Vikings plunder and terrify Europe
We thought we'd seen it all. After the barbarian invasions, ancient Gaul, now the kingdom of the Franks, thought it was a bit quiet. Then, one day, they arrived: the men from the North, the Northmen, as they were called by the Anglo-Saxons of Great Britain, who saw them land first. In France, they're known as the Normans. A rugged people, they came from the icy confines of Scandinavia on strange boats called drakkars. These light, fast boats enabled them to sail anywhere, as long as there was a little water. The result: they scoured the coasts, sailed up rivers, sacked cities like Nantes, laid siege to Paris, and were seen as far afield as Lorraine and Russia... A veritable Viking tornado, in fact. A true Viking tornado, in fact;
A Viking warrior seen by our times / Illustration chosen by monsieurdefrance.com : nejron via depositphotos
Charles le Simple tries to domesticate the Vikings;
Faced with this threat, the king of the Franks, Charles le Simple, decided to try something else: integrate them. In 911, at Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, he received a certain Rollon, also nicknamed Rolf le Marcheur. He was born around 846 in Scandinavia, but we don't know where. Why the nickname? Because, according to legend, at two meters tall and weighing 140 kg, no horse could ever carry him! So he had to walk. He ravaged the coasts of Friesland and the English Channel, and settled with his men at the mouth of the Seine. Oh, and in between pillaging, he also found time to marry Poppa, a young woman from Bayeux. Tiny detail: he burned down the town and killed her father before marrying her. Romantic, isn't it?
Rollon receives part of Neustria and founds Normandy.
Rollon on the pedestal of the Statue of his descendant, William the Conqueror, at Falaise in Normandy. Photo chosen by monsieurdefrance: By Pradigue - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3418236
But back to that famous meeting. Rollon kneels (or almost kneels) before Charles, who calls him duc. It is said that when asked to kiss the king's feet, Rollon took Charles the Simple's foot and brought it to his mouth, causing the king to fall. In any case, in exchange for his allegiance, Rollon received Rouen and the surrounding area, with one mission: to protect the kingdom from other Vikings.Thus he became the first Duke of Normandy. He died around 932 in Rouen, his capital. Spoiler: the Normans didn't stop there. They would conquer the whole region, which became Normandy, but also Sicily, where they would found a kingdom. One of Rollon's descendants was William the Conqueror, who conquered England and, consequently, King Charles III of Great Britain.
