Dukedom of Normandy
| Duchy of Normandy | ||||||||||
| Duché de Normandie | ||||||||||
| Vassal of the Kingdom of France | ||||||||||
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 Normandy's historical borders in the northwest of modern-day France and the Channel Islands
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| Capital | Rouen | |||||||||
| Languages |
Latin Old Norman |
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| Religion |
Norse religion Roman Catholicism |
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| Government | Feudal monarchy | |||||||||
| Duke of Normandy | ||||||||||
| • | 996–1026 | Richard II (first) | ||||||||
| • | 1035–1087 | William the Conqueror | ||||||||
| • | 1144–1150 | Geoffrey Plantagenet | ||||||||
| • | 1199–1216 (1204) | John Lackland (last) | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | |||||||||
| • | Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte | 911 | ||||||||
| • | Norman conquest of England | 1066 | ||||||||
| • | Normandy Conquered by Anjou | 1144 | ||||||||
| • | Normandy Conquered by French Crown | 1204 | ||||||||
| • | Treaty of Paris | 1259 | ||||||||
| • | French nominal ducal title abolished | 1790 | ||||||||
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| Today part of |
 France Guernsey Jersey
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The Duchy of Normandy grew out of the 911 Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between King Charles III of West Francia and Rollo, leader of the Vikings. The duchy was named for its inhabitants, the Normans.
From 1066 until 1204 it was held by the kings of England, except for the brief rule of Robert Curthose (1087–1106), eldest son of William the Conqueror but unsuccessful claimant to the English throne; and Geoffrey Plantagenet (1144–1150), husband of Empress Matilda or Maude (a contraction of Matilda) and father of Henry II.
In 1202, Philip II of France declared Normandy forfeit to him and seized it by force of arms in 1204. It remained disputed territory until the Treaty of Paris of 1259, when the English sovereign ceded his claim except for the Channel Islands; i.e., the Bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey, and their dependencies (including Sark).
The same ducal title was also sporadically conferred in the Kingdom of France as a purely honorary, non-feudal title, upon junior members of the King's family. The last French Duke of Normandy Louis-Charles from 1785 to 1789; who was titular King of France, 1793 to his death in 1795 at age 10.
The first Viking attack on the river Seine took place in 820. By 911, the area had been raided many times and there were even small Viking settlements on the lower Seine. The text of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte has not survived. It is only known through the historian Dudo of Saint-Quentin, who was writing a century after the event. The exact date of the treaty is unknown, but it was likely in the autumn of 911. By the agreement, Charles III, king of the West Franks, granted to the Viking leader Rollo some lands along the lower Seine that were apparently already under Danish control. Whether Rollo himself was a Dane or a Norwegian is not known. For his part, Rollo agreed to defend the territory from other Vikings and that he and his men would convert to Christianity.
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Wikipedia