Rolf [Rollo, Robert I, Rollen]

the Ganger [Walker, Marcher], Viking

1rst Duke of Normandy

Born: c860 in Norway
Died: c932 in Normandy, France

Father: Rognvald I 'the Wise' Jarl of MORE, 1rst Earl of Orkney (b. Denmark d. Scotland)
Mother: Hilda (Ragnhild) Countess MORE

Spouse: Poppa de VALOIS (Pope of Rennes), Duchess of Normandy

Children:

  • Guillaume (William) 'Long Sword' 2nd Duke of Normandy m. Sporte de BRETAGNE
  • others?

    pic from CCV p10 ===>>

    		•


    Rollo attacks Paris

    From WLL:
    "Not content with celebrating their ventures to the N islands [Scotland, Hebrides, Shetlands, Orkneys, Faeroes, Iceland], the expansive Norwegians even claimed part of the credit for conquering Normandy, a place occupied largely by Danes. According to the Icelander Snorri Sturluson in his Heimskringla - which related the exploits of Harald Fairhair and other Norwegian rulers - the Viking chieftain named Rollo, who founded Normandy, hailed from Norway; there he was known to his countrymen as Rolf the Ganger ('the Walker') because his girth was so great 'that no horse could carry him.' Just how this hulking Norwegian became the leader of the predominantly Danish force that seized Normandy was never explained, but it was not beyond the realm of possibility ... Rolf the Ganger was the son of Rognvald, a Norwegian jarl [Earl] who, unlike [many others], resolved his differences w/Harald Fairhair and became one of the king's most beloved and trusted men. Rognvald could do no wrong, as far as King Harald was concerned, but Rolf did not enjoy the same royal license. Harald had issued an edict forbidding 'by the greatest punishment, any plundering w/in the bounds of the country,' but young Rolf [did it anyway] ... Harald assembled a 'thing' [town mtg] and had Rolf declared an outlaw ... Wisely, Rolf chose not to [challenge Harald and] instead lumbered off to distant parts, where he could plunder to his heart's content. He ended up in France, where he purportedly 'subdued for himself a great earldom, which he peopled with Northmen, from which that land is called Normandy'. This formidable Viking chieftain was known to the French as Rollo, and whatever his origins, he played a crucial role in European history. In 911 Charles the Simple, then king of the W Franks, concluded that the Norsemen were so firmly established along the coast of France that there was no longer any point in fighting them. Charles cut a deal with their leader, granting him Normandy as his personal fiefdom. In return Rollo pledged to become a Christian and swore allegiance to the French king, promising to protect his kingdom from any further Viking depredations. Rollo sealed the bargain by marrying a French noblewoman" (WLL pp65-7). These Normans gradually became less Viking and more French, adopting Christianity and cleanliness, "the better to attract fastidious [French] wives" (67).


    "In 845 Vikings in longships [led by Sigfred] launched an attack on Paris,
    portrayed [above] by a 19C French artist. The town looked much the same
    when a larger Viking force laid siege to it in 885" (WLL p55)

    See Rollo's widipedia entry here.


    Contemporary (10C) events (mostly from BN HT and CHME):
    - cf LouisItP for earlier events
    - 900 Alfonso III the Great of Castile begins to reconquer Spain from the Moors; Mayas desert their C America cntrs (why?) and emigrate to Yucatan peninsula; Hausa kingdom of Daura fnd'd in Nigeria; Bulgars accept E Orthodox religion
    - 901 Edward the Elder takes the title 'King of the Angles and Saxons'
    - 906 Magyars begin invading Germany
    - 907 End of T'ang Dynasty in China followed by civil war to 960; Mongols invade N China to 1123 216yrs, capturing Inner Mongolia and beyond
    - 909 Many older monasteries now needed reform, so D Wm III of Aquitaine fnds a new one at Cluny w/Berno 1st abbot, reputation for holiness spread, became shining example for all of Europe (CHME p61)
    - 910 Abbey of Cluny fnd'd in France
    - 911 Viking Rollo (Hrolf the Granger) granted Normandy by the Franks, who are unable to dislodge him from France
    - 912 Rollo is baptized a Christian as Robert [I]; BE56 Alexander II to 913
    - 913 Edward the Elder recaptures Essex from the Danes; Eadulf 1st Lord of Bamburgh (for 27yrs under K Alfred) dies; BE56a? Romanus I Lecapenus to 944 (brot Shroud of Turin to Const., cf Roman.html)
    - 913-30 [E]Aldred (b. c900) 2nd Lord of Bamburgh (r. N of Tyne after Vikings defeated him 918, bro Uhtred 3rd LoB 930-49, MBKQ p272)
    - 918 State of Korgo fnd'd in Korea
    - 919 Henry I the Fowler King of Germany (and [1st Saxon] HRE12) to 936 17yrs
    - 922 Fatimid Dynasty seizes Morocco
    - 924 Athelstan, son of Edw Elder, becomes K of Wessex and effective ruler of most of England (to 939 15yrs)
    - 926 Athelstan annexes Northumbria, forces Wales, Strathclyde, Picts, Scots to submit
    - 929 ('Good') K Wenceslas of Bohemia (W Czech, became prince 921 at 14yo) murdered (by his bro Boleslav)
    - 932 Wood-block printing adopted in China for mass-producing classical books
    - 936 Otto I 'the Great', son of Henry the Fowler, K of Germany (and HRE13) to 973 37yrs
    - 937 Battle of Brunanburh (where still unknown?!): Athenstan defeats alliance of Scots, Celts, Danes, Vikings, takes title 'King of all Britain'
    - 939 Edmund 'the Just', bro of Athelstan, K of England to 946 7yrs; but Olaf I of Dublin invades, takes English midlands, Edm only reconquers 942 after Olaf dies (HMW p520)
    - 942 Malcolm I, King of Scots to 953 11yrs; Odo dies (b879 63yo), succeeded Berno as abbet of Cluny monastery
    - 944 BE57 Constantine VII Porphyrogenetos ('born in the purple') to 959
    - 945 Dunstan becomes abbot of Glastonbury; Scots annex Cumberland and Westmorland from English
    - 946 (24yo K Edm k. in freak accident, left 5yo son/heir [Edwy], but Edred t/o, cf HMW p520) Edred 'Weak-Foot' (poor health), younger bro of Edmund, K of England to 955 9yrs, Dunstan his chf minister (proto-PM), put down Northumbria revolt, nearly wiping them out
    - 949-63 Oswulf I (wiki Osulf_I_of_Bamburgh) 3rd Lord and High Reeve of Bamburgh (b. c930, d. c965, hmmm, MBKQ says 4th, w/Evilcild 5th 963-94), Earl of Northumbria (Bernicia & Deira) 953-, deprived of Deira 963 by King Edgar (and given to Oslac [wiki Oslac_of_York] 963-75, at Osulf's d. divided between Oslac and Evilcild, Swinton: Edulf Yvelcild 'the Evil Child' r. Berncia 956-75, then Thored Gunnerson held Deira 975-93, Elthelm 993-1006)
    - 950 Otto I conquers Bohemia, campaigns in Italy 951
    - 955 Battle of Lechfeld: Otto defeats Magyars, ends their W advance; 14yo Edwy 'All-Fair' ('a wanton youth' HMW p521), son of Edm, KoE to 959 4yrs
    - 956 Edwy sends Dunstan into exile (K had NOT respected the RCC, AoC called him on it)
    - 957 Mercians and Northumbrians rebel against Edwy (under the banner of Edwy's younger, easily cntl'd bro Edgar, as alt-K, after Gloucester battle, 14uo Edgar r. N, 16yo Edwy S, HMW p521)
    - 959 19yo Edwy dies, 17yo Edgar the Peacable [-eful] KoE to 975 16yrs, Dunstan recalled to AoC, shrewd move, since w/RCC support he could defy his M/N 'puppet-masters'; BE58 Romanus II to 963
    - 960 Song Taizu fnd's Song [Sung] Dynasty, lasts to 1279 319yrs (Hyby p93); Mieszko I 1st ruler of Poland to 992 32yrs
    - 961 Otto I 2nd exped. to Italy to protect Pope John XII to 964 3yrs, John crowns him HRE12 in 962, revival of HRE in W; St Bernard's Hospice fnd'd in Switz.
    - 963 BE59 Basil II to 1025 (Byz. zenith)
    - 966 Otto's 3rd exped. to Italy to 972 6yrs, his son Otto II crowned as future HRE13
    - 971 Kenneth II KoS to 995 24yrs
    - 973 Otto II King and HRE13 to 983 10yrs; 30yo K Edgar now in full cntl of England, crowned by AoC 11 May (Pentecost, 1st coronation in England, all earlier 'kings' had really been mere warlords, HMW p522)
    - 975 Edgar dies of 'swift illness' (HMW p522), Edward the Martyr, son of Edgar, KoE to 978 3yrs (but Northmen were coming)
    - 978 Chinese begin compiling 1k-vol Encyc.; Edw Martyr m. at Corfe Castle; Ethelred II the Redeless (ill-counselled, aka 'the Unready'), younger bro of Edw, KoE to 1016 38yrs
    - 980 Arabs begin settling along E coast of Africa; Danes renew raids on England (Chester, Southampton); RCC has now suffered 100yrs of corrupt popes (CHME p52)
    - 981 Viking explorer Eric the Red, exiled from [mostly green] Iceland, settles in a [mostly icey] land he names Greenland to attract other colonists
    - 985 Sweyn Forkbeard, K of Denmark to 1014 29yrs
    - 987 Hugh Capet elected K of France to 996 9yrs, fnd's Capetian Dynasty >800yrs
    - 988 Vladimir of Kiev introduces E Orthodox religion into his lands
    - 990s millenial fever sweeps many Christians who believe 1000 AD will be 'The End'
    - 991 Battle of Maldon: Byrhtnoth of Essex defeated by Danish invaders; Ethelred II buys off Danes w/10k # of silver ($3.2M @ $20/oz)
    - 992 Ethelred makes truce w/Duke Richard I of Normandy; Boleslaw the Brave, son of Mieszko, K of Poland to 1025 33yrs
    - 993 Olaf Skutkonung, 1st Chr K of Sweden to 1024 31yrs
    - 994 Hakon of Hladir dies, cntl of upper Norway claimed by gson of old Harald Tangle-Hair, Olaf Tryggvason; Danes under Sweyn and Norwegians under Olaf Trygvesson sail up Thames, besiege London, bot off by Ethelred
    - 994-5 Waltheof I 4th Lord of Bamburgh (MBKQ 6th 994-5, b. c960), Earl of Bernicia 975-? - Elfeda (parents of Uchtred the Bold)
    - 995-1016 Uchtred I the Bold (b989, wiki Uchtred_the_Bold) 7th Earl of Bamburgh, k. en route to pay homage to K Cnut I (cf ahnen-sf @ #20 NEVILLE)
    - 995 Japanese literary and artistic golden age under rule of Fujiwara Michinaga to 1028 33yrs; Olaf Tryg. returns to Norway, deposes Haakon the Great, makes himself king; Kenneth II KoS murdered by supporters of his successor Const. III (opener of NT's HKV)
    - 996 Richard II D of Normandy to 1027 31yrs; Robt II the Pious, son of Hugh Capet, KoF to 1031 35yrs
    - 997 Constantine III KoS k. in battle w/his successor Kenneth III (HKV p112)
    - 998 Mahmud, Turk ruler of Ghazni (to 1030), fnd's empire in N India, E Afghan; (St) Stephen I 1st K of Hungary to 1038 40yrs
    - 999 Poles conquer Silesia
    - cf Sawy1066 for earlier events

    The 'Annales Cambriae' [Annals of the Cymbri i.e. native Celtic Britons, later Welsh] are compiled in the 10C, a key source of Arthurian legends (br-doka p72).

    In the ancient town of Edessa, [today's] Urfa, Turkey, an image of Jesus on a cloth ... [was] called mandylion (Greek 'hand towel' or 'handkerchief'), the holiest of objects to the local Christian community [likely the Shroud of Turin, which had (likely) come to them via Qumran]. In 943 BE? Romanus I Lecapenus ... was celebrating an important anniversary. 100yrs before, in 843 ... iconoclasm, literally 'image-smashing' [had been outlawed and declared heretical] ... BE? Leo III Isauricus [r717-?] ... [a soldier] of Syrian origin ... had brot from his native country a [pro-iconoclasm] tendency ... [so] in 943 ... Romanus I decided to [celebrate] by [moving] the mandylion from Edessa [to Const.] (Temp 110ff). It became the most revered object in the vast collection there.

    At this time there were 7 (+1) mormaerdoms (earldoms) in Scotland (cf HKV, ScotKngs).

    Sources:
    - BN HT = History's Timeline, Barnes & Noble, 1981, own.
    - CHME = Christian History Made Easy, Dr Timothy Paul Jones, Rose, 2005, own.
    - MBKQ = Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens, Mike Ashley, B&N, 1998, own.
    - Hyby = History Year by Year, DK, 2013, FHL.
    - CCV = The Crafts and Culture of the Vikings, Joann Jovinelly and Jason Netelkos, Rosen Pub, 2002, 48pp, FHL.
    - WLL = What Life was Like [When Longboats Sailed], eds. TLB, Time-Life Bks, 1998, 144pp, Mustang.
    - Temp = The Templars, Barbara Frale, Skyhorse, 2012, FHL. - HMW = The History of the Medieval World, Susan Wise Bauer, Norton, 2010, Mustang.