Normans - Normandy

Normandy

The Duchy of Normandy was founded by the 10th century Norse leader Rollo, in the former kingdom of Neustria, part of the Kingdom of France. Geographically, it had no natural unit and was previously merely an administrative structure. This was almost equivalent to the old church province of Rouen, that reproduced itself the Roman administrative structure of Gallia Lugdunensis II (part of the former Gallia Lugdunensis). At first its population did not really differ from the one of Picardy or the neighbouring Paris region, considered as "Frankish". However Viking settlers had begun arriving in the 880s, divided between two main colonies in the east (Roumois and pays de Caux around the low Seine valley) and another one in the west (Cotentin Peninsula), separated by traditionnal pagii, where the population remains about the same with almost no foreign settlers. The Viking contingents who raided, and ultimately settled Normandy and some parts of the Atlantic coast, included Danes, Norwegians, Hiberno-Norse, Orkney Vikings, as well as Anglo-Danes from the English Danelaw, under Viking control.

In the course of the 10th century, the initial destructive incursions of Norse war bands into the rivers of France evolved into permanent encampments that included women and chattel. The pagan culture was substituted by the Christian faith and Gallo-Romance language of the local people. The small groups of Vikings that settled there adopted the language and culture of the French majority into their own customs to create a unique "Norman" culture.

In Normandy, they adopted the growing feudal doctrines of the rest of northern France, and worked them, both in Normandy and in England, into a functional hierarchical system. The Norman warrior class was new and different from the old French aristocracy, most of whom could trace their families back to the Franks of Carolingian times. Most knights remained poor and land-hungry; by 1066, Normandy had been exporting fighting horsemen for more than a generation. Knighthood before the time of the Crusades held little social status, and simply indicated a professional warrior wealthy enough to own a war horse. Many Normans of France and Britain would eventually serve as avid Crusaders.

The Norman language was forged by the adoption of the indigenous oïl language by a Norse-speaking ruling class, and developed into the regional language which survives today.