Norman

The Normans were the people of the Duchy of Normandy, born from Norse raiders, mostly Danes, mixing with the West Frankish inhabitants of the lower Seine. In 911 Rollo swore fealty to Charles III of West Francia and received Rouen, nucleus of the duchy; his followers converted and adopted Gallo-Romance speech that became Old Norman.

Norman adventurers then carried arms across Europe: William of Normandy won England at Hastings in 1066, and Roger II built the Kingdom of Sicily. In 1204 Philip II of France took mainland Normandy from England's John; the 1259 Treaty of Paris ended English claims, though the Channel Islands stayed English.

The 1315 Norman Charter guarded its customs, but the Hundred Years' War struck hard: Henry V overran it after 1415 and the 1420 Treaty of Troyes backed his claim, until the 1449–1450 reconquest, crowned by Formigny, returned it to France. It kept its own laws and estates within France, and in 1790 the Revolution split it into departments.