Duchy of Normandy

Coordinates: 49°08′00″N 0°22′00″W / 49.1333°N 0.3667°W / 49.1333; -0.3667
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Duchy of Normandy
Duchie de Normaundie (
Latin
)
911–1469
Flag of Normandy
Heraldic
flag of Normandy
Coat of arms of Normandy
Coat of arms
Roman Catholicism
Demonym(s)Normans
GovernmentFeudal Monarchy
Duke of Normandy 
• 911–927
Rollo (first)
• 1035–1087
William the Conqueror
• 1144–1150
Geoffrey Plantagenet
• 1199–1204
John
• 1465–1469
Charles (last)
Historical era
Norman conquest of England
1066
• Geoffrey Plantagenet conquers the Duchy of Normandy
1144
• Continental Normandy conquered by Philip II
1204
• Treaty of Paris, Henry III formally recognises Capetian rule over Normandy, Anjou, Maine, and Poitou
. 		1259
• Incorporated into the Kingdom of France
1469
CurrencyDenier (Rouen penny)
 Succeeded by
1204:
Bailiwick of Guernsey
Jersey
1469:
Normandy (administrative region)
Today part ofFrance

British Isles

The Duchy of Normandy grew out of the 911

Viking leader Rollo. The duchy was named for its inhabitants, the Normans
.

From 1066 until 1204, as a result of the

kings of England, the only exceptions being Dukes Robert Curthose (1087–1106), Geoffrey Plantagenet (1144–1150), and Henry II
(1150–1152), who became king of England in 1154.

In 1202, Philip II of France declared Normandy forfeit to him and seized it by force of arms in 1204. It remained disputed territory until the Treaty of Paris of 1259, when the English sovereign ceded his claim except for the Channel Islands; i.e., the Bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey, and their dependencies (including Sark).

In the

Louis-Charles
, duke from 1785 to 1792.

The title "Duke of Normandy" continues to be used in an informal manner in the Channel Islands, to refer to the monarch of the United Kingdom.

History

Origins

The first

Richard of Burgundy and Robert of Neustria (the future Robert I of France) earlier in 911.[3]

The territory ceded to Rollo comprised the

Évrecin, Roumois and Talou. This was territory formerly known as the county of Rouen, and which would become Upper Normandy. A royal diploma of 918 confirms the donation of 911, using the verb adnuo ("I grant"). There is no evidence that Rollo owed any service or oath to the king for his lands, nor that there were any legal means for the king to take them back: they were granted outright.[2] Likewise, Rollo does not seem to have been created a count or given comital authority, but later sagas refer to him as Rúðujarl (earl of Rouen).[4]

In 924, King

ecclesiastical province of Rouen.[2]

The Norman polity had to contend with the Frankish and Breton systems of power that already existed in Normandy. In the early 10th century, Normandy was not a political or monetary unit. According to many academics, "the formation of a new aristocracy, monastic reform, episcopal revival, written bureaucracy, saints’ cults – with necessarily different timelines" were as important if not more than the ducal narrative espoused by Dudo. The formation of the Norman state also coincided with the creation of an origin myth for the Norman ducal family through Dudo, such as Rollo being compared to a "good pagan" like the Trojan hero Aeneas. Through this narrative, the Normans were assimilated closer to the Frankish core as they moved away from their pagan Scandinavian origins.[5][6]

Norse settlement

There were two distinct patterns of Norse settlement in the duchy. In the Danish area in the

Gallo-Romance-speaking population. Rollo shared out the large estates with his companions and gave agricultural land to his other followers. Danish settlers cleared their own land to farm it, and there was no segregation of populations.[2]

In the northern

þing, an assembly of all free men, whose meeting place may be preserved in the name of Le Tingland.[2]

Within a few generations of the founding of Normandy in 911, however, the Scandinavian settlers had intermarried with the natives and adopted much of their culture. But in 911, Normandy was not a political nor monetary unit. Frankish culture remained dominant and according to some scholars, 10th century Normandy was characterized by a diverse Scandinavian population interacting with the "local Frankish matrix" that existed in the region. In the end, the Normans stressed assimilation with the local population.[5] In the 11th century, the anonymous author of the Miracles of Saint Wulfram referred to the formation of a Norman identity as "shaping [of] all races into one single people".[2]

According to some historians, the idea of "Norman" as a political identity was a deliberate creation of the court of Richard I in the 960s as a way to "create a powerful if rather incoherent sense of group solidarity to galvanize the duchy's disparate elites around the duke".[7]

Norman rule

King of England

Starting with Rollo, Normandy was ruled by an enduring and long-lived Viking dynasty. Illegitimacy was not a bar to succession and three of the first six rulers of Normandy were illegitimate sons of concubines. Rollo's successor, William Longsword, managed in expanding his domain and came into conflict with Arnulf of Flanders, who had him assassinated in 942.[8] This led to a crisis in Normandy, with a minor succeeding as Richard I, and also led to a temporary revival of Norse paganism in Normandy.[9] Richard I's son, Richard II, was the first to be styled duke of Normandy, the ducal title becoming established between 987 and 1006.[10]

The Norman dukes created the most powerful, consolidated duchy in Western Europe between the years 980, when the dukes helped place Hugh Capet on the French throne, and 1050.[11] Scholarly churchmen were brought into Normandy from the Rhineland, and they built and endowed monasteries and supported monastic schools, thus helping to integrate distant territories into a wider framework.[12] The dukes imposed heavy feudal burdens on the ecclesiastical fiefs, which supplied the armed knights that enabled the dukes to control the restive lay lords but whose bastards could not inherit. By the mid-11th century the Duke of Normandy could count on more than 300 armed and mounted knights from his ecclesiastical vassals alone.[11] By the 1020s the dukes were able to impose vassalage on the lay nobility as well. Until Richard II, the Norman rulers did not hesitate to call Viking mercenaries for help to get rid of their enemies around Normandy, such as the king of the Franks himself. Olaf Haraldsson crossed the Channel in such circumstances to support Richard II in the conflict against the count of Chartres and was baptized in Rouen in 1014.[13]

In 1066,

Norman conquest of England.[14] Anglo-Norman and French relations became complicated after the Norman Conquest. The Norman dukes retained control of their holdings in Normandy as vassals owing fealty to the King of France, but they were his equals as kings of England. Serfdom was outlawed around 1100.[15]

From 1154 until 1214, with the creation of the

de jure French vassals.[16]

The Duchy remained part of the Angevin Empire until 1204,

Château de Rouen, as a symbol of royal power.[19]

French appanage

Main article: History of Normandy

Although within the royal demesne, Normandy retained some specificity. Norman law continued to serve as the basis for court decisions. In 1315, faced with the constant encroachments of royal power on the liberties of Normandy, the barons and towns pressed the Norman Charter on the king. This document did not provide autonomy to the province but protected it against arbitrary royal acts. The judgments of the Exchequer, the main court of Normandy, were declared final. This meant that Paris could not reverse a judgment of Rouen.[20] Another important concession was that the King of France could not raise a new tax without the consent of the Normans. However the charter, granted at a time when royal authority was faltering, was violated several times thereafter when the monarchy had regained its power.[21]

The Duchy of Normandy survived mainly by the intermittent installation of a duke. In practice, the King of France sometimes gave that portion of his kingdom to a close member of his family, who then did homage to the king. Philippe VI made Jean, his eldest son and heir to his throne, the Duke of Normandy. In turn, Jean II appointed his heir, Charles.[22]

In 1465,

Philippe de Commynes expressed what was probably a common Norman thought of the time: "It has always seemed good to the Normans and still does that their great duchy really should require a duke" (A tousjours bien semblé aux Normands et faict encores que si grand duchié comme la leur requiert bien un duc).[26]

Louis XVI, was again given the nominal title of 'Duke of Normandy' before the death of his elder brother in 1789.[27]

Modern usage

"La Reine, Notre Duc": title of a Diamond Jubilee exhibition at the Jersey Arts Centre

In the

British monarch is known informally as the "Duke of Normandy", irrespective of whether or not the holder is male (as in the case of Queen Elizabeth II who was known by this title).[28] The Channel Islands are the last remaining part of the former Duchy of Normandy to remain under the rule of the British monarch. Although the English monarchy relinquished claims to continental Normandy and other French claims in 1259 (in the Treaty of Paris), the Channel Islands (except for Chausey
under French sovereignty) remain Crown dependencies of the British throne.

In the islanders' loyal toast, they say, "The Duke of Normandy, our King", or "The King, our Duke", "L'Rouai, nouotre Duc" or "L'Roué, note Du" in Norman (Jèrriais and Guernésiais respectively), or "Le Roi, notre Duc" in Standard French, rather than simply "The King", as is the practice in the United Kingdom.[29][30]

Queen Elizabeth II is often referred to by her traditional and conventional title of Duke of Normandy. However ... she is not the Duke in a constitutional capacity and instead governs in her right as Queen ... This notwithstanding, it is a matter of local pride for monarchists to treat the situation otherwise: the Loyal Toast at formal dinners is to "The Queen, our Duke" rather than "Her Majesty, the Queen" as in the UK.[30]

The title 'Duke of Normandy' is not used in formal government publications, and, as a matter of Channel Islands law, does not exist.[31][30]

The British historian Ben Pimlott noted that while Queen Elizabeth II was on a visit to mainland Normandy in May 1967, French locals began to doff their hats and shout "Vive la Duchesse!", to which the Queen supposedly replied "Well, I am the Duke of Normandy!"[32][failed verification]

Rulers

Dukes

Main article: Duke of Normandy

Governors

Below is a list of the seneschals (sénéchal de Normandie) and governors of Normandy (gouverneur de Normandie) during its time as a French province.[33]

  • 9 May 1661 – 1726: Charles François Frédéric de Montmorency,
    Duke of Piney
  • 1726 – 18 May 1764: Marshal of France Charles François Frédéric de Montmorency II, Duke of Piney
  • 15 June 1764 – 1775: Marshal of France
    Duke of Harcourt
  • 17 September 1775 – 1 January 1791: François Henri, Duke of Harcourt

Law

Main article: Norman law

There are traces of Scandinavian law in the customary laws of Normandy, which were first written down in the 13th century.[20] A charter of 1050, listing several pleas before Duke William II, refers to the penalty of banishment as ullac (from Old Norse útlagr). The word was still current in the 12th century, when it was used in the Roman de Rou.[34] Marriage more danico ("in the Danish manner"), that is, without any ecclesiastical ceremony in accordance with old Norse custom, was recognised as legal in Normandy and in the Norman church. The first three dukes of Normandy all practised it.[2]

Scandinavian influence is especially apparent in laws relating to waters. The duke possessed the

Scanian law of c. 1210.[2]

There is no surviving reference to the

húskarl, but is late evidence for the existence of a hirð in the 10th century.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ Trudgill, Peter (15 May 2021). "The slow death of Channel Islands Norman". The New European. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Renaud, Jean (2008). Brink, Stefan (ed.). The Duchy of Normandy. Routledge. pp. 453–457. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  3. ^ Lake, Justin (2013). Richer of Saint-Rémi: The Methods and Mentality of a Tenth-Century Historian. Catholic University of America Press. p. 101.
  4. ^ Helmerichs, Robert (1997). "Princeps, Comes, Dux Normannorum: Early Rollonid Designators and Their Significance"". The Haskins Society Journal. 9: 57–77.
  5. ^
    ISBN 9781782041085
    .
  6. ^ Miller, Aron. "Scandinavian Origins through Christian Eyes: A Comparative Study of the History of the Normans and the Russian Primary Chronicle". repository.stcloudstate.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  7. ISSN 1468-0254
    .
  8. ^ Thorpe, Benjamin (1857). A History of England Under the Norman Kings: Or, from the Battle of Hastings to the Accession of the House of Plantagenet: To Which Is Prefixed an Epitome of the Early History of Normandy. London: John Russel Smith. p. 24.
  9. ISBN 9780826435149
    .
  10. ISBN 9780750951357
    .
  11. ^
    ISBN 9780060170332
    .
  12. ISBN 9780851157023
    .
  13. ^ "Olav Haraldsson – Olav the Stout – Olav the Saint". The Viking Network. 25 June 2015. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
  14. ISBN 9781445608839
    .
  15. ^ Sept essais sur des Aspects de la société et de l'économie dans la Normandie médiévale (Xe – XIIIe siècles) Lucien Musset, Jean-Michel Bouvris, Véronique Gazeau -Cahier des Annales de Normandie- 1988, Volume 22, Issue 22, pp. 3–140
  16. ISSN 0002-8762
    .
  17. ISBN 9781843833413
    .
  18. ISBN 9780719057403
    .
  19. ISBN 9780520911116.; "Castles.nl - Joan of Arc Tower"
    . www.castles.nl. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
  20. ^ a b Vincent, Nicholas (2015). "Magna Carta (1215) and the Charte aux Normands (1315): Some Anglo-Norman Connections and Correspondences" (PDF). Jersey and Guernsey Law Review. 2: 189–197.
  21. ISBN 9780826443090
    .
  22. ISBN 9780521362900.; "Normandy (Traditional province, France)"
    . www.crwflags.com. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
  23. ISBN 9780226310329.; Smedley, Edward (1836). The History of France: From the Final Partition of the Empire of Charlemagne, A.D. 843, to the Peace of Cambray, A.D. 1529
    . London: Baldwin. pp. 388–389.
  24. ^ Grove, Joseph (1742). The History of the Life and Times of Cardinal Wolsey, Prime Minister to King Henry VIII, Vol. 1: I. Of His Birth, and the Various Steps He Took to Attain Preferment, Connected With Affairs, Both Foreign and Domestick, From the Death of Edward IV. To He End of the Reign of Henry VII. London: J. Purser. p. 57.
  25. ^ Michelet, Jules (1845). History of France. Translated by Smith, G. H. London: Whittaker and Co. p. 309.
  26. ^ Contamine (1994), p. 233.
  27. JSTOR 40794680
    .
  28. ^ "Crown Dependencies". The Royal Household. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  29. ^ "The Loyal Toast". Debrett's. 2016. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016. In Jersey the toast of 'The Queen, our Duke' (i.e. Duke of Normandy) is local and unofficial, and used when only islanders are present. This toast is not used in the other Channel Islands.
  30. ^ a b c The Channel Islands, p. 11, at Google Books
  31. ^ Matthews, Paul (1999). "Lé Rouai, Nouot' Duc" (PDF). Jersey and Guernsey Law Review. 1999 (2).
  32. ^ The Queen: Elizabeth II and the Monarchy, p. 314, at Google Books
  33. ^ "Provinces of France to 1791". www.worldstatesmen.org. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  34. ISBN 9782701012810
    .
  35. ^ "Varech coutume de Normandie | Varech en Manche|". Le Petit Manchot - histoire patrimoine personnage (in French). Retrieved 2019-02-21.
  36. ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 2019-02-21.

External links

49°08′00″N 0°22′00″W / 49.1333°N 0.3667°W / 49.1333; -0.3667

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