Normandy, formerly a province of France, lying along the seaboard of the English Channel, between Brittany and French Flanders, its eastern boundaries being marked by the little rivers Eup and Epte, and its western by the Couësson. In area it corresponded approximately to the modern departments of Seine-Inférieure, Eure, Orne, Calvados, and Manche, its capital being Rouen. It is on the whole a fertile region, with well-cultivated fields and many smiling orchards, filled with apple-trees, from the fruit of which cider is made. The people are intelligent and industrious, and rank amongst the best and most energetic of French provincials. When the Romans were masters of Gaul this portion of the country formed part of Gallia Lugdunensis Secunda; after the Franks' invasion it made a constituent part of the kingdom of Neustria, and was given by Charles the Bald to the Duke of Paris. From the middle of the 9th century its coasts were harried by the vikings or sea-rovers of the north (see NORTHMEN); shortly after the 10th century began they established themselves in such force along the Seine that Charles, king of the Western Kingdom, was glad to make a definite agreement with their leader Rolf (Rollo, Rou) at Clair-sur-Epte in 912. Rolf, Duke of the Northmen, became the vassal of the king, but wrested his lands from the Duke of Paris, and consequently had him for an enemy all his life. Rolf at the same time became nominally a Christian, taking at his baptism the name of Robert. His successor was his son William Longsword, who declared himself King Charles's vassal in 927. His father had conquered lands to the west of those originally granted to him; William added the Cotentin, or peninsula of Manche, and thus extended the duchy westwards to Brittany and the sea. This he seems to have done partly with the help of new-comers from the north, who settled there. Thus there were striking differences between eastern and western Normandy: the former rapidly adopted Christianity, the French language (langue d'œil), and the manners and customs of the French, whilst the newer districts stuck sturdily to their heathen faith and customs and their native Norse tongue. Open war was waged between the rival parties not only during the lifetime of William, but in the reign of his son and successor, Richard the Fearless (943-996), who only overcame the heathen and Scandinavian party with the help of King Louis and the Duke of Paris. Louis then attempted to make himself master of Normandy—Richard being a youth—but was frustrated by Hugh of Paris, who now sided with the Normans. In 987 Hugh became king of the Western Kingdom of France; and the good understanding established between Normandy and France lasted from that time down to the accession of William, the Conqueror of England. Richard the Good, son of Richard the Fearless, began to rule in 996, and, dying in 1026, left his son Richard as his successor. It was during his reign that Nortmannia began to be substituted for Land of the Northmen; hence Normandy and Normans. The second Richard's sister Emma married, first Ethelred of England, and second Canute (Knut) of Denmark and England; this knit the first close ties between the ruling families of England and Normandy. The third Richard was succeeded after a reign of two years by his brother Robert, who died on his way back from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1035, leaving as the heir to his duchy his natural son William, at that time a boy. During William's minority the duchy was the scene of anarchy and confusion. The western portion made an attempt to assert its independence, an attempt crushed by William with the help of the king of France at Val-ès-Dunes (1047). The next twenty years are written glorious in the annals of Normandy. William ruled with vigour and prudence; he fostered the noble houses, but kept a firm hand on the nobles; encouraged the churches, yet preserved the control of church matters himself; thoroughly established the feudal system; gave countenance and support to learning (Lanfranc, Anselm); and favoured the building of magnificent abbeys. He also waged war with the Count of Anjou, his southern neighbour, for the county of Maine, and conquered it in 1063; and even fought against the king of France, who gave assistance to rebels against William's rule. After the conquest of England (q.v.) Maine revolted and had to be subdued again, William's son Robert rebelled against him in Normandy, and a war broke out with France, in which William (q.v.) lost his life. The incapable Duke Robert mortgaged his duchy to his brother William Rufus, and went crusading to the East. After his return he was defeated and imprisoned by his brother Henry I., who ruled Normandy till his death (1135), notwithstanding the efforts of Robert's son William to dislodge him. After the accession of Stephen in England Matilda's husband, Geoffrey of Anjou, gradually made himself master of Normandy (1139-45), but after reigning five years he resigned it to his son, afterwards Henry II. of England. Richard I. and John were the next dukes. But the duchy was taken away from John by the king of France (1203-4), on the plea that as the murderer of his nephew Arthur he (John) had forfeited his French fiefs. The claim to the title was, however, only formally renounced by Henry III. in 1259. Twice subsequently Normandy was in English hands: Edward III. conquered it in 1346, and Henry V. in 1417-18; but the English were finally driven out in 1450. The Channel Islands (q.v.) are a remnant of the Norman possessions still belonging to the descendants of the Norman kings of England. For map, see France in provinces; for the Norman-French and Anglo-Norman literature, see ENGLISH LITERATURE, Vol. IV. p. 366; FRANCE, Vol. IV. p. 785; and ROMANCE LANGUAGES.
CUSTOMARY LAW OF NORMANDY.—The duchy was governed by customary law, which grew up principally out of local usages; at first it was the same as the customary law of England. Even down to the present day the law administered in the royal courts of the Channel Islands is virtually the old customary law of Normandy. One feature survives in the Cry of Haro (q.v.). This ancient customary law of Normandy seems to have been collected in writing on three separate occasions. The earliest collection was apparently written down by private persons in 1200 and about 1220, and had no official character; the third collection (1585) is a revised edition of the second, the Grand Coutumier, completed early in the 14th century. See Sir Travers Twiss in Academy, 24th June 1882.
See Freeman, Norman Conquest (5 vols. 1877); Palgrave, History of Normandy (4 vols. 1878); Planché, The Conqueror and his Companions (1874); Spence, Dreamland in History (1890); and topographical works by Blackburn (1869) and K. Macquoid (1874).