Editing Rollo (section)

==Biography==
Dudo's chronicle about Rollo seizing [[Rouen]] in 876 is supported by the contemporary chronicler [[Flodoard]], who records that Robert of the [[Marches of Neustria|Breton March]] waged a campaign against the Vikings, nearly levelling Rouen and other settlements. Eventually, he conceded "certain coastal provinces" to them.{{sfn|Van Houts|2000|p=43}} Although, scholars have debated this and have said that Rollo did not even arrive in [[West Francia]] until after the year 876, making this timeline given in Dudo wrong.<ref>Douglas, D. C. (1942). Rollo of Normandy. The English Historical Review, 57(228), 417–436. http://www.jstor.org/stable/554369</ref>

According to Dudo, Rollo struck up a friendship in England with a king called “''Alstem''”. This has puzzled many historians, but recently this person has been identified as [[Guthrum]], the Danish leader whom Alfred the Great baptised with the name “''Athelstan''”, and was recognised as King of the East Angles in 880.{{sfn|Dudo|1998|p=xiv}}{{sfn|Ferguson|2009|pp=177–182}}

Dudo recorded that when Rollo controlled Bayeux by force, he carried off the beautiful [[Poppa of Bayeux|Popa]] or Poppa, a daughter of Berenger, Count of Rennes. He married her, and she bore his son and heir, [[William Longsword, Count of Rouen|William Longsword]].{{sfn|Dudo|1998|pp=38–39}} Her parentage is uncertain, and may have been invented after the fact to legitimize her son's lineage, as many of the fantastic genealogical claims made by Dudo were. She may have come from any country with which the Norse had contact, as Dudo is a highly unreliable source who may have written his chronicle primarily as a didactic tool to teach courtly values.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Histories |first=Medieval |date=11 February 2014 |title=Dudo of St. Quentin |url=https://www.medieval.eu/dudo-st-quentin/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701082023/https://www.medieval.eu/dudo-st-quentin/ |archive-date=1 July 2022 |access-date=19 August 2022 |website=Medieval Histories |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[File:Effigy of Rollo of Normandy, Notre-Dame de Rouen-8542.jpg|thumb|Rollo's grave at the [[Rouen Cathedral|Cathedral of Rouen]]]]
There are few contemporary mentions of Rollo. In 911, [[Robert I of France]], brother of Odo, again defeated another band of Viking warriors in Chartres with his well-trained horsemen. This victory paved the way for Rollo's baptism and settlement in Normandy. In return for formal recognition of the lands he possessed, Rollo agreed to be baptised and assisted the king in defending the realm. As was custom, Rollo took the [[Christian name|baptismal name]] “Robert”, after his godfather, Robert I.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robert I of France |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-I-king-of-France |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200620160754/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-I-king-of-France |archive-date=20 June 2020 |access-date=28 February 2020 |website=Britannica Encyclopaedia}}</ref>

The seal of the agreement was to be a marriage between Rollo and [[Gisela of France|Gisela]], daughter of Charles, possibly her legitimate father.{{sfn|Dudo|1998|pp=46–47}} Since Charles first married in 907, that would mean that Gisela was at most 5 years old at the time of the treaty of 911 which offered her in marriage.{{sfn|Ferguson|2009|p=187}} It has therefore been speculated that she could have been an illegitimate daughter.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Chefs normands et élites franques, fin IX<sup>e</sup>–début X<sup>e</sup> siècle |encyclopedia=Les Fondations scandinaves en Occident et les débuts du duché de Normandie |publisher=CRAHM |last=Bauduin |first=Pierre |date=2005 |editor-last=Bauduin |editor-first=Pierre |page=182 |language=fr}}</ref> However, a diplomatic child betrothal need not be doubted.{{sfn|Ferguson|2009|p=187}}

The earliest record of Rollo is from 918, in a charter of [[Charles the Simple|Charles III]] to an abbey, which referred to an earlier grant to "the Normans of the [[Seine]]", namely "Rollo and his associates" for "the protection of the kingdom".{{sfn|Van Houts|2000|p=25}} Dudo retrospectively stated that this pact took place in 911 at [[Saint-Clair-sur-Epte]].

Dudo narrates a humorous story not found in other primary sources about Rollo's pledge of fealty to Charles III as part of the [[Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte]]. The attendant bishops urged Rollo to kiss the king's foot to prove his allegiance. Rollo refused, saying "I will never bow my knees at the knees of any man, and no man's foot will I kiss."{{sfn|Dudo|1998|pp=49}} Instead, Rollo commanded one of his warriors to kiss the king's foot. The warrior complied by raising the king's foot to his mouth as the king was standing, which "caused the king to topple backward"{{sfn|Dudo|1998|pp=49}} much to the amusement of their entourage. On taking his oath of fealty, Rollo divided the lands between the rivers [[Epte]] and [[Risle]] among his chieftains and settled in the ''de facto'' capital of Rouen.{{sfn|Bates|1982|pp=20–21}}

Given Rouen and its [[hinterland]] in return for the alliance with the [[Franks]], it was agreed upon that it was in the interests of both Rollo himself and his Frankish allies to extend his authority over Viking settlers.{{sfn|Crouch|2006|p=6}} This would appear to be the motive for later concessions to the Vikings of the Seine, which are mentioned in other records of the time. When Charles III was being deposed by [[Rudolph of France]] he appealed to Rollo and {{ill|Ragenold|fr|Ragenold de Nantes}}, another one of his Norman allies. With their combined army they marched to his aid in fulfilment of their pledge to the [[Carolingian dynasty|Carolingians]], but were stopped at the [[Oise (river)|Oise River]] by Charles' opponents who traded their cooperation for more territorial concessions.<ref>{{harvnb|Flodoard of Reims|2011|loc=Chapter 5, F–K.}}</ref> The need for an agreement was particularly urgent when [[Robert I of France|Robert I]], successor of Charles III, was killed in 923.{{sfn|Crouch|2006|p=6}}

Rudolph was recorded as sponsoring a new agreement by which a group of Norsemen conceded the provinces of the Bessin and Maine. These settlers were presumed to be Rollo and his associates, moving their authority westward from the Seine valley.{{sfn|Crouch|2006|p=6}} It is still unclear as to whether Rollo was being given lordship over the Vikings already settled in the region to domesticate and restrain them, or the Franks around [[Bayeux]] to protect them from other Viking leaders settled in eastern [[Brittany]] and the [[Cotentin peninsula]].{{sfn|Crouch|2006|p=8}}

Rollo died sometime between a final mention of him by [[Flodoard]] in 928, and 933 – the year in which a third grant of land, usually identified as being the Cotentin and Avranchin areas, was given to his son and successor [[William I Longsword|William]].{{sfn|Ferguson|2009|p=183}}