History of Normandy

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The coat of arms of Normandy

regions
, Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy, which were reunified in 2016.

The historical limits of Normandy

Prehistory and antiquity

Normandy before the Roman conquest

Archeological finds, such as

megaliths
can be found throughout Normandy, most of them built in a uniform style.

More is known about Celtic Normandy due to the archeological sources being more numerous and easier to date. In the 19th century, local scholars studied archeological sites (especially those of Upper Normandy) and recorded their discoveries. They discovered objects such as the Gallic gilded helmet of Amfreville-sous-les-Monts, made in the 4th century BC, and the iron helmet currently in the Museum of Louviers. They also examined the cemetery at Pîtres, with its urns for cremated remains. The artifacts found at these sites indicate Gallic presence in Normandy as far back as the times of the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures.

de Bello Gallico. Caesar identified several different groups among the Belgae who occupied separate regions and lived in enclosed agrarian towns. In 57 BC, the Gauls united under Vercingetorix in an attempt to resist the onslaught of Caesar's army. Even after their defeat at Alesia
, the people of Normandy continued to fight until 51 BC, the year Caesar completed his conquest of Gaul.

Below is a list of Gallic tribes, whose territories correspond to later Normandy, and their administrative centers:

Roman Normandy

Roman theatre in Lillebonne
The bronze head of a Roman god, found in Lillebonne, in the Museum of Antiquities in Seine-Maritime

In 27 BC,

Emperor Augustus reorganized the Gallic territories by adding the Caletes and Veliocasses to the province of Gallia Lugdunensis, which had its capital at Lyon. The Romanization of Normandy was achieved by the usual methods: Roman roads
and a policy of urbanization.

half-timbering came from this period and Celtic huts. The heating systems of these villas relied on the Roman hypocaust
.

Agriculture in the region provided wheat and

Roman baths, a basilica, and a Gallic theatre. Évreux is also notable for the mother goddess
statues found in tombs and houses.

Crises in the 3rd century and the Roman loss of Normandy

In the late 3rd century, barbarian raids devastated Normandy. Traces of fire and hastily buried treasures bear evidence to the degree of insecurity in Northern Gaul. Coastal settlements risked raids by

fortifications. Toponymy suggests that the various barbarian groups had installed themselves and formed alliances and federations already at the end of the 3rd century, well before the fall of the Western Roman Empire
in 476.

Middle Ages

Frankish Normandy

Mont-Saint-Michel

As early as 486, the area between the

Merovingian
royalty.

The

Carolingian
era.

The

Benedictine Rule
. They came to possess great quantities of land throughout France, from which they drew considerable income. They therefore became involved in political and dynastic rivalries.

Scandinavian invasions

Statue of Rollo

Normandy takes its name from the

family names. Today, nordmann (pron. Norman) in the Norwegian language denotes a Norwegian person.[citation needed
]

The first Viking raids began between 790 and 800 on the coasts of western France[

monks were generally unable to put up much if any resistance. An expedition in 845 went up the Seine and reached Paris. The raids took place primarily in the summers, with the Vikings initially wintering in Scandinavia
.

After 851, Vikings began to stay in the lower

archives and monastic libraries to the south, but several were burned by the Vikings.[citation needed
]

The Carolingian kings in power at the time tended to have contradictory politics, which had severe consequences. In 867,

Rollo and the Frankish King Charles the Simple signed the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, under which Charles gave Rouen and the area of present-day Upper Normandy to Rollo, establishing the Duchy of Normandy. In exchange, Rollo pledged vassalage to Charles and agreed to baptism. Robert I stood as godfather during Rollo's baptism.[2]
Rollo vowed to guard the estuaries of the Seine from further Viking attacks.

With a series of conquests, the territory of Normandy gradually expanded:

archbishopric of Rouen
and wanted to restore the traditional limits of his archbishopric in the west, that had always included Cotentin and Avranchin.

While Viking raiders pillaged, burned, or destroyed many buildings, it is likely that ecclesiastical sources give an unfairly negative picture: no city was completely destroyed. On the other hand, many monasteries were pillaged and all the abbeys were destroyed. Nevertheless, the activities of Rollo and his successors had the effect of bringing about a rapid recovery.

The Scandinavian

colonisation was principally Danish under the Norwegian leadership of Rollo, the colonization also had a Norwegian element in the Cotentin region. For instance, the first name Barno is mentioned in two different documents before 1066 and clearly represents the "frankization" of the Old Scandinavian personal name Barni, only found in Denmark and in England during the Viking Age. It can be identified in many Norman place-names too, such as Barneville-sur-Seine, Banneville, etc. and in England: Barnby.[3]
On the other hand, the presence of Norwegians has left traces in the Cotentin:

A few

Swedes
may have also come to Normandy.

The Viking colonisation was not a mass phenomenon. Nevertheless, in some areas, the Scandinavians established themselves rather densely, particularly in pays de Caux and in the northern part of the Cotentin. In fact, one can qualify the Nordic settlements in Normandy as Anglo-Scandinavian, because most of the colonists must have come after 911 as fishermen and farmers from the English Danelaw and a consequent Anglo-Saxon influence can be detected. Toponymic and linguistic evidence survives in support of this theory: for instance Dénestanville (Dunestanvilla in 1142, PN Dunstān > Dunstan) or Vénestanville (Wenestanvillam 13th century, Wynstān > Winston).[5] Furthermore, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mentions three times the possible settlement of Danes from England in Neustria:

  1. A Danish army stationed in Kent for three years finally broke up,[when?] and while some Danes stayed in England, others who owned ships sailed over the Channel to the Seine River.
  2. Later, it is told that the
    jarl
    Thurcytel (Thorketill cf. NPN Turquetil, Teurquetil), who first settled in the English Midlands, sailed to Francia in 920.
  3. Around 1000 another Viking fleet left England for Normandy.[5]

Archeological evidence can be added: some Anglo-Saxon swords were dredged out of the Seine River, they had probably been used by the Danes. More recently, a buried treasure hoard discovered at Saint-Pierre-des-Fleurs contained nine Anglo-Saxon coins with traces of blows to test the metal quality of the coins.[6]

The merging of the Scandinavian and native elements contributed to the creation of one of the most powerful

feudal states of Western Europe. The naval ability of the Normans would allow them to conquer England and to participate in the Crusades
.

Ducal Normandy (10th to 13th centuries)

Main article: Duchy of Normandy

Historians have few sources of information for this period of Norman history:

dukes
.

archdiocese
. They were therefore practically independent of the French king, although they paid homage to each new monarch.

The dukes maintained relations with foreign monarchs, especially the

Ethelred II of England. They appointed family members to positions as counts and viscounts, which came about around the year 1000. They held on to some territory in Scandinavia and the right to enter those lands by sea. The Norman dukes also ensured that their vassal lords did not get too powerful, lest they become a threat to the ducal authority. The Norman dukes thus had more authority over their own domains than other territorial princes in northern France. Their wealth thus enabled them to give large tracts of land to the abbeys and to ensure the loyalty of their vassals with gifts of fiefdoms. William's conquest of England
opened up more land to the dukes, allowing them to continue these practices whilst preserving sufficient land holdings to serve as their powerbase.

The course of the 11th century did not have any strict organizations and was somewhat chaotic. The great lords made oaths of fidelity to the heir of the duchy, and were in return granted public and ecclesiastical authority. The justice system lacked a central governing body and written laws were uncommon.

The aristocracy was composed of a small group of Scandinavian men, while the majority of the Norman political leaders were of Frankish descent. At the start of the 11th century, the region was attacked by the

fiefdoms came to exist. Richard the First
designated fiefdoms to counts from the dynasty and the cities so as to prevent them from getting too powerful.

Later Middle Ages

Having little confidence in the loyalty of the Normans, Philip installed French administrators and built a powerful fortress, the

Château de Rouen, as a symbol of royal power. Within the royal demesne, Normandy retained certain distinctive features. 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 on the king the Norman Charter. While this document did not provide autonomy to the province, it 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 judgement of Rouen. 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.

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, who was also known by his title of Dauphin.

In 1465,

Charles, as an appanage. This concession was a problem for the king since Charles was the puppet of the king's enemies. Normandy could thus serve as a basis for rebellion against the royal power. Louis XI therefore agreed with his brother to exchange Normandy for the Duchy of Guyenne
(Aquitaine). Finally, to signify that Normandy would not be ceded again, on 9 November 1469 the ducal ring was placed on an anvil and smashed. This was the definitive end of the duchy on the continent.

Modern history

18th and 19th centuries

Although agriculture remained important, industries such as weaving, metallurgy, sugar refining, ceramics, and shipbuilding were introduced and developed.

In the 1780s, the economic crisis and the crisis of the

Ancien Régime struck Normandy as well as other parts of the nation, leading to the French Revolution. Bad harvests, technical progress and the effects of the Eden Agreement
signed in 1786 affected employment and the economy of the province. Normans laboured under a heavy fiscal burden.

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

In 1790, the five departments of Normandy replaced the former province. 11 July 1793, the Norman Charlotte Corday assassinated Marat.

The Normans reacted little to the many political upheavals that characterised the 19th century. Overall, they warily accepted the changes of régime (First French Empire, Bourbon Restoration, July Monarchy, French Second Republic, Second French Empire, French Third Republic).

There was an economic revival (mechanization of textile manufacture, first trains...) after the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars (1792–1815).

And new economic activity stimulated the coasts: seaside tourism. The 19th century marks the birth of the first beach resorts.

Second World War

D-Day
, 1944

During the Second World War, following the

Dieppe was the site of the unsuccessful Dieppe Raid
by Canadian and British armed forces.

Mont Ormel. The liberation of Le Havre
followed.

This was a significant turning point in the war and led to the restoration of the French Republic. The remainder of Normandy was liberated only on 9 May 1945 at the end of the war, when the

Occupation of the Channel Islands
effectively ended.

See also

References

  1. ^ Notitia Dignitatum
  2. ^ a b "Robert 1 of France". Britannica Encyclopaedia. 4 April 2024.
  3. ^ Élisabeth Ridel, Les Vikings et les mots : l'apport de l'ancien scandinave à la langue française, éditions Errance, Paris, 2009, p. 51.
  4. ^ Ridel 54
  5. ^ a b Ridel 52
  6. ^ Ridel 52–53

External links

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