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.

Who Were the Normans?

The Duchy of Normandy was an enormous section of the European continent that we consider part of France. The name for the duchy ultimately coms from Old Franconian Nortman, meaning "Northman." This is because the original inhabitants came from the North.

Well, that's not true. The original inhabitants were what we'd call French. The "North men" that gave their name to the duchy were Vikings who first appeared up the Seine in 820. Over the next century there were several raids and a growing presence of "Norse men" settlements. Charles the Fat, great-grandson of Charlemagne, paid off the vikings as a way to deal with the raids. He was deposed, and the throne (eventually: Ode of Paris got it for a few years) went to his cousin Charles the Simple, who made a more permanent solution.

Charles negotiated peace in exchange for lands, and offered his daughter Gisela to the viking leader Rollo, who would be named a duke and swear fealty to King Charles. Rollo's children would be the ruling dynasty in the new duchy named Normandy. (The illustration is a late 19th-century idea of what Normans looked like.) An 11th century Benedictine monk, Goffredo Malaterra, writing about the Normans inroads into Italy and Sicily, described them:

Specially marked by cunning, despising their own inheritance in the hope of winning a greater, eager after both gain and dominion, given to imitation of all kinds, holding a certain mean between lavishness and greediness, that is, perhaps uniting, as they certainly did, these two seemingly opposite qualities. Their chief men were specially lavish through their desire of good report. They were, moreover, a race skillful in flattery, given to the study of eloquence, so that the very boys were orators, a race altogether unbridled unless held firmly down by the yoke of justice. They were enduring of toil, hunger, and cold whenever fortune laid it on them, given to hunting and hawking, delighting in the pleasure of horses, and of all the weapons and garb of war.

The first sentence suggests a culture that would fight internally for a better position, which supports William of Poitiers's comments about rebellions in Normandy. Of course, in the 1060s, a Duke of Normandy would decide that England owed him their crown, but that's another story.

Sticking with the beginning of Normandy, we should look at Rollo and Gisela and their children; except that they had no children. The reason why they had no children is likely because Charles' daughter Gisela did not exist. I'll explain tomorrow.

The Cadaver Synod

Popes Formosus & Stephen VII, by Jean Paul Laurens, 1870

The Synod of Whitby was just mentioned a few days ago, and right now in 2014 there is a Vatican-called Synod going on. A synod, from Greek syn ["with"] and (h)odos ["way"], is an assembly of clergy (and sometimes laity, as in the present case) to discuss particular issues.

The synod was called by Pope Stephen VII. He had been advanced in his religious career by a previous pope, Formosus (c.816 - 4 April 896). Pope Formosus was pope for about five years, during which he made a few questionable political moves, like getting involved in the conflict between Charles the Simple and Odo over the French crown and clashing with Holy Roman Emperor Guy III of Spoleto.

After Formosus died, he was succeeded by Boniface VI, who lasted a matter of weeks and was succeeded in May 896 by Stephen VII, who called the Cadaver Synod. The cadaver was Pope Formosus, who was put on trial. How do you put a dead person on trial? You dig him up and put him in a chair at the synod. Since he was a pope, however, you put him in the proper vestments, giving a new twist on "respecting the dead."

It was decided at the synod that he had been unworthy of the papacy due to his actions. All his decrees and decisions were declared null and void. To make the symbolism complete, they ripped off his papal garb, cut off the three fingers of his right hand that had held the consecrated Host, and threw the body into the river.

Charles the (Not) Simple

Charles the Simple

Charles III, called "the Simple" (from Latin Carolus Simplex) was a King of Francia (what we think of today as France) and Lotharingia (what we think of today as the Rhineland, western Switzerland, and the Low Countries).

He was born 17 September 879, the third son of Louis the Stammerer (son of Charles the Bald) and Adelaide of Paris. His father died before Charles was born, and Charles might have succeeded him as king, but his cousin Charles the Fat was put on the throne by the nobility. When Charles the Fat was deposed in 887—he was increasingly seen as spineless after paying off the Vikings and showing little inclination to military solutions—the nobility again skipped over Charles in favor of Odo of Paris. Eventually, however, a faction within Francia decided that Charles the Simple should be made the rightful ruler; he was crowned king in 893, but only assumed the throne once Odo died in 898.

Charles negotiated with the Vikings whom Charles the Fat had paid off. In exchange for peace, he granted them lands on the continent. Their leader, Rollo, was baptized and married Charles' daughter, Gisela. Their heirs became the Dukes of Normandy, leading eventually to William the Conqueror.

Charles himself married (for the second time) to Eadgifu, a daughter of the English King Edward the Elder. Their son was the future King Louis IV of France.

The initial opposition to Charles was not due to the nickname. Although we translate Carolus Simplex as "Charles the Simple," the adjective has become...umm..."simplified" over time. When attached to Charles, it did not mean he was unintelligent; rather, that he was straightforward and direct, acting without subterfuge or guile.

But this quality did not endear him to everyone. Not everyone appreciated giving territory to the Vikings, or some of his other decisions. Odo's brother Robert became the fiscal point for revolt in 922, and Charles had to flee. Returning with a Norman army, he was defeated on 15 June 923, captured and imprisoned, where he died on 7 October 929. Eadgifu fled to England when the revolt took place, but her son Louis would return to become king of France in 936.