See also

Ragnvald (c. 847-c. 890)

1. Ragnvald 1 Eysteinsson, Earl of More, son of Eystein Ivarsson "The Noisy" Glumra JARL OF THE UPLANDERS (c. 830-875) and Ascrida RAGNVALDSDOTTIR (c. 830- ), was born circa 0847 in Maer, Nord-Tronelag, Norway. He had the title '1st Jarl of Orkney, Earl of More (Norway)'. He died of Burnt to death in his house. circa 0890 in Orkney, Scotland. He married Ragnhild Hrolfsdottir.

 

Ragnhild Hrolfsdottir, daughter of Rolf Nefia SEA KING ( - ), was born circa 0850 in Maer, Nord-Tronelag, Norway. She and Ragnvald 1 Eysteinsson, Earl of More had the following children:

 

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Rollo Ragnvaldsson 1ST DUC DE NORMANDIE (870-931)

Second Generation

2. Rollo Ragnvaldsson 1ST DUC DE NORMANDIE, son of Ragnvald 1 Eysteinsson, Earl of More and Ragnhild Hrolfsdottir, was born in 0870 in Norway. He died in 0931. He married Poppa de Normandie de Valois.

 

Some sources have his date of birth as 846. Having been exiled from Norway, Rollo would have begun his career as a mercenary in the service of an English king, employed to fight the Danes who occupied the north of the island. He subsequently operated as a Viking on his own account, and set himself up in 876 at the mouth of the Seine. In 886 he associated himself with the fleet that had been besieging Paris for some time and took advantage of this arrangement to further his own ends in Normandy by seizing Bayeux and Evreux.

From this period onward, the Vikings established in the lower reaches of the Seine seemed to have set themselves the objective of extending their territory to the west. Saint-Lô was taken in 890 after a long siege, but the Norman expedition was almost immediately beaten by a coalition of the Breton chiefs. Furthermore, Rollo probably had no authority over all the Scandinavian groups installed in the region, but from the end of the 10th century he became the indispensable ambassador for the Marquis of Neustria. He would have also retained a relationship with Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, who he would have continued to help against the Danish kingdom of York.

Rollo was still a man with a foot in two worlds. A leader recognised by the powerful of his time, on the eve of accession to a territorial princedom, he continued to associate himself with seasonal pillaging expeditions which were the stock in trade of the Vikings. It is also the case that he did not always come out on top. In 911, he suffered a major defeat in Chartres. His position remained strong enough, however, for him to be involved in negotiating the accord which was to give rise to the creation of Normandy.

 

Poppa de Normandie de Valois was the daughter of Berenger o. B. de Senlis COUNT OF BAYEUX ( - ). She and Rollo Ragnvaldsson 1ST DUC DE NORMANDIE had the following children:

 

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Guillaume I "Longsword" 2ND DUC DE NORMANDIE (893-943)

Third Generation

3. Guillaume I "Longsword" 2ND DUC DE NORMANDIE, son of Rollo Ragnvaldsson 1ST DUC DE NORMANDIE and Poppa de Normandie de Valois, was born in 0893. He had the title 'Duque de Aquitania'. He died on 17 December 0943. He married Sprote de Bretagne (Sprota Adela de Senlis).

 

His nick name was William Longsword. He sought continually to expand his territories either by conquest or by exacting new lands from the French king for the price of homage. In 939 he allied himself with Hugh the Great in the revolt against King Louis IV. Through the mediation of the pope, the war ended, and Louis renewed William's investiture of Normandy. William, however, continued his territorial ambitions, especially northward. He was lured into a conference on an island in the Somme River in 942 and was assassinated on the orders of the count of Flanders, Arnulf I.

 

Sprote de Bretagne (Sprota Adela de Senlis) was born on 28 August 0933 in Fecamp, Normandy. She and Guillaume I "Longsword" 2ND DUC DE NORMANDIE had the following children:

 

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Richard I of NORMANDY (933-996). Richard was born on 28 August 0933 in Fecamp. He was born on [Julian] 28 August 0933 in Fecamp, France. He had the title '3rd Duke of Normandy'. He died on 20 November 0996 in Fecamp. He died on [Julian] 20 November 0996 in Fecamp. He was buried in Fecamp, Seine-Inferieure, France.