Everything about The Duchy Of Normandy totally explained
The
Duchy of Normandy stems from various
Danish,
Hiberno-Norse, Orkney
Viking and Anglo-Danish (
from the Danelaw) invasions of
France in the
8th century. A fief, probably as a county, was created by the
treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte in
911 out of concessions made by
King Charles, and granted to
Rollo, leader of the
Vikings known as
Northmen (or in Latin
Normanni).
Originally encompassing the province of
Neustria and a portion of
Breton territory on the Northern Coast and interior of France, it's now divided between territory in mainland
France and the
Channel Islands, which are
Crown dependencies of the
British Monarchy. The British sovereign is still known informally as the Duke of Normandy in the Channel Islands.
See
Normandy for this region in modern France and more of the geography and culture of the region.
When the
Norse-speaking settlers spread out over the lands of the Duchy, they adopted the
Gallo-Romance speech of the existing populations — much as Norman rulers later adopted in England the speech of the administered people. In Normandy, the new
Norman language formed by the interaction of peoples inherited vocabulary from Norse. In England the Norman language developed into the
Anglo-Norman language. The literature of the Duchy and England during the period of the Anglo-Norman realm is known as
Anglo-Norman literature.
Chronology of the Duchy
It was formed from
Rouen county, the
Pays de Caux and
Talou (
Dieppe county) which the Vikings had colonised. The capital was established at Rouen in
912, and a western capital was later established at
Caen as the Duchy expanded.
In
928 Evreux county,
Hiémois county and the
Bessin were added.
In
931-
934,
William Longsword, Rollo's son, added the
Cotentin Peninsula and the
Avranchin. The
Channel Islands were added in
933.
Sometime around 950-956, Normandy or its frontier part got the position as a
marchio, according to Werner.
Richard II was the first to be styled
duke of Normandy (the ducal title became established between 987-1006).
In
1066,
Duke William defeated
Harold II of England at the
Battle of Hastings and was subsequently crowned King of
England, through the so-called
Norman Conquest of England, which started the consequential Normanisation.
Anglo-Norman and French relations became complicated after the Norman Conquest, as the Norman rulers retained control of their holdings in Normandy as
vassals owing
fealty to the King of France, but were his equals as King of England. In the
1150s with the creation of the
Angevin Empire the Normans controlled half of France and all of England, dwarfing the power of France. Yet the Normans were still technically vassals to France.
One interpretation of the Conquest maintains that England became a cultural and economic backwater for almost 150 years after as kings of England preferred to rule from cities in Normandy such as Rouen and concentrate on their more lucrative continental holdings'.
Another interpretation has it that the Norman Duke-Kings neglected their continental territories, where they in theory owed fealty to the Kings of France, in favour of consolidating their power in their new sovereign realm of England. The resources poured into the construction of
cathedrals,
castles and the administration of the new realm arguably diverted energy and concentration away from the need to defend Normandy, alienating the local nobility and weakening Norman control over the borders of the territory, while at the same time the power of the Kings of France grew.
The Duchy was ruled as part of the Anglo-Norman realm until
1204, when
Philip II of France conquered the continental lands of the Duchy. The eventual loss of control of continental Normandy divided
landed families as members chose loyalty over land or vice-versa.
During the
Hundred Years War Anglo-Norman kings of England tried to regain their dynastic holdings in France.
The
Treaty of Paris (1259) settled the mainland territory on France; but the Channel Islands were retained by the English Crown (with the exception of
Chausey).
In
1789 the
French Revolution brought an end to the historic rights and privileges of the Duchy, and in
1790 the territory of Normandy was divided into five
départements.
The Duchy today
The
bailiwicks of
Jersey and
Guernsey form the modern Duchy of Normandy.
Queen Elizabeth II is the
Duke of Normandy in the
Channel Islands.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Duchy Of Normandy'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://duchy_of_normandy.totallyexplained.com">Duchy of Normandy Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
