Duchy of Normandy

A medieval principality in northern France established after the Norse settlement led by Rollo. Its dukes ruled Normandy and, after 1066, often held the English crown as well.

Rollo: A Norse leader who became the first ruler of Normandy under an agreement with the West Frankish king. His settlement and grant of territory established the ruling dynasty.
Duke of Normandy: The hereditary ruler of Normandy, holding ducal authority over its lands and vassals. The title embodied the principality’s central office and hereditary succession.
William the Conqueror: Duke of Normandy who conquered England in 1066 and became its king. His conquest made the duchy’s ruler sovereign across the Channel.
Norman Conquest: The conquest of England by William, duke of Normandy, culminating in his victory at Hastings in 1066. It transformed a Norman dynastic claim into rule over England.
Duchy of Brittany: A medieval principality in Brittany ruled by dukes and situated west of Normandy. It was a neighboring duchy with a distinct Breton identity and political trajectory.
Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte: An agreement traditionally dated to 911 between Rollo and the West Frankish king Charles the Simple. It is the customary landmark for the grant that founded Normandy.
Feudalism: A system of political and military relationships built around landholding, service, and personal obligations. Vassalage and landholding shaped the duke’s relations with Norman lords.
Robert Curthose: The eldest son of William the Conqueror and duke of Normandy from 1087 to 1106. His defeat by his brother Henry I ended an independent ducal succession for a generation.
Anglo-Norman realm: The political complex formed when the kings of England also ruled Normandy and other French lands. The duchy became the continental center of a cross-Channel monarchy.
Duchy of Aquitaine: A large medieval principality in southwestern France, governed by its own dukes. Like Normandy, it could place extensive French lands under an English ruler.

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