Emma of Normandy

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 37323

Other Events:

• Name: William I Longsword
• Reference Number: 37317

Notes:

William I Longsword (French: Guillaume Longue-Épée, Latin: Willermus Longa Spata, Scandinavian: Vilhjálmr Langaspjót) (893 - 17 December 942) was the second Duke of Normandy from his father's death until his own assassination. The title dux (duke) was not in use at the time and has been applied to early Norman rulers retroactively. William actually used the title comes (count).

Biography:

Little is known about his early years. He was born in Bayeux or Rouen to Rollo and his wife Poppa. All that is known of Poppa is that she was a Christian, and the daughter to Berengar of Rennes, the previous lord of Brittania Nova, which eventually became western Normandy. According to the William's planctus, he was baptised a Christian.
William succeeded Rollo sometime around 927 and, early in his reign, faced a rebellion from Normans who felt he had become too Gallicised and also from Bretons. According to Orderic Vitalis, the leader was Riouf of Evreux.

After putting down the rebellion, William attacked Brittany and ravaged the territory. Resistance to the Normans was led by Alan Wrybeard and Beranger but shortly ended with the Wrybeard fleeing to England and Beranger seeking reconciliation. However, it was not through invasion that he gained Breton territory but by politics, receiving Contentin and Avranchin as a gift from the Rudolph, King of France.

In 935, William married Luitgarde, daughter of Herbert II of Vermandois whose dowry gave him the lands of Longueville, Coudres and Illiers l'Eveque. His expansion northwards, including the fortress of Montreuil brought him into conflict with Arnulf I of Flanders.

The funerary monument of William Longsword in the cathedral of Rouen, France. The monument is from the XIVth century.

In 939 William became involved in a war with Arnulf I of Flanders, which soon became intertwined with the other conflicts troubling the reign of Louis IV. It began with Herluin appealing to William for help to regain the castle of Montreuil from Arnulf. Losing the castle was a major setback in Arnulf's ambitions and William's part in it gained him a deadly enemy. He was ambushed and killed by followers of Arnulf on 17 December 942 at Picquigny on the Somme while at a meeting to settle their differences.

By Sprota, a Breton captive and his concubine, he had a son Richard the Fearless, who succeeded him.

William — Luitgarde of Vermandois. Luitgarde (daughter of Herbert II of Vermandois and Hildebrand of France) was born Abt 914; died 9 Feb 978. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 37319

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• Name: Robert I
• Reference Number: 15901

Notes:

Rollo (c. 870 - c. 932), baptised Robert and so sometimes numbered Robert I to distinguish him from his descendants, the son of the Earl of Møre was the founder and first ruler of the Viking principality in what soon became known as Normandy. The name "Rollo" is a Frankish-Latin name probably taken from the Old Norse name Hrólfr, modern Scandinavian name Rolf (cf. the latinization of Hrólfr into the similar Roluo in the Gesta Danorum).

Historical evidence

Rollo was a Viking leader of contested origin. Dudo of St. Quentin, in his De moribus et actis primorum Normannorum ducum (Latin), tells of a powerful Danish nobleman at loggerheads with the king of Denmark, who had two sons, Gurim and Rollo; upon his death, Rollo was expelled and Gurim killed. William of Jumièges also mentions Rollo's prehistory in his Gesta Normannorum Ducum, but states that he was from the Danish town of Fakse. Wace, writing some 300 years after the event in his Roman de Rou, also mentions the two brothers (as Rou and Garin), as does the Orkneyinga Saga.
Norwegian and Icelandic historians identified this Rollo with a son of Rognvald Eysteinsson, Earl of Møre, in Western Norway, based on medieval Norwegian and Icelandic sagas that mention a Ganger Hrolf (Hrolf, the Walker). The oldest source of this version is the Latin Historia Norvegiae, written in Norway at the end of the 12th century. This Hrolf fell foul of the Norwegian king Harald Fairhair, and became a Jarl in Normandy. The nickname of that character came from being so big that no horse could carry him.

The question of Rollo's Danish or Norwegian origins was a matter of heated dispute between Norwegian and Danish historians of the 19th and early 20th century, particularly in the run-up to Normandy's 1000-year-anniversary in 1911. Today, historians still disagree on this question, but most would now agree that a certain conclusion can never be reached.

Latin Wikisource has original text related to this article:
De moribus et actis primorum Normannorum ducum

Invasion of France

In 885, Rollo was one of the lesser leaders of the Viking fleet which besieged Paris under Sigfred second official king of the Danes. Legend has it that an emissary was sent by the king to find the chieftain and negotiate terms. When he asked for this information, the Vikings replied that they were all chieftains in their own right. In 886, when Sigfred retreated in return for tribute, Rollo stayed behind and was eventually bought off and sent to harry Burgundy.

Later, he returned to the Seine with his followers (known as Danes, or Norsemen). He invaded the area of northern France now known as Normandy.

In 911 Rollo's forces were defeated at the Battle of Chartres by the troops of King Charles the Simple. In the aftermath of the battle, rather than pay Rollo to leave, as was customary, Charles the Simple understood that he could no longer hold back their onslaught, and decided to give Rollo the coastal lands they occupied under the condition that he defend against other raiding Vikings. In the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte (911) with King Charles, Rollo pledged feudal allegiance to the king, changed his name to the Frankish version, and converted to Christianity, probably with the baptismal name Robert. In return, King Charles granted Rollo the lower Seine area (today's upper Normandy) and the titular rulership of Normandy, centred around the city of Rouen. There exists some argument among historians as to whether Rollo was a "duke" (dux) or whether his position was equivalent to that of a "count" under Charlemagne. According to legend, when required to kiss the foot of King Charles, as a condition of the treaty, he refused to perform so great a humiliation, and when Charles extended his foot to Rollo, Rollo ordered one of his warriors to do so in his place. His warrior then lifted Charles' foot up to his mouth causing him to fall to the ground.

Statue of Rollo in Rouen:

Initially, Rollo stayed true to his word of defending the shores of the Seine river in accordance to the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, but in time he and his followers had very different ideas. Rollo began to divide the land between the Epte and Risle rivers among his chieftains and settled there with a de facto capital in Rouen. With these settlements, Rollo began to further raid other Frankish lands, now from the security of a settled homeland, rather than a mobile fleet. Eventually, however, Rollo's men intermarried with the local women, and became more settled as Frenchmen. At the time of his death, Rollo's expansion of his territory had extended as far west as the Vire River.

Death:

Rollo's grave is at the cathedral of Rouen

Sometime around 927, Rollo passed the fief in Normandy to his son, William Longsword. Rollo may have lived for a few years after that, but certainly died before 933. According to the historian Adhemar, 'As Rollo's death drew near, he went mad and had a hundred Christian prisoners beheaded in front of him in honour of the gods whom he had worshipped, and in the end distributed a hundred pounds of gold around the churches in honour of the true God in whose name he had accepted baptism.' Even though Rollo had converted to Christianity, some of his prior religious roots surfaced at the end.

Legacy:

Rollo is a direct ancestor of William the Conqueror. Through William, he is an ancestor of the present-day British royal family, as well as an ancestor of all current European monarchs and a great many pretenders to abolished European thrones.

The "Clameur de Haro" in the Channel Islands is, supposedly, an appeal to Rollo.


Buried:
Rouen Cathedral

Rollo — Poppa of Bayeux. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 15900

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• Reference Number: 37295

Herbert — Hildebrand of France. [Group Sheet]

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• Reference Number: 37296

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• Reference Number: 37324

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 15819

Herbert — Bertha De Morvois. [Group Sheet]

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• Reference Number: 15827

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 15817

Notes:

Robert I (15 August 866 - 15 June 923), King of Western Francia (922 - 923), was the younger son of Robert the Strong, count of Anjou, and the brother of Odo, who became king of the Western Franks in 888. West Francia evolved over time into France; under Odo, the capital was fixed on Paris, a large step in that direction. His family is known as the Robertians.

He was present at the Siege of Paris in 885. Appointed by Odo ruler of several counties, including the county of Paris, and abbot in commendam of many abbeys, Robert also secured the office of Dux Francorum, a military dignity of high importance. He did not claim the crown of West Francia when his brother died in 898; but recognising the supremacy of the Carolingian king, Charles the Simple, he was confirmed in his offices and possessions, after which he continued to defend northern Francia from the attacks of the Norsemen.

The peace between the king and his powerful vassal was not seriously disturbed until about 921. The rule of Charles, and especially his partiality for a certain Hagano, had aroused some irritation; and, supported by many of the clergy and by some of the most powerful of the Frankish nobles, Robert took up arms, drove Charles into Lorraine, and was himself crowned king of the Franks (rex Francorum) at Rheims on 29 June 922. Collecting an army, Charles marched against the usurper and, on 15 June 923, in a stubborn and sanguinary battle near Soissons, Robert was killed, according to one tradition in single combat with his rival.

Robert was married twice. Through his first wife, Aelis, he had two daughters. Each married powerful lay vassals of their father:

Emma of France (894-935) to Rudolph, Duke of Burgundy
Hildebranda (895-931) to Herbert II of Vermandois.

Through his second wife, Béatrice of Vermandois, daughter of Herbert I of Vermandois:

Hugh the Great, who was later dux Francorum and father of King Hugh Capet
Richilda.

He may have had other daughters.

Robert married Béatrice of Vermandois 895. Béatrice (daughter of Herbert I of Vermandois and Bertha De Morvois) was born 880; died 26 Mar 931. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 15818