(Normans were Vikings from Scandinavia, but not all Vikings are Normans.)
Normans, designation for the Northmen, or Norsemen,
who conquered Normandy in the 10th cent. and adopted Christianity and
the customs and language of France.
Abandoning piracy and raiding, they adopted regular commerce and gave
much impetus to European trade. They soon lost all connection with their
original Scandinavian homeland, but they retained their craving for
adventure, expansion, and enrichment.
In 1066 the Norman Conquest of England made the duke
of Normandy king of England as William I (William
the Conqueror). The Norman nobility displaced the Anglo-Saxon
nobility of England. The Normans readily adapted to the feudalism of
N France and are believed either to have introduced feudalism to England
or to have strengthened a pre-existing feudal system there.
Early in the 11th cent. bands of Norman adventurers appeared in south
Italy, where at first they aided the local nobles in their rebellion
against Byzantine rule. A steady stream of land-hungry Norman nobles,
under the pretext of expelling the Greeks, proceeded to take over the
land. Most remarkable among these adventurers were the numerous sons
of Tancred de Hauteville. One of these, William Iron Arm, became lord
of Apulia in 1043; he was succeeded by his brother Drogo and by another
brother, Humphrey, who defeated (1053) Pope Leo IX when the pope attempted
to enforce papal rights in S Italy. In 1059, Humphrey's brother and
successor Robert Guiscard was invested by Pope Nicholas II with duchies
of Apulia and Calabria and the island of Sicily, which was yet to be
conquered. He completed the Norman conquest of S Italy; another brother,
Roger I, conquered Sicily, and in 1130 Roger's son, Roger II, set up
the kingdom of Sicily, which included the island and the Norman possessions
in S Italy.
The Normans soon adopted Italian speech and customs. Their ambitious
plans against the Byzantine Empire were a factor in bringing about the
Crusades, in which they at first played an important part. The medieval
Normans were notable for the great authority given their dukes; for
their enthusiasm for conquest; and for their economic and social penetration
of conquered areas. Wherever the Normans went, Norman architecture left
its traces.
Bibliography
See E. Curtis, Roger of Sicily and the Normans in Lower Italy (1912);
C. H. Haskins, The Normans in European History (1915, repr. 1966) and
Norman Institutions (1918, repr. 1960); J. J. C. Norwich, The Normans
in the South, 1016-1130 (1967) and The Kingdom in the Sun, 1130-1194
(1970); E. Searle, Predatory Kinship and the Creation of Norman Power
(1988).
SOURCE: majority of content above Copyright© 2003,
The Expanded Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Columbia University Press.
Used without permission of Columbia University Press.
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William the Conqueror, his fellow Normans, and their descendants formed
a distinct population in England. Ousting most of the previous Saxon
rulers (as the Saxons had generations before, displaced the leaders
of the native Britons), they occupied most of the top places in the
feudal structure. As a result, the country was divided for a time along
cultural lines. The resentments common in this period are reflected
in the popular legends of Robin Hood. Over time, the two populations
largely intermarried and merged, combining languages (Norman speech
having been already largely displaced among the upper echelons by the
French of the Paris region) and traditions.
The Norsemen did not differ essentially from the other Vikings, who
were known as Danes in England and as Varangians in Russia.
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Norsemen
Norsemen, name given to the Scandinavian Vikings who raided and settled
on the coasts of the European continent in the 9th and 10th cent. They
are also referred to as Northmen or Normans. Recent research indicates
that Norse raids of Western Europe may have been known in the early
Middle Ages. Among the causes of the great influx (9th cent.) of Norsemen
to the coasts of NW Germany, the Low Countries, France, and Spain were
lust for wealth and power, search for adventure, and the attempt of
King Harold I of Norway to subjugate the independent nobles of his land,
thereby forcing them to look to foreign conquests. The impact of the
Norse invasions was particularly lasting in N France. The invaders,
whose major raids began c.843, sailed up the French rivers, particularly
the Seine, and repeatedly attacked, looted, and burned such cities as
Rouen and Paris. Their actions threatened to plunge France back into
the barbarism from which it was just emerging. The Norsemen gradually
established settlements, generally at the river mouths; thus they constantly
threatened to renew their river raids, and they ruined French commerce
and navigation. In 911, Rollo, one of their leaders, was invested by
King Charles III (Charles the Simple) with the duchy of Normandy, originally
the territory around Rouen. Rollo's successors considerably expanded
their territory and were only nominal vassals of the French kings. The
Norsemen accepted Christianity, adopted French law and speech, and continued
in history under the name of Normans. The name of Normandy itself and
several Norman place names are survivals of the Norse period. The Norsemen
did not differ essentially from the other Vikings, who were known as
Danes in England and as Varangians in Russia.
See T. D. Kendrick, A History of the Vikings (1930, repr. 1968); E.
C. Oxenstierna, The Norsemen (tr. 1965) and The World of the Norsemen
(tr. 1968).
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Other topics:
* Viking settlers in France
* William the Conqueror
* history of France from the 10th through 15th
centuries
* Norman French Language
* Normandy
* role in European history : areas ruled
by Normans
--- --- England
--- --- --- Dover
--- --- --- Hastings (battle of)
--- --- Greece
--- --- Alexius I
--- --- Comnenus
--- --- Thessaloníki
--- --- Ireland
--- --- Italy
--- --- Sicily
--- --- Wales
--- --- --- Anglesey
--- --- --- Breconshire
--- --- --- Flintshire
--- --- --- Glamorganshire
--- --- --- Pembrokeshire
* invasions or occupations by Normans
* quotations
* relations with France and England
* royalty and leaders
