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Information about Duke Of Normandy

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This statue of Rollo the Viking (founder of the fiefdom of Normandy) stands in Falaise, Calvados, birthplace of his descendant William I the Conqueror (the Duke of Normandy who became King of England).
Duke of Normandy is a title held or claimed by various Norman, English, French and British rulers from the 10th century until the present. The title refers to the region of Normandy in France and several associated islands in the English Channel.

The present Duke of Normandy is Queen Elizabeth II.

Rollo the Viking

The fiefdom of Normandy was created in 911 for the Viking leader Rollo (also known as Richard of Normandy).

Rollo and his Viking allies conquered a large region of France and besieged Paris until entering a supposed vassalage to Charles the Simple, the king of the West Franks through the Treaty of St.-Claire-sur-Epte. In exchange for homage and fealty, Rollo legally gained the territory he and his Viking allies had previously conquered. The name "Normandy" reflects Rollo's Viking (i.e. Northman, Latin Normanni) origins. It is stated that Rollo "lifted" the foot of the King, causing Phillip of France to fall to the ground. Upon Rollo's death, he executed 100 Christians, in honour of his Odonic religion, and cultral background, to show his true faith. Some have said that it was not Rollo who actually "lifted" the Kings foot, but rather a general named Balderic le Teuton. With further DNA testing, the links between Balderic and Rollo have shown a match.

Rollo's predecessors were styled jarls, a Scandinavian title related to the English distinction of earl. Some later medieval sources called him dux, a Latin term from which is derived the English word "duke". Rollo's great grand son Richard II was the first to assuredly be styled "Duke of Normandy". Although certain titles were used interchangeably during this period, the title of "duke" was typically reserved for the highest rank of feudal nobility - those who, while possibly owing fealty directly to a king, were effectively independent sovereigns primarily distinguished from kings by not having dukes as vassals. To further the claim by Rollo and his line to the syle of duke, one may look to evidence of political power; in this case the Duke had only one man to answer to, his new feudal overlord, the King of France.

The King, recognizing a powerful threat from the normanni invaders, married his daughter (Gizelle) to Rollo, in order to stablize the territory which Rollo had taken in Arms, and thus secure his Northern borders. At this time, Rollo wasn't the only nordic leader in the area of Normandy, but through the Treaty of Saint Clair sur Epte (911 A.D), and his daughter's marriage, the King of France sought to secure his Northern borders once and for all.

William the Conqueror

William the Conqueror added the Kingdom of England to his realm in the Norman Conquest of 1066. This created a problematic situation wherein William and his descendants were king in England but a vassal to the king in France. Much of the contention which later arose around the title Duke of Normandy (as well as other French ducal titles during the Angevin period) stems from this fundamentally irreconcilable situation.

After the death of William the Conqueror, his eldest son Robert Curthose became Duke of Normandy while a younger son, William Rufus, became the English king. A generation later, Henry, Duke of Normandy became king of England which again united the titles.

International contention

In 1204, during the reign of King John, mainland Normandy was taken from England by France under Philip II while insular Normandy (the Channel Islands) remained under English control. In 1259, Henry III of England recognised the legality of French possession of mainland Normandy under the Treaty of Paris. But English monarchs, and their British successors, continued to use the title Duke of Normandy in reference to the Channel Islands (now subject to the British Crown, though not part of the United Kingdom).

English monarchs made subsequent attempts to reclaim their former continental possessions, particularly during the Hundred Years' War. In addition to claiming to be Duke of Normandy, after Henry V entered the Treaty of Troyes in 1420, English and British monarchs claimed the throne of France itself. During this time, English monarchs included "King of France" near the top of their list of titles and included the Royal Arms of France in their own armorial achievements.

British claims to the whole Duchy of Normandy, the throne of France and other French claims were not abandoned until 1801 when George III and Parliament, in the Act of Union, joined the Kingdom of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland and used the opportunity to drop their French claims. By this time, the monarchy itself had been already been abolished in France since 1792.

Appanage

The Duchy of Normandy was sometimes given out as an appanage for a member of the French royal family, most notably by Philip VI for his eldest son, the future King John II, by John II for his son, the future Charles V, who was, however, usually known as the Dauphin, and by Louis XI for his brother Charles, usually known by his other title of Duc de Berri. The future Louis XVII was also known as Duke of Normandy before his elder brother's death in 1789.

House of Stuart

The future Stuart King James II of England and Ireland (James VII of Scotland), was created "Duke of Normandy" by King Louis XIV of France on December 31, 1660. This was a few months after James's brother, Charles II, had been restored to the throne in England and the Kingdom of Ireland (Charles had already been crowned in the Kingdom of Scotland, in 1651). Since upon becoming King of England, Charles would have already claimed the title "Duke of Normandy" (indeed, it was in insular Normandy, specifically in Jersey, that he was first proclaimed king in 1649) - the French king giving the same title to James in respect to mainland Normandy was an important political gesture.

Jacobite claimants to the English throne maintained their claims on French possessions as well until the death of Henry Benedict Stuart in 1807.

Channel Islands

Although the British monarchy relinquished claims to continental Normandy and other French claims in 1801, the monarch of the United Kingdom retains the title Duke of Normandy in respect to the Channel Islands. The Channel Islands (except for Chausey) remain Crown dependencies of the British Crown in the present era. Thus the Loyal Toast in the Channel Islands is La Reine, notre Duc ("The Queen, our Duke").

Succession of the Dukes of Normandy

Further reading

  • Onslow, Richard (Earl of Onslow). The Dukes of Normandy and Their Origin. London: Hutchinson & Co., 1945.

See also

A title is a prefix or suffix added to a person's name to signify either veneration, an official position or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may even be inserted between a first and last name (for example, Graf
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Normans were a people from medieval northern France, deriving to a large extent their aristocratic origins from Scandinavia (the name is adapted from the name "Northmen" or "Norsemen").
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Motto
Dieu et mon droit   (French)
"God and my right"
Anthem
No official anthem specific to England — the anthem of the United Kingdom is "God Save the Queen".
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Motto
Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité
"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"
Anthem
"La Marseillaise"


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Motto
"Dieu et mon droit" [2]   (French)
"God and my right"
Anthem
"God Save the Queen" [3]
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As a means of recording the passage of time, the 10th century was that century which lasted from 901 to 1000.

Overview

The tenth century is usually regarded as a low point in European history. In China it was also a period of political upheaval.
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Normandy (in French: Normandie, and in Norman: Normaundie) is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is situated along the coasts of the south of the English Channel between Brittany (to the west) and Picardy (to the east) and
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Channel Islands (Norman: Îles d'la Manche, French: Îles Anglo-Normandes/Îles de la Manche) are a group of islands in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy, but dependent on the British Crown.
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English Channel (French: La Manche, "the sleeve") is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the island of Great Britain from northern France and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic.
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Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary;<ref name="sur" /> born 21 April 1926) is the Queen regnant of sixteen independent states and their overseas territories and dependencies.
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The Duchy of Normandy stems from various Danish, Hiberno-Norse, Orkney Viking and Anglo-Danish (from the Danelaw) invasions of France in the 8th century. A fief, probably as a county, was created by the treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte in 911 out of concessions made
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Viking, also called Norseman or Northman, refers to a member of the Scandinavian seafaring traders, warriors and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the 8th to the 11th century[1]
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Rollo (c. 860 - c. 932) was the founder and first ruler of the Viking principality in what soon became known as Normandy. He is also in some sources known as Robert of Normandy.

The name Rollo is a Frankish-Latin name probably taken from Scandinavian name Hrólf (cf.
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Ville de Paris

City flag City coat of arms

Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur
(Latin: "Tossed by the waves, she does not sink")

The Eiffel Tower in Paris, as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro.
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Charles III (September 17, 879 – October 7, 929), called the Simple or the Straightforward (from the contemporary Latin: Karolus Simplex), was a member of the Carolingian dynasty who ruled as King of France (or Western Francia) from 893 to 922/923.
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monarch (see sovereignty) is a type of ruler or head of state. Monarchs almost always inherit their titles and are rulers for life; that is, they have no term limit. Historically monarchs have been more or less absolute rulers.
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Western Francia was the land under the control of Charles the Bald after the Treaty of Verdun of 843, which divided the Carolingian Empire of the Franks into an East, West, and Middle. It is the precursor of modern France.
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The Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte was signed in the autumn of 911 between Charles the Simple and Rollo, the leader of the Vikings, for the purpose of settling the Normans in Neustria and to protect Charles' kingdom from any new invasion from the "northmen".
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Homage (from the French: Hommage) is generally used in modern English to mean any public show of respect to someone to whom one feels indebted. In this sense, a reference within a creative work to someone who greatly influenced the artist would be a homage.
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fealty, from the Latin fidelitas or faithfulness, is a pledge of allegiance of one person to another. Typically the oath is made upon a religious object such as a Bible or saint's relic thus binding the oath taker before God.
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Latin}}} 
Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
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Jarl or JARL may refer to:
  • Japan Amateur Radio League, the Amateur Radio association of Japan
  • Jarl, a Norse title, similar to Earl
People with the given name Jarl:
  • Jarl Wahlström (1918–1999), 12th General of The Salvation Army

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Scandinavia is a historical and geographical region centred on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe which includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
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Earl or Jarl was an Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian title meaning "chieftain" and referring especially to chieftains set to rule a territory in a king's stead. In Scandinavia, it became obsolete in the Middle Ages and was replaced with duke (hertig/hertug
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Middle Ages form the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three "ages": the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages and Modern Times.
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The DUX-53 and DUX-59 were submachine guns designed at the Oviedo Arsenal in Spain. They were based directly on the design of the Finnish 9mm Model 44 submachine gun, which in turn was based on the Soviet PPS-43.
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Richard II (born 23 August 963, in Normandy, France – 28 August 1027, in Normandy), called the Good, was the son and heir of Richard I the Fearless and Gunnora. He succeeded his father as Duke of Normandy in 996.
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Feudalism refers to a general set of reciprocal legal and military obligations among the warrior nobility of Europe during the Middle Ages, revolving around the three key concepts of lords, vassals, and fiefs.
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Sovereignty is the exclusive right to complete political (e.g. legislative, judicial, and/or executive) control over an area of governance, people, or oneself. A sovereign is the supreme lawmaking authority, subject to no other.
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