Rollo
Rollo | |
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Count of Rouen | |
Reign | 911–928 |
Successor | William Longsword |
Born | c. 835/870[1][2][3] Scandinavia |
Died | 928/933 Duchy of Normandy |
Burial | |
Spouse |
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Issue more | |
House | Normandy (founder) |
Religion |
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Rollo (
The name Rollo is first recorded in a charter written in 918 as the leader of a group of Viking settlers, and he reigned over the region of Normandy until at least 928. He was succeeded by his son
Name
The
The 10th-century French historian
Origins and historiography
Rollo was born in the mid-9th century; his place of birth is almost definitely located in the region of
Sources do not make clear the year of Rollo's birth, but from his activity, marriage, children, and death, the mid-9th century may be inferred.
Medieval sources contradict each other regarding whether Rollo's family was Norwegian or Danish in origin. In part, this disparity may result from the indifferent and interchangeable usage in Europe, at the time, of terms such as "Vikings", "Northmen/Norsemen", "Norse", "Swedes", "Danes", "Norwegians" and so on (in the Medieval Latin texts Dani vel Nortmanni means 'Danes or Northmen').
Among biographical remarks about Rollo written by the cleric Dudo of Saint-Quentin in the late 10th century, he claimed that Rollo "the Dane" was from Dacia (a blend of the Latin for Denmark (Dania) and Sweden (Suecia)), and had moved from there to the island of Scandza. One of Rollo's great-grandsons and a contemporary of Dudo was known as Robert the Dane. However, Dudo's Historia Normannorum (or Libri III de moribus et actis primorum Normanniae ducum) was commissioned by Rollo's grandson, Richard I of Normandy and while Dudo likely had access to family members and/or other people with a living memory of Rollo, this fact must be weighed against the text's potential biases, as an official biography.[14]
According to Dudo, an unnamed king of Denmark was antagonistic to Rollo's family, including his father – an unnamed Danish nobleman – and Rollo's brother Gurim. Following the death of their father, Gurim was killed and Rollo was forced to leave Denmark.[15] Dudo appears to have been the main source for William of Jumièges (after 1066) and Orderic Vitalis (early 12th century), although both include additional details.[16]
A Norwegian background for Rollo was first explicitly claimed by
A chronicler named Benoît (probably
There may be circumstantial evidence for kinship between Rollo and his historical contemporary
Biography
Dudo's chronicle about Rollo seizing Rouen in 876 is supported by the contemporary chronicler Flodoard, who records that Robert of the Breton March waged a campaign against the Vikings, nearly levelling Rouen and other settlements. Eventually, he conceded "certain coastal provinces" to them.[26]
According to Dudo, Rollo struck up a friendship in England with a king called Alstem. This has puzzled many historians, but recently the puzzle has been resolved by recognition that this refers to Guthrum, the Danish leader whom Alfred the Great baptised with the baptismal name Athelstan, and then recognised as king of the East Angles in 880.[27][28]
Dudo recorded that when Rollo controlled Bayeux by force, he carried off with him the beautiful
There are few contemporary mentions of Rollo. In 911, Robert I of France, brother of Odo, again defeated another band of Viking warriors in Chartres with his well-trained horsemen. This victory paved the way for Rollo's baptism and settlement in Normandy. In return for formal recognition of the lands he possessed, Rollo agreed to be baptised and assisted the king in defending the realm. As was the custom, Rollo took the baptismal name Robert, after his godfather Robert I.[31]
The seal of the agreement was to be a marriage between Rollo and Gisela, daughter of Charles. Gisela might have been a legitimate daughter of Charles.[32] Since Charles first married in 907, that would mean that Gisela was at most 5 years old at the time of the treaty of 911 which offered her in marriage.[33] It has therefore been speculated that she could have been an illegitimate daughter.[34] However a diplomatic child betrothal need not be doubted.[33]
The earliest record of Rollo is from 918, in a charter of Charles III to an abbey, which referred to an earlier grant to "the Normans of the Seine", namely "Rollo and his associates" for "the protection of the kingdom".[35] Dudo retrospectively stated that this pact took place in 911 at Saint-Clair-sur-Epte.
Dudo narrates a humorous story not repeated in other primary sources about Rollo's pledge of fealty to Charles III as part of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. The attendant bishops urged Rollo to kiss the king's foot to prove his allegiance. Rollo refused, saying "I will never bow my knees at the knees of any man, and no man's foot will I kiss."[36] Instead, Rollo commanded one of his warriors to kiss the king's foot. The warrior complied by raising the king's foot to his mouth while the king remained standing, which "caused the king to topple backward"[36] much to the amusement of their entourage. On taking his oath of fealty, Rollo divided the lands between the rivers Epte and Risle among his chieftains, and settled in the de facto capital Rouen.[37]
Given Rouen and its hinterland in return for the alliance with the Franks, it was agreed upon that it was in the interest of both Rollo himself and his Frankish allies to extend his authority over Viking settlers.[38] This would appear to be the motive for later concessions to the Vikings of the Seine, which are mentioned in other records of the time. When Charles III was being deposed by Rudolph of France he appealed to Rollo and Ragenold , another one of his Norman allies. With their combined army they marched to his aid in fulfilment of their pledge to the Carolingians, but were stopped at the Oise river by Charles' opponents who traded their cooperation for more territorial concessions.[39] The need for an agreement was particularly urgent when Robert I, successor of Charles III, was killed in 923.[38]
Rudolph was recorded as sponsoring a new agreement by which a group of Norsemen were conceded the provinces of the Bessin and Maine. These settlers were presumed to be Rollo and his associates, moving their authority westward from the Seine valley.
Rollo died sometime between a final mention of him by
Descendants
Rollo's son and heir,
Rollo is the great-great-great-grandfather of
A genetic investigation into the remains of Rollo's grandson Richard the Fearless, and his great-grandson Richard the Good, was announced in 2011 with the intention of discerning the origins of the historic Viking leader.[44] On 29 February 2016, Norwegian researchers opened Richard the Good's tomb and found a lower jaw with eight teeth in it.[45] However, the skeletal remains in both graves turned out to significantly predate Rollo and therefore are not related to him.[46]
Legacy
Rollo’s dynasty was able to survive through a combination of ruthless military action and infighting among the 10th-century Frankish aristocracy, which left them severely weakened and unable to resist the Rouen Vikings’ growing determination to stay put.
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Depictions in fiction
Rollo is the subject of the 17th-century play Rollo Duke of Normandy, written by John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, Ben Jonson, and George Chapman.
A character, broadly inspired by the historical Rollo but including many events predating the historical Rollo's birth, played by
Rollo is a character in the video game Assassin's Creed Valhalla.[51]
References
Citations
- ISBN 978-0-415-41395-4.
- ^ Bouet, Pierre (2016). Rollon : Le chef viking qui fonda la Normandie (in French). Tallander. p. 76.
- ISBN 979-1021017467.
- ^ Bates 1982, pp. 8–10.
- ^ Flodoard of Reims 2011, pp. xx–xxi, 14, 16–17
- ^ "Rollo". Encyclopedia Britannica. 28 August 2008. Archived from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
- ISBN 978-1-84529-523-3.
- ^ Ferguson 2009, p. 180.
- ^ Crouch 2006.
- ISBN 978-1-84383-340-6.
- ISBN 978-1-84383-007-8.
- OCLC 367478758.
rollo paris 885–886.
- ^ Mark, Joshua J. (27 November 2018). "Odo of West Francia". World History Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
- ^ Dudo 1998, Chapter 5
- ^ Dudo 1998, Chapter 5. Dudo uses the terminology of the day, Scandia for the southern part of the Scandinavian peninsula and Dacia for Denmark (also the name of a Roman province near the Black Sea).
- ^ Ferguson 2009, p. 177.
- ^ Malaterra, Geoffrey (2005). The Deeds of Count Roger of Calabria & Sicily & of Duke Robert Guiscard his brother, Geoffery Malaterra. Translated by Loud, Graham A. p. 3. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ^ William of Malmesbury (1989) [1854]. Stephenson, John (ed.). The Kings Before the Norman Conquest. Vol. II, 127. Translated by Sharpe, John. Seeleys, London: Llanerch. p. 110.
- Francisque Michel edition, p. 173, available online via Internet Archive).
- ^ "4 – To Shetland and Orkney". Orkneyinga Saga. pp. 26–27.
- ISBN 978-0-14-044183-3.
- (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022.
- ^ Bull, Edvard; Krogvig, Anders; Gran, Gerhard, eds. (1929). Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Vol. 4. Oslo: Aschehoug. pp. 351–353.
- ISBN 978-0-87044-108-0.
- ISBN 978-0-7486-2821-6.
- ^ Van Houts 2000, p. 43.
- ^ Dudo 1998, p. xiv.
- ^ Ferguson 2009, pp. 177–182.
- ^ Dudo 1998, pp. 38–39.
- ^ Histories, Medieval (11 February 2014). "Dudo of St. Quentin". Medieval Histories. Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
- ^ "Robert I of France". Britannica Encyclopaedia. Archived from the original on 20 June 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- ^ Dudo 1998, pp. 46–47.
- ^ a b Ferguson 2009, p. 187.
- ^ Bauduin, Pierre (2005). "Chefs normands et élites franques, fin IXe–début Xe siècle". In Bauduin, Pierre (ed.). Les Fondations scandinaves en Occident et les débuts du duché de Normandie (in French). CRAHM. p. 182.
- ^ Van Houts 2000, p. 25.
- ^ a b Dudo 1998, pp. 49.
- ^ Bates 1982, pp. 20–21.
- ^ a b c Crouch 2006, p. 6.
- ^ Flodoard of Reims 2011, Chapter 5, F–K.
- ^ Crouch 2006, p. 8.
- ^ Ferguson 2009, p. 183.
- ISBN 978-0-520-06276-4.
- ISBN 0312577761.
- ^ "Viking is 'forefather to British Royals'". Views and News from Norway. 15 June 2011. Archived from the original on 18 June 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
- ^ "Was Viking Ruler Rollo Danish or Norwegian?". The Local. 2 March 2016. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
- ^ "Skeletal shock for Norwegian researchers at Viking hunting". Norway Today. 23 November 2016. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
- ^ Van Houts 2000, p. 15.
- ^ Huscroft , Richard (2005) "Ruling England, 1042–1217", The English Historical Review, p. 69
- ^ Haskins, Charles H. 1912. "Normandy Under Geoffrey Plantagenet", The English Historical Review, volume 27 (July): 417–444.
- ^ Turnbow, Tina (18 March 2013). "Reflections of a Viking by Clive Standen". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 22 April 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ^ "Old Wounds – Assassin's Creed Valhalla Wiki Guide". IGN. 30 April 2020. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
Sources
- Bates, David (1982). Normandy Before 1066. Longman. ISBN 978-0-582-48492-4.
- Crouch, David (2006). The Normans: The History of a Dynasty. A & C Black. ISBN 978-1-85285-595-6. Archivedfrom the original on 2 May 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-85115-552-4.
- Ferguson, Robert (2009). The Hammer and the Cross: A New History of the Vikings. London: Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Group. ISBN 978-0-670-02079-9.
- Van Houts, Elizabeth (2000). The Normans in Europe. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-4751-0.
Further reading
Primary texts
- Dudo of St. Quentin (1998). Eric Christiansen (ed.). History of the Normans. Translated by Eric Christiansen. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press. ISBN 978-0851155524.
- Elizabeth van Houts, ed. (1992). The Gesta Normannorum Ducum of William of Jumièges, Orderic Vitalis and Robert of Torigni.
- Elizabeth van Houts, ed. (2000). The Normans in Europe. Translated by Elizabeth van Houts. Manchester and New York: Manchester University.
- Orkneyinga Saga: The History of the Earls of Orkney. Translated by ISBN 0-14-044383-5.
Secondary texts
- Crouch, David (2002). The Normans: the History of a Dynasty. London: Hambledon and London. ISBN 1-85285-387-5.
- Christiansen, Eric (2002). The Norsemen in the Viking Age. Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
- Fitzhugh, William W.; Ward, Elizabeth (2000). Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga. Smithsonian Institution Press.
- ISBN 978-1-44260-001-0.
- Konstam, Agnus (2002). Historical Atlas of the Viking World. Checkmark Books.