The Normans: From Raiders To Kings Part 1

THE NORMANS.

From Raiders to Kings.

LARS BROWNWORTH.

About the Author.

Lars Brownworth is an author, speaker, broadcaster, and teacher based in Maryland, USA. He has written for the Wall Street Journal and been profiled in the New York Times, who likened him to some of history's great popularizers. His books include Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire that Rescued Western Civilization, and the forthcoming The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings.

For more information about Lars, please visit www.larsbrownworth.com.

About the Book.

There is much more to the Norman story than the Battle of Hastings. These descendants of the Vikings who settled in France, England, and Italy - but were not strictly French, English, or Italian - played a large role in creating the modern world. They were the success story of the Middle Ages; a footloose band of individual adventurers who transformed the face of medieval Europe. During the course of two centuries they launched a series of extraordinary conquests, carving out kingdoms from the North Sea to the North African coast.

In The Normans, author Lars Brownworth follows their story, from the first shock of a Viking raid on an Irish monastery to the exile of the last Norman Prince of Antioch. In the process he brings to vivid life the Norman tapestry's rich cast of characters: figures like Rollo the Walker, William Iron-Arm, Tancred the Monkey King, and Robert Guiscard. It presents a fascinating glimpse of a time when a group of restless adventurers had the world at their fingertips.

For Nils, whose curiosity provided the spark.

A Who's Who of the Norman World.

Adelaide (c. 1075 - 1118) Third wife of Roger I and mother of Roger II. Regent for her son from 1101 - 1112.

Alexius Comnenus (c. 1056 - 1118) Byzantine emperor at the time of the First Crusade. Defeated attempts by Robert Guiscard and Bohemond I to invade the empire Bernard of Clairvaux (1090 - 1153) Cistercian Abbot and dominant figure of the early 12th century.

Bohemond I (c. 1058 - 1111) Eldest son of Robert Guiscard; founded the Princ.i.p.ality of Antioch Charles the Fat (839 - 888) Frankish king who attempted to stop Viking raids by allowing them to settle in Normandy Christodulus (d. 1131) First admiral of Norman Sicily under Roger II.

Constance (1154 - 1198) Sister of Roger II; inherited Sicily when William the Good died Count Roger (c. 1031 - 1101) Youngest of the Hauteville brothers; conquered Sicily and consolidated Norman rule of the island. Also known as the 'Great Count'

Drogo de Hauteville (c. 1010 - 1051) Younger brother of William Iron-Arm who succeeded him as Duke of Apulia and Calabria Edward the Confessor (c. 1003 - 1066) Anglo-Saxon king of England who died without a clear successor.

Emma (c. 985 - 1012) Sister of Duke Richard II; wife of Ethelred the Unready and mother of Edward the Confessor Ethelred the Unready (c. 968 - 1016) Anglo-Saxon king who tried to stop Viking raids by bribing them. Father of Edward the Confessor Frederick I Barbarossa (1122 - 1190) Holy Roman Emperor; invaded Italy in an attempt to conqueror Sicily Frederick II Barbarossa (1194 - 1250) Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily and Jerusalem; Son of Henry VI and grandson of Roger II. Nicknamed 'the wonder of the world'.

George Maniaces (d. 1043) Byzantine general who employed Norman mercenaries in an attempt to conquer Sicily.

George of Antioch (d. 1151/2) Succeeded Christodulus as admiral; helped establish a Norman presence in North Africa G.o.dwin (Earl of Wess.e.x, c. 1001 - 1053) Powerful advisor to Edward the Confessor and father of Tostig and Harold Gregory VII (c. 1015 - 1085) Reforming pope who offered Robert Guiscard legitimacy in exchange for protection against Henry IV Harald Hardrada (c. 1015 - 1066) Viking King of Norway; invaded England in 1066 and died at the Battle of Stamford Bridge Harold G.o.dwinson (c. 1022 - 1066) Last Anglo-Saxon king of England. Killed by William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings Henry IV (1050 - 1106) Holy Roman Emperor who tried to invade Rome while Robert Guiscard was occupied by Byzantium Henry VI (1165 - 1197) Holy Roman Emperor and husband of Constance; conquered the Norman Kingdom of Sicily Maio of Bari (d. 1160) Favorite of William the Bad; most powerful figure in Sicily until his a.s.sa.s.sination.

Manuel Comnenus (1118 - 1180) Last strong Byzantine emperor of the 12th century; campaigned against Roger II Margaritus (1149 - 1197) Admiral of Sicily under William the Good; nicknamed 'the new Neptune'

Pope Leo IX (1002 - 1054) Led a great anti-Norman coalition to expel the Normans from southern Italy; captured by Robert Guiscard at the Battle of Civitate Pope Urban II (c. 1042 - 1099) Launched the First Crusade to recover Jerusalem for Christendom.

Raymond of Toulouse (c. 1041 - 1105) Main rival to Bohemond I for leadership of the First Crusade Richard the Fearless (933 - 996) Son of William Longsword; first Duke of Normandy Richard the Lionheart (1157 - 1199) Norman king of England who visited Sicily en route to the Third Crusade Richard II (c. 962 - 1026) Second Duke of Normandy; also known as 'Richard the Good'

Robert Guiscard (c. 1015 - 1085) Half-brother of Drogo; conquered much of southern Italy and was elected Duke of Apulia and Calabria. Known as 'The Crafty'

Robert the Devil (c. 1009 - 1035) Third Duke of Normandy, father of William the Conqueror Roger Borsa (c. 1060 - 1111) Legitimate but ineffectual son of Robert Guiscard; succeeded his father as Duke of Apulia and Calabria Roger II (1095 - 1154) First Norman king of Sicily; remembered as its greatest ruler Rollo (c. 860 - 931) Viking raider who founded Normandy Tancred de Hauteville (c. 980 - 1041) Poor Norman knight and founder of the Hauteville family; father of at least twelve sons including William Iron-Arm, Drogo, Robert Guiscard, and Count Roger Tancred of Galilee (1075 - 1112) Nephew of Bohemond I; regent of Antioch in Bohemond's absence Tancred of Lecce (d. 1194) Last Norman ruler of Sicily; seized the kingdom when William the Good died. Nicknamed 'the Monkey king'

Tostig (c. 1026 - 1066) Younger brother of Harold; killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge while attempting to return from exile William Iron-Arm (c. 1005 - 1046) Eldest of the Hauteville brothers; elected Duke of Apulia and Calabria William Longsword (c. 900 - 942) Son of Rollo; second ruler of Normandy William the Bad (1131 - 1166) Son of Roger II and second king of Sicily William the Conqueror (c. 1026 - 1087) Illegitimate son of Robert the Devil, conquered England in 1066 William the Good (1155 - 1189) Third king and last legitimate Hauteville ruler of Sicily PLACES.

Aachen: Capital of the Holy Roman Empire Apulia: Region of southern Italy including the 'heel' of the peninsula. Became the center of Norman power under Robert Guiscard Byzantine Empire: (330 - 1453) The eastern half of the old Roman Empire Calabria: Region of southern Italy forming the 'toe' of the peninsula Constantinople: Capital of the Byzantine Empire Holy Roman Empire: (962 - 1806) Central European State that claimed to be the rebirth of the old Western Roman Empire. Despite its name it was based largely in modern day Germany Norman Kingdom of Sicily: (1130 - 1194) Founded by Roger II; included Sicily, the south of Italy, and parts of North Africa Palermo: Capital of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily Papal States: Collection of lands around Rome ruled directly by the pope. Often in conflict with its immediate neighbors, the Norman Kingdom of Sicily, and the Holy Roman Empire Princ.i.p.ality of Antioch: (1098 - 1268) Crusader State based around the major city of Antioch; founded by Bohemond I during the First Crusade VARIOUS.

Battle of Civitate: (1053) Norman defeat of the armies of Pope Leo IX; resulted in papal recognition of Hauteville rule in southern Italy First Crusade: (1098) Launched by Pope Urban II to reclaim the Holy Lands from Islam Fourth Crusade: (1204) Venetian-led crusade which sacked Constantinople Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte: Agreement between Rollo and Charles the Simple that created Normandy Varangian Guard: Elite forces of the Byzantine army. Usually composed of Norse or Anglo-Saxon warriors The Papal States When the Western Roman Empire collapsed in the fifth century, it left a political vacuum on the Italian peninsula The pope, virtually the only figure of significant standing, gradually filled the void, a.s.suming political control over Rome. In 756 this de facto control was made official by the Frankish ruler, Pepin, who had recently defeated a Lombard invasion that threatened Rome. In exchange for the t.i.tle of king, Pepin 'donated' his newly-conquered lands surrounding the two cities of Rome and Ravenna to the pope. The resulting Papal States (also called the Republic of Saint Peter) were ruled directly by the popes until the nineteenth century when they were dissolved during the Risorgimento (unification of Italy).

The exact borders and power of the Papal States fluctuated considerably during the middle ages. At their greatest extent they covered the modern central Italian regions of Lazio, Umbria, Marche, and part of Emilia-Romagna. This territory was guarded by the papal armies, which were commanded in the field by mercenaries, or on occasion, by the pope himself. This period of papal history is best represented by the Renaissance pontiff, Julius II, who built an army around a core of Swiss mercenaries and gained the epithet the Warrior Pope for his frequent military excursions.

After the unification of Italy in 1871, the pope's temporal power was restricted to the walls of the Vatican compound, but even that was in doubt. In 1929, an accommodation was reached with the Italian government, which recognized an independent state of 'Vatican City'. It is still protected by Julius' Swiss Guard, a remnant of the time when popes fought temporal - as well as spiritual - wars.

On Romans, Holy Romans, and Byzantines Clarity about the past is often sought by oversimplifying it. History is broken down into digestible chunks with neat borders and labels which, however useful, can sometimes be misleading. Dates which were hardly noticed at the time become watershed years, and epochs and ages are given names which would have been unrecognizable to those living during them.

When national or imperial pride gets involved, the resulting propaganda usually muddies the water even further. The Middle Ages had two rival empires both claiming to be the true Roman Empire. For most of their history neither of them actually controlled Rome, yet both had claims on its legacy.

The confusion stems from the third century AD when the Roman emperor, Diocletian, decided to split the old Roman Empire in half. The western half, with its capital in Italy, collapsed in the fifth century (the traditional date is 476), but the eastern portion survived until 1453 when a Turkish invasion and the guns of the modern world finally brought it down.

Since the eastern half was centered on Constantinople, the old Greek city of Byzantium (modern day Istanbul), modern historians refer to it as 'The Byzantine Empire' or simply 'Byzantium'. Its location in the thoroughly h.e.l.lenized east meant that Greek became the preferred language, so Byzantium is sometimes referred to as the Greek empire. Nonetheless, it is important to note that while it existed, both friends and enemies alike viewed it as Roman, and drew no artificial distinctions between the empire of Rome and that of Byzantium.

The medieval compet.i.tor to the 'Byzantine' Empire arrived on Christmas Day in the year 800. During a Ma.s.s in Rome, Pope Leo III (for political reasons of his own) placed a crown on the Frankish king Charlemagne's head and named him Imperator Romanorum, announcing that the defunct Western Empire had been reborn. This version of the empire, however, which spanned both French and Germanic lands, was based in present day Germany and never completely controlled Italy. Because of this, and in an attempt to simplify a complex series of events, most historians refer to Charlemagne's coronation anachronistically as the start of the Holy Roman Empire or the German Empire. Politically, Charlemagne's state fell apart almost immediately, and when his direct line petered out in less than a century, the t.i.tle of Roman Emperor soon followed it. In 962 the German Otto I (a distant relative of Charlemagne) revived the t.i.tle, and in 1157 his successor Frederick Barbarossa officially added the term sacrum (holy) to his t.i.tle.

This German-speaking, Holy Roman Empire may have been - as Voltaire put it neither 'holy', nor 'roman', nor (since the emperor was elected) an 'empire' but it was resilient. It survived until the nineteenth century when, in a fit of Enlightenment pique, Napoleon swept it away.

For clarity's sake I refer to the Greek-speaking eastern empire as 'Byzantine', and the German-speaking western one as 'German' throughout the book.

List of Emperors.

HOLY ROMAN EMPERORS.

Carolingian Dynasty.

800- 14 Charlemagne (Charles I) 814- 40 Louis I the Pious 840- 55 Lothair I 855- 75 Louis II.

875- 77 Charles II (the Bald) 881- 7 Charles III (the Fat) Guideschi Dynasty 891- 4 Guy III.

894- 8 Lambert II Non-Dynastic 896- 9 Arnulf 901- 5 Louis III 915- 24 Berengar Saxon Dynasty 962- 73 Otto I the Great 973- 83 Otto II.

996-1002 Otto III 1014- 24 Henry II Salian Dynasty 1027- 39 Conrad II 1046- 56 Henry III 1084- 1105 Henry IV 1111- 25 Henry V Non-Dynastic.

1133- 7 Lothair III Hohenstaufen Dynasty (*non-dynastic) 1155- 90 Frederick I Barbarossa 1191- 7 Henry VI 1209- 15 Otto IV*.

1220- 50 Frederick II BYZANTINE EMPERORS.

Macedonian Dynasty (867-1056) 867-886 Basil I the Macedonian 886-912 Leo VI the Wise.

912-913 Alexander 913-959 Constantine VII the Purple-born 920-959 Roma.n.u.s I Lecapenus 959-963 Roma.n.u.s II.

963-969 Nicephorus II Phocas 969-976 John I Tzimisces 963-1025 Basil II the Bulgar-Slayer 1025-1028 Constantine VIII 1028-1034 Roma.n.u.s III 1034-1041 Michael IV 1041-1042 Michael V 1042 Zoe and Theodora 1042-1055 Constantine IX 1055-1056 Theodora Non-Dynastic (1056-1059) 1056-1057 Michael VI the Old 1057-1059 Isaac I Comnenus Ducas Dynasty (1059-1081) 1059-1067 Constantine X 1068-1071 Roma.n.u.s IV Diogenes 1071-1078 Michael VII 1078-1081 Nicephorus III Comneni Dynasty (1081-1185) 1081-1118 Alexius I Comnenus 1118-1143 John II the Beautiful.

1143-1180 Manuel I 1180-118 Alexius II 1183-1185 Andronicus I the Terrible Angelus Dynasty (1185-1204).

1185-1195 Isaac II Angelus 1195-1203 Alexius III 1203-1204 Isaac II and Alexius IV Non-Dynastic.

1204 Alexius V the Bushy-eyebrowed Crusader (Latin) Emperors till 1261.

INTRODUCTION.

The idea for this book began with a question: How did Western Europe, which was militarily, technologically, and socially far behind its immediate neighbors in the Middle East, manage not only to catch up with them, but to rise to global dominance?

At the start of the second millennium, a gambler certainly wouldn't have placed their bet on the West. It was much more likely that the sophisticated and sprawling Islamic Caliphate would continue to dominate, or perhaps the cultured, resurgent Byzantine1 Empire. Europe was a battered sh.e.l.l, crumbling under the hammer blows of invasion and disease. And yet, it was a group of Viking descendants the very ones who were ripping Western Europe apart at the time that would provide the catalyst for its future greatness.

Few events in European history are as remarkable as the sudden rise of those Normans in the latter half of the eleventh century. In the s.p.a.ce of a single generation they carved out kingdoms from the North Sea to the North African coast, and transformed Europe. They lived in a world where the old order was pa.s.sing away and the clever among them had seemingly unlimited possibilities. For the bold no ambition was too lofty, and no dream was impossible. They were among the West's first great entrepreneurs; a powerful example that in the new world of the tenth century low birth was no bar to success.

But who exactly were the Normans? Despite their prominence, there is an air of ambiguity to them. They settled in France and can most famously be seen on the Bayeux Tapestry, but were not strictly French. Their most famous king ruled over England so they can just as easily be called English, but they can also be seen as Norse, or even Italian. Even their legacy is conflicted. They appear in the story of Robin Hood as oppressive villains, and at the same time are regarded as the founders of the English state who established modern law and eliminated slavery.

One of the reasons for the confusion is that the whole Norman story is not widely known. The Norman ident.i.ty is dominated by William the Conqueror, the illegitimate son of an absent father, who famously landed at Pevensey Beach in 1066 and conquered the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England.

There is another Norman conquest, however, which is in some ways even more remarkable. Six years before Duke William launched his invasion, the sons of an impoverished Norman knight headed south, creating a kingdom that extended from southern Italy to the Tunisian coast. Full of the restless ambition of their Viking ancestors, they presided over a century of commercial expansion that turned Palermo (in present day Sicily) into the cultural and economic capital of the western Mediterranean. Most importantly, they fostered the rising fortunes of the papacy at a critical period in the history of Christendom, playing a pivotal role in the formation of a European ident.i.ty.

It was an astonishing achievement for men with such humble beginnings. Tancred de Hauteville, an obscure Norman knight living in northern France, had little he could offer his twelve sons and most left to seek their fortunes in the south. They arrived as humble mercenaries, but quickly proved to be among the most inspired of medieval leaders. From William 'Iron-Arm' who killed the Emir of Syracuse in single combat, to Robert Guiscard who captured a pope and nearly overthrew the Byzantine Empire, the sons of Tancred combined ambition with tenacity. For three quarters of a century they carried out a systematic campaign to enlarge their territories, culminating with Count Roger who accepted the unconditional Saracen2 surrender of Sicily and adopted the dress and customs of a Byzantine emperor. By the time the youngest Hauteville brother died, his relatives sat enthroned in Palermo, Tripoli, Malta, and Antioch, and the family possessed the strongest and wealthiest kingdom in Europe.

The Hauteville family, however, is important for more than just colorful individuals. They are also part of a larger Norman story, embodying the energy of a continent poised for rapid growth. At the start of the eleventh century, Europe was largely agrarian, politically divided, defensive, and economically undeveloped. Three non-European powers the Byzantine Empire, the Spanish Caliphate, and the Fatimid Caliphate of Cairo - dominated the Mediterranean. England was part of the Scandinavian cultural orbit, Rome was mired in the corruption and politicking of the early papacy, and Christendom was under attack from the formidable powers of Islam.

Within a generation of the arrival of the Normans, much of Europe was transformed from a collection of feuding states to a culturally united and politically strong region. In place of a patchwork of French fiefdoms, they created an Anglo-Norman empire, stretching from Scotland to the Pyrenees. In Italy they found Lombard, Byzantine, and Saracen princes controlling a confused array of provinces, and replaced them with a single Norman kingdom. The Byzantine Empire was driven out of Italy, the Saracens were expelled from Sicily, and a revived papacy began the Western offensive against Islam that would sp.a.w.n both the Reconquista and the Crusades.

Norman power also coincided with several more fundamental shifts. From the eleventh century to the twelfth, the population of Europe nearly doubled. With a larger workforce came a greater specialization of labor, the founding of guilds, and technological innovations like the windmill and stern-mounted rudder. The growth of cities and towns encouraged the formation of communes and the first medieval experiments with democracy. Trading organizations like the Hanseatic League brought the West into contact with the Byzantine and Islamic worlds and partially reintroduced Europe to Greek learning and advances in medicine and science. The new Gothic form of architecture began to spread from France to the rest of the continent, and with it came a reform movement fostered in Norman monasteries that resulted in a revival of learning broad enough to be called the Renaissance of the twelfth century. Vernacular literature emerged, Latin poetry and Roman law were revived and the first European universities were founded. Lastly, the stability that the Normans gave to the Italian peninsula allowed the reforming pope, Gregory VII, to spread his idea of a universal Christian society far beyond Italy and with it the concept of a united Europe.

In each of these movements, a Hauteville played a catalyst role, sparking events that would begin the European rise to dominance on the world stage. Yet for all their accomplishments, the southern Normans remain largely unknown, eclipsed by their famous northern compatriots. Knowledge of the Normans for far too many seems to begin and end with the Battle of Hastings, while the Hauteville's central role in the growth of Europe is largely unexplored.

This is somewhat surprising, because the brothers are the most prominent example of the Norman genius of adaptability that transformed Europe. They had the instinctive ability to recognize which local traditions were superior to their own and to combine the various cultural and legal elements into a cohesive whole. Perhaps because they were a cobbled together people themselves, they displayed this pragmatic streak in every place they inhabited.

The first Normans were Scandinavian Vikings hopelessly outnumbered amid a French population, and they quickly learned how to govern a people without alienating them. In Sicily, the Hautevilles perfected this skill. They took over the existing structure of the Muslim and Byzantine administration intact, combined it with French efficiency and gave Sicily a prosperity it hadn't seen since the days of imperial Rome. The former mercenaries transitioned into southern kings, exchanging war for trade and mercantile activity. At the time of the First Crusade, when Christendom was internally divided and at war with Islam, Roger de Hauteville protected the Sicilian Kingdom with an army composed of Saracen infantry, Greek generals and Norman cavalry. His example provided a template for the Hauteville governance of Sicily, and the great cathedrals of Cefalu and Monreale, with their fusion of Norman, Islamic and Byzantine architecture, are still a testament to the success of his efforts.

This story needs to be restored to its proper place in the history of European development. Unlike the Norman Conquest of England, the Hautevilles did not have the backing and resources of a dukedom. Their progress was slow the conquest of Sicily alone took over thirty years of sporadic fighting and the obstacles they had to overcome were daunting. Yet in the end their determination paid off, and their success proved enduring. They were a blend of ambition, greed and daring that was often repellent but never dull. In the most unlikely of places the center of the Mediterranean they created a bridge between the East and West, Christian and Muslim, ruling with an effectiveness that was unparalleled in the Middle Ages and has rarely been equaled since. They played a crucial role in explaining how the West emerged from the chaos of the early Middle Ages to a place of global prominence, and took the first steps in creating the modern world. This is their story.

Prologue: The Viking Age.

Nostra conservando corpora et cutodita, de gente fera Normannica nos libera, quae nostra vastat, Deus, regna.

(Preserve us and ours, O G.o.d, from the savage race of Northmen which lays waste our realms).

Antiphony of St Vaast or St Medard (ca 870).

In the year 793 the monks of Lindisfarne priory were interrupted from their evening meditations by an astonishing sight. Fiery dragons appeared in the night sky, wheeling menacingly above the island monastery before vanishing into the darkness. Sheets of lightning followed, spreading out in vast arcs above the priory roof, outlining the building with an unearthly flame. A few weeks later the dragons returned, but this time they were carved into the prows of ships. When they beached, wild men carrying strange rune-covered swords came swarming out, overtaking the monks before they could flee to safety. Neither the old nor the infirm were spared as the cloister was ravaged. Gold and silver plate was seized, precious vestments were torn from their hangings, and even the ossuaries were smashed open in search of valuables. When there was nothing left to plunder, the invaders loaded everything into their ships and departed as quickly as they had come, leaving behind the corpses scattered as a cleric later wrote like so much dung in the streets.

It was only a taste of the storm to come. For the better part of the next two centuries the Viking onslaught broke on northern Europe, ripping apart kingdoms and leaving coastal cities almost deserted. The brutal a.s.sault was made worse by the thoroughly alien nature of these Norse warriors from Scandinavia. Unlike the majority of people in Western Europe they weren't Christianized; they recognized no church sanctuary and showed no mercy. Worshiping their terrible berserker3 G.o.d Odin, the one-eyed, raven deity that inspired divine madness, these hulking warriors didn't seem to feel pain and would attack with teeth and nails when their weapons were gone. Clothed in the skins of wolves or bears, they appeared like some b.e.s.t.i.a.l scourge from the frozen north.

These cunning warriors were no mere brutes though, and were capable of remarkable sophistication. Thanks to a clever Viking innovation in shipbuilding that eliminated the need for a keel, they could sail up even the shallowest rivers, and it was this mobility that made them truly lethal. Even inland cities, long thought to be safe from seafaring raids, were now in range.

There seemed to be no limit to their wanderl.u.s.t. Sailing to the west, Norse adventurers colonized Iceland, Greenland, and eventually, as is now generally recognized, the New World. In Ireland they founded the city of Dublin, in Muslim Spain4 they seized the city of Seville, and in Africa they raided the Moroccan coast. Cruising up the coast of Italy they sacked the largest city they could find, and returned to Scandinavia boasting that they had conquered Rome. The fact that it was actually Luna, center of the Italian marble trade, was beside the point. No city was safe.

The Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England was among the first to be buffeted by the storm. Viking raiders overran York, captured London, and butchered at least two English kings5 as a sacrifice to Odin. Other Vikings sailed east, and found their way to the Black Sea, where they were daring enough to try an attack on mighty Constantinople. Called the 'Rus' by the Byzantines, these Vikings carved out settlements among the Slavic populations of northeastern Europe, and gave their name to the land of Russia.

A major target of Viking activity was what today is northern France. The Nors.e.m.e.n were interested in loot, and there was no more tempting target than the Frankish Empire.

By the year 800, it looked as if the great western dream of restarting the Roman Empire had become a reality. The Frankish king, Charlemagne, had hammered together the lands of France, Germany, Switzerland, and northern Italy into a single state, and the pope had crowned him emperor of this new Roman Empire.6 Trade flourished, learning was revived, and wealth poured into Frankish treasuries. Charlemagne built a magnificent palace at his capital of Aachen, dazzled his subjects with a court that seemed to drip with gold, and even toyed with the idea of marrying the Byzantine Empress in a bid to unite the lands of the old Roman Empire. At his death in 814 it looked as if the Mediterranean-spanning Pax Romana would dawn again under Frankish leadership.

Unfortunately for the Franks, none of Charlemagne's successors ever quite measured up to him, a fact made painfully obvious by the nicknames their depressed subjects gave them. Charlemagne's first son got the best of the lot as Louis the Pious, but it went downhill from there. After Louis came Charles the Bald, Louis the Stammerer, Charles the Fat, Louis the Blind, and so on.

Guided by these feeble rulers after the death of Charlemagne and hopelessly divided, the Frankish lands were both wealthy and weak, a lethal combination which quickly attracted the attention of the predatory Vikings. By the end of the century the attacks had become so frequent that many coastal towns had to be abandoned, and even Paris was briefly occupied. The helpless Frankish kings, unable to match Viking speed, resorted to a disastrous policy of bribing the invaders to leave, but this only bankrupted the treasury and convinced the Vikings that the Franks were indeed weak. In 880 the ultimate humiliation occurred when Charlemagne's old capital of Aachen fell to the invaders, and its citizens were forced to watch as Viking horses were stabled in the magnificent palace chapel. The Frankish king responded to the crisis (as he did to most others) by sending a ma.s.sive payment of gold and silver, and the now fabulously wealthy Vikings lumbered off, struggling to carry all their loot.

This victory marked a subtle change in Viking tactics. By now their thoughts had turned from plunder to settlement, and the northern seacoast looked particularly inviting. There was little to fear from the Frankish military; Vikings could besiege even major cities with virtual impunity. The difficulty lay in choosing an appropriate spot at which to settle. The Norse were men of the sea they were often called 'sea wolves' by their victims so any permanent location had to have easy access to water. Paris and Aachen may have been rich targets, but they were too far from the coast to make suitable bases. Ironically, it was a Viking defeat, not a victory, which provided the perfect location.

Chapter 1.

The Northman's Duchy.

The entry for the year 885 in the French Annals of St Vaast begins with the chilling phrase: "The rage of the Northmen was let loose upon the land". It was an all too accurate a.s.sessment. As soon as the winter snows had melted, a frenetic series of Viking raids. .h.i.t the French coast and continued with a ferocity not seen for half a century. This particular year was especially demoralizing because the Frankish population had believed that they had gained the upper hand against the raiders. Four years earlier, the Franks had met the Norse in a rare pitched battle and slaughtered some eight thousand of them. For several years the threat of attack had receded, but then in 885 the Norse launched a full-scale invasion.

Viking attacks were usually carried out with limited numbers. They were experts in hit and run tactics, and small bands ensured maximum flexibility. That November, however, to the horror of the island city, more than thirty thousand7 Viking warriors descended on Paris.

From the start, their organization was fluid. According to legend, a Parisian emissary sent to negotiate terms was unable to find anyone in charge. When he asked to see a chieftain he was told by the amused Norse that, 'we are all chieftains'. There was a technical leader traditionally he is known as Sigfred but not one the Franks would have recognized as 'King'. It was less of an army than a collection of war bands loosely united by a common desire for plunder.

The Vikings launched an attack hoping to catch the French off guard, but several days of intense fighting failed to break through the Parisian defenses. The resulting siege, which lasted for a year, was ultimately unsuccessful, but it gave Europe its first glimpse of the man whose descendants would dominate both ends of the continent, and whose distant relative still sits on the English throne. Known to posterity as Rollo (the Latin version of the Norse Hrolf), he was a minor leader, probably of Norwegian8 extraction. According to legend he was of such enormous size that the poor Viking horses couldn't accommodate him,9 and this earned him the nickname Rollo the Walker (Hrolf Granger), since he had to go everywhere on foot.

Like all the Vikings, Rollo had been drawn to the siege by the very real prospect of making a fortune. Forty years before, the legendary Norse warrior Ragnar Lodbrok had sacked Paris with fewer men, returning home with nearly six thousand pounds of silver and gold courtesy of the terrified French king. All of those present had undoubtedly been brought up on stories about Ragnar's exploits, and there may even have been a veteran or two among the gathered warriors. This was their chance to duplicate his exploits.

If Rollo distinguished himself at Paris, it was in his determination. When it became apparent that an early victory wasn't possible, many of the Norse began to drift away towards easier targets. By March of the next year, morale among the Vikings was so low that the nominal leader, Sigfred, reduced his demand to sixty pounds of silver a far cry from Ragnar's six thousand to lift the siege. However, a rumor that the Frankish emperor, Charles the Fat, was on his way with a relief army stiffened the will of the Parisians and they refused. Sigfred held out another month, and then gave up, leaving Rollo and the other lesser leaders on their own.

The Frankish army finally arrived in October, eleven months after the siege began, and scattered what was left of the Vikings. Rollo's men were surrounded to the north of Paris at Montmartre, but Charles the Fat decided to negotiate instead of attack. The province of Burgundy was currently in revolt, and Charles was hardly a successful military commander. In exchange for roughly six hundred pounds of silver, Rollo was sent off to plunder the emperor's rebellious va.s.sal.

It was an agreement that suited both of them, but for Rollo, the dream of Paris was too strong to resist. In the summer of 911 he returned and made a wild stab for it, hoping smaller numbers would prevail where the great army had failed. Not surprisingly, Paris proved too hard to take, so Rollo decided to try his luck with the more reasonable target of Chartres.

The Frankish army had been alerted to the danger and they marched out to meet the Vikings in open battle. A ferocious struggle ensued, but just when the Vikings were on the point of winning, the gates flew open and the Bishop of Chartres came roaring out, cross in one hand, relic in the other, and the entire population streaming out behind him. The sudden arrival turned the tide, and by nightfall Rollo was trapped on a hill to the north of the city. The exhausted Franks decided to finish the job the next morning and withdrew, but the crafty Viking was far from beaten. In the middle of the night he sent a few handpicked men into the middle of the Frankish camp and had them blast their war horns as if an attack were underway. The Franks woke up in a panic, some scrambling for their swords, the rest scattering in every direction. In the confusion the Vikings slipped away.