the indigenous Frankish population of the region.

The Normans that invaded England in 1066 came from Normandy in Northern France. However, they were originally Vikings from Scandinavia. From the eighth century Vikings terrorized continental European coastlines with raids and plundering. The proto-Normans instead settled their conquests and cultivated land. Over time they assimilated into medieval European society, abandoned paganism, and upheld conventional Christian norms. At the beginning of the tenth century, the French King, Charles the Simple, had given some land in the North of France to a Viking chief named Rollo. He hoped that by giving the Vikings their own land in France they would stop attacking French realms. From there they would cultivate land, join the feudal economy, and be a source of manpower the king in times of warfare. The Norman’s conquering of the known world was a phenomenon unlike anything Europe had seen up to that point in history. Although best known for the 1066 Conquest of England, they have left behind a far larger legacy. They emerged early in the tenth century but had disappeared from world affairs by the mid-thirteenth century. Yet in that time they had conquered England, Ireland, much of Wales and parts of Scotland. They also founded a new Mediterranean kingdom in southern Italy and Sicily, as well as a Crusader state in the Holy Land and in North Africa. Moreover, they had an extraordinary ability to adapt as time and place dictated, taking on the role of Norse invaders to Frankish crusaders, from Byzantine overlords to feudal monarchs. Today’s guest, Trevor Rowley, author of The Normans: A History of Conquest, offers a comprehensive picture of the Normans and argues that despite the short time span of Norman ascendancy, it is clear that they were responsible for a permanent cultural and political legacy.

The Normans Were A Medieval People Of Viking Origin Who Became Known For Their Distinctive Culture, Military Prowess, And Far-Reaching Influence. Originally from what is now modern-day Norway and Denmark, the Normans settled in the region of Normandy in northern France in the 10th and 11th centuries. “The Normans were not just conquerors; they were also builders. They brought new ideas, technology, and architectural styles wherever they went, leaving an indelible mark on the regions they settled.” They Eventually Established Their Own Duchy, Known As The Duchy Of Normandy, Under The Leadership Of Duke William I, Also Known As William The Conqueror. The Normans were known for their skilled and disciplined warriors, often employing cavalry and infantry tactics that gave them an advantage in battle. They became renowned for their military campaigns and conquests, with their most notable achievement being the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.

History is full of stories that will grip you like a modern page-turner novel, but only a few can do it as easily as the tale of the Normans. Proud and fearsome, these Viking descendants were key players in tailoring the socio-political picture of Europe for much of the high Middle Ages. What follows is a history full of intrigue and characterized by the Norman conquests and military prowess that swept through Europe like a whirlwind, leaving a mark for centuries to come. The thing that gives this account its unmistakable flair is the unique and inspiring identity of the Normans. Combining the ferocity and the conquering spirit of their Viking heritage with established, carefully developed laws and customs of medieval Western Europe, the Normans were set upon a path that would make their name etched in the foundations of European history. During the 10th century, the raids of the Vikings were penetrating deeper and deeper into Europe and the originally destructive nature of these incursions slowly gave way to settlement. The Kingdom of West Francia, seeking to put an end to the violent raids of the Norsemen, decided to strike a deal with those Vikings, whose encampments in the north of France increasingly resembled permanent settlements. And so, in the year 911 AD the ruler of West Francia, Charles III the Simple, created the Duchy of Normandy - a fief which he granted to the prominent Viking leader Gaange Rolf, later known as Rollo.

The Normans were a people who ruled parts of Europe in the 11th and 12th centuries. They were one of the most successful military dynasties in medieval history and played a major role in shaping the course of European history. Before their rise to power, the Normans were originally a people known as the Northmen, or Norsemen. They were a group of Viking and Germanic pagan tribes from the regions of Denmark, Norway, and Iceland. During the 8th century AD, they raided coastal settlements along the west coast of Europe. Eventually, the Normans settled in the areas they attacked and over time, they adapted to their new environments, and integrated into many of the local populations. The Normans first rose to prominence in the late 900s, when they began to raid and settle parts of France. One of the most famous early Norman leaders was a man called Rollo. He led a group of Northmen in a series of raids on the coasts of France and England. In 911, the French king Charles the Simple made a deal with Rollo. In exchange for peace, Rollo would be given control of a large area of northern France, which was renamed 'Normandy', which became their base of operations. From there, they would launch attacks on England, Italy, and other parts of Europe. Rollo and his followers settled in Normandy and began to build a new society there. They quickly assimilated into the local French culture and adopted Christianity.

The term Normans (latin Normanni) in Middle Ages used for members of Germanic tribes that coming from the “north” especially from Scandinavia. In 8 and 9 century they formed first states in Scandinavia. On the east they were known as Varangians while in Europe usually they known as Vikings. But the term Viking is more used for those Vikings who have occupied today’s Normandy. In 793 Viking long ships landed on Holy Island off the coast of Northumbria and sacked the famous Lindisfarne monastery. By contrast, the monastery of Mont-St-Michel, also on an island, on the coast of lower Normandy, was too well-fortified to be successfully attacked. Over the next century and more, the Vikings continued to assault Britain, and traveling up the Seine, Loire and Rhone, conduits for invaders and conquerors since Neolithic period, plagued Gaul almost beyond endurance. They first appeared among the Franks in the 840s, striking swiftly, brutally and successfully. The Vikings were a pagan culture in search of movable wealth, usually precious metals, which meant they preyed on churches and towns. Both were very vulnerable. The Vikings’ great advantage in Gaul was the political confusion of the ninth century when magnates, emperors and kings quarreled constantly among themselves and could not mount any sustained, unified campaign against these northern marauders. Margrave Robert the Strong (also known as Rutpert), for example, was killed in 866 fighting the Vikings but that was chance. He spent a great deal more time at war with Charles the Bald and Louis the Stammerer, his overlord and neighbor. It was understandable, then, that Charles the Simple decided to deal with the Vikings by making them respectable. In 911 he bought off the Viking chief Rollo, known as the Ganger, by appointing him count of Rouen with a substantial grant of land to support the honor. Rollo (911-927) was the first king of Normandy. Rollo then left Charles alone, although he and his followers, at least through the reign of Rollo’s successor, William Longsword (927-942), continued to attacked Britain. Actually, attacks on Britain were often retaliation for Breton attacks on Normandy and elsewhere, and therefore part of Rollo’s obligation as a count. Meanwhile, the bishop of Coutances fled in panic from his Norman See, despite Rollo’s promise in the agreement of St-Clair-sur-Epte not to raid the church. The bishop of Rouen remained in place to oversee the Christianizing of these pagans and apparently was not molested by them.

The Normans originated when a band of Norwegian Vikings led by the Dane Hrolf the Ganger (Rollo, in the French sources) settled in the region of the lower Seine River in the old area of Neustria, and were granted the county of Rouen, and the territory around the city of Rouen, by King Charles the Simple at the Treaty of Saint-Claire-sur-Epte in 911. Originally lumped together with the other Northmanni, or Normanni, to include Viking invaders all over Europe and stretching across the Atlantic, these Normans who settled on the Seine acquired a distinct identity separate from their Viking colleagues. Over the next hundred years, these Vikings centered in Rouen extended their control over the entire area previously known as Neustria, adding territories to the south and particularly to the west—the Bessin, the Cotentin and the Avranchin. This expansion in the west involved incorporating independent settlements of other Vikings around Bayeux and Caen, and subduing them to the rule of the count of Rouen. Rollo was essentially still a Viking chieftain, as was his son William I Longsword, who succeeded Rollo as count in 930. Continuing in his Viking ways, in 942 William was killed in battle trying to extend his county eastward, toward Flanders. His son Richard I began the real construction of the future Duchy of Normandy. Richard's marriage to the Viking Gunnor, "of the noblest house of the Danes," who had settled with others in the area around Caen began the lines of Norman aristocracy—all descended from Gunnor and her female relatives. Eleanor Searle has labeled the subsequent Norman expansion as "Predatory Kinship." The Normans continued to solidify their duchy under Richard and Gunnor's son Richard II, who had gained such prestige that he was able to make a marriage alliance with England by marrying his sister Emma to King Aethelred Unraed.