The Wife Who Wasn't

The Duchy of Normandy was created in 911 by the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, an agreement between King Charles III ("the Simple") of West Francia and Rollo, a Viking leader who gained a foothold in Rouen years earlier and styled himself Count of Rouen. After Rollo was defeated by Charles at the Siege of Chartres, Charles decided that he would cede Rollo a chunk of the continent if Rollo would pledge fealty to Charles and protect the land from any further Viking incursions.

Another condition was that Rollo and his people would convert, and that Rollo would marry Gisela of France, the daughter of Charles (illustrated is Charles handing her over in a 14th century depiction). Rollo would be the first Duke of Normandy, and his and Gisela's children would create a dynasty. When Rollo died in 933, he was succeeded by William Longsword, whose parents were Rollo and Poppa of Bayeux. So what happened to Gisela?

Gisela's marriage to Rollo is mentioned by Orderic Vitalis in his history of the Church. William of Jumièges, writing a history of Norman dukes, tells us that Rollo had two marriages. He was married (or simply took as concubine) a slave named Poppa of Bayeux in  more danico ("according to Norse custom"). When the treaty was made with Charles, Poppa was put aside and he married Gisela more Cristiano ("according to Christian custom"). Around 917, Gisela dies and Rollo reunites with Poppa.

Is it possible that, in the five or six years between the Treaty and Gisela's "death," that the two never produced a son, even though that was the best way for Rollo to ensure that his family would retain power? Well, it is believable, if Gisela did not exist in the first place.

The fact is, Gisela's name does not show up in any Frankish sources or genealogies. She is only mentioned in Norman sources after the events and conveniently helps legitimize Rollo's "Normandization." The Christian Franks under Charles would never have accepted a child outside of Christian marriage if there were a son of Gisela available. On the other hand, Gisela's father married in 907, so a daughter offered in marriage in 911 could not have been more than a few years old, unless she was illegitimate.

Rollo himself does not appear in any official documents until 918, when he is listed in a charter as the leader of Viking settlers reigning over Normandy. There is no real evidence that Gisela existed outside of later stories.

A dynasty did begin, but it was a son of Rollo and Poppa. Let's look at that son's career tomorrow.

Group Projects

Taking sole credit for a written work was not always as important as it is to some authors today. 

William of Jumièges (c.1000 – post-1070) was a monk of Jumièges, a Bénédictine monastery. In the 1050s, he decided to take an earlier historical account to update and extend it. That work was De moribus et actis primorum Normannorum ducum (“Concerning the Customs and Deeds of the First Dukes of the Normans”) by Dudo of Saint-Quentin, completed between 1015 and 1026. As a recording of some of the earliest Norman nobles and their emerging dynasty, it is interesting, albeit inaccurate and interlaced with legend.

William of Jumièges tried to fill in the gaps between Dudo's time and his, and was able to write about William of Normandy invading England in 1066. His work becoming known to others, it is believed that William the Conqueror himself asked that William keep writing a history of his time and deeds. This new version, Gesta Normannorum Ducum ("Deeds of the Norman Dukes"), ends around 1070-71. (The illustration shows William presenting the work to William.)

A few decades later, another took up William's writing and decided to extend it. This was Orderic Vitalis. Orderic was but in Shropshire in 1075 to a priest at a time when clerical marriage was slowly being restricted. He became a Benedictine monk at the Abbey of Saint-Evroul in Normandy, becoming a script master and librarian. He is best known for writing a history of the Church.

His first attempt at writing was picking up the Gesta Normannorum Ducum and filling in the gaps between William and Orderic's own time. He also filled in more from earlier times, borrowing from something called the Gesta Guillelmi ("Deeds of William") by William of Poitiers. (William of Poitiers was a chaplain to William the Conqueror.) Orderic's section of the expanded Gesta is fairly balanced, since he could see things from both the Norman and English perspective.

A third author came along in Robert de Torigni, the abbot of Mont Saint-Michel. Robert was enamored of English kings—descendants of the Norman William, after all—and added much about William after the Conquest, the Abbey of Bec, and an entire volume on Henry I of England. He also borrowed from Henry of Huntingdon's historical work, who was not just an author but also an acquaintance of Robert.

The Gesta Normannorum Ducum was popular in the Middle Ages, being copied and distributed among many monasteries. There are 47 known manuscript copies of it known today. It was an important source for other writes such as Benoît de Sainte-Maure, a historian best known for the 40,000-line poem about the Trojan War. 

I've mentioned Orderic Vitalis before, and I'd like to talk more about him, especially his commissioned work on the history of the Church. See you tomorrow.

The Great Librarian of the Mont

In 1876, in the nave of the chapel of Mont Saint-Michel, a grave was opened to reveal the remains of a former abbot. With the remains was a lead disc inscribed with the epitaph "Here lies Robert Torigni, abbot of this place, who ruled the monastery 32 years, and lived 80 years."

Robert de Torigni (c.1106 - 1186) was born in Normandy. We don't know who his family was (Torigni was the name of the commune where he was born); he became Robert de Torigni when in 1128 he entered the Benedictine Bec Abbey (also home—though not all at the same time—of Anselm and Theobald and Lanfranc). In 1149 he was made prior, and five years later became abbot of Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy, where in 1158 he was host to Henry II of England and Louis VII of France.

King Henry traveled frequently through his Norman territories, so when he and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, where nearby in 1161 during the birth of their daughter Eleanor, Robert was one of the godfathers.

Robert had a reputation for piety and learning. He was a great collector of books, and turned Mont Saint-Michel into a such a well-known center of learning with such a large library that it was nicknamed Cité des Livres ("City of Books"). He had up to 60 monks copying manuscripts, and himself was referred to as "The Great Librarian of the Mont."

Robert also was a fan of history, and liked putting events in chronological order without commentary. That is not to say that he didn't "editorialize" in his own way: as a friend of Henry II, he barely mentioned the death of Thomas Becket and made no mention of Henry's involvement. Robert, like most, drew from other sources, such as Henry of Huntingdon, from whom we got tales of Cnut and the "Fighting Bishop." Henry and Robert knew each other; Henry had visited Bec while Robert was there and provided him information on Henry I, and Robert introduced Henry to Bec's copy of the Historia Regum Britanniae ("History of the Kings of Britain") by Geoffrey of Monmouth.

Robert was the last of three contributors to the Gesta Normannorum Ducum ("Deeds of the Norman Dukes") a history started by William of Jumièges and continued by Orderic Vitalis. Let's take a look at it and its contributors tomorrow.