Normandy (French Normandie)

In the time of the Romans the country bore the name of Gallia Lugdunensis II. Under Frankish monarchs it formed a part of Neustria, and was first called Normandy after Charles the Simple, in 912, had given it to Rolf or Rollo, the leader of a band of Norse rovers, to be held by him and his heirs as a fief of the French crown. His descendant, William II, son of Robert II, became Duke of Normandy in 1036, and in 1066 established a Norman dynasty on the throne of England. In 1077 his eldest son, Robert, wrested Normandy from him, but it was again united to England under Henry I in 1105. In 1154, Henry II, the son of Henry I's daughter Matilda, obtained the government of England and Normandy; but in the reign of his son John, it was conquered by Philip Augustus (1203-04). It remained a part of the French monarchy for more than 200 years, but after the Battle of Agincourt (1415) it was reconquered by the English, who held it till 1449, when it was finally wrested from them by Charles VII.

In 1870 Normandy was partly occupied by the Germans, and in the First World War was the principal base of the British Army. Normandy suffered severely during the Second World War, particularly in the campaign of 1944, and many famous towns, such as Le Havre, Caen, and Lisieux, were almost destroyed, and had to be rebuilt after the war.

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