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Rollo the Dane 1st Duke of Normandy1
b. between 860 and 870, d. circa 931, #24233
Pop-up Pedigree

Father   Ragnwald "The Wise" Eysteinsson Jarl of Maer(Møre), 1st Jarl of Orkney2 b. circa 840, d. circa 894
Mother   Ragnhild Hiltrude Hrolfsdottir2 b. circa 840

Name Variation Rollo the Dane 1st Duke of Normandy was also found as The Ganger Rolf.3 
Name Variation Rollo the Dane 1st Duke of Normandy was also found as Rollo Ragnvaldsson.4 
Name Variation Rollo the Dane 1st Duke of Normandy was also found as Rollo The Viking.1 
Birth circa 845 Some say Rollo the Dane was born circa 845 at Maer, Nord-Trondelag, Norway. Meyer says 846. Most sources give 845, but what does one year matter so many years ago. A correspondent on Prodigy states he was born about 870 in Maer, Norway. This 870 date was also given in the work of Tompsett. The Maer may be correct but the date of 870 is not. His father is not "for sure". Rognevald is given by many but debated on Medieval-L with no resolution.2,5,1,6 
Birth* between 860 and 870 Rollo the Dane may have been born between 860 and 870 at Maer, Nord-Trondelag, Norway.7,8 
Marriage* circa 866 Rollo the Dane 1st Duke of Normandy married Adele Gerloc circa 866. This appears to have been his first wife. Many sources do not mention her at all.5 
!AInfoNew* circa 876 About circa 876 he was chased from Norway by Harald "the Fairhaired" who was taking over his, and the other exiled chieftens, lands. Rollo then went to the Hebrides for a while. He participated in the Viking attack on Bayeux. This battle was where Count Berenger of Bayeux was killed, and his daughter, Poppa captured and taken to be Rollo's wife.1 
!AInfoNew Rolf had problems at an early age, he was so long in the leg that the little Norse ponies were useless as mounts and he had to walk everywhere - hence ganger or walker. I suspect this contributed to his later personality defects. He was a bad lad and paid no attention to Mum and Dad and went a Viking just about everywhere, including home. So he was finally exiled.9 
!AInfoNew 884 The lad was a born organiser. All that dashing around bashing people was not for him: he believed in logistics, training and organisation. We know for certain that in 884 he sailed up the Seine with 10,000 men. Yes! Ten Thousand Men in galleys. And took Rouen and proclaimed himself Count of Rouen. Lots of boats there and say 50 men to a galley equals 200 craft. So how did the outcast lad organise this lot?9 
Marriage* 886 Rollo the Dane 1st Duke of Normandy married Poppa de Valois, daughter of Berengar of Bayeau and Daughter of Duke Gurvand of Rennes, 886; At first she was his "Danish" wife, [Ref: Moriarty p10]. She was his first and third wife, repudiated but afterward remarried after 919 [Ref: Paget p135].7,1,10 
HYPER* HYPERLINK this file: Rollo.jpg C\Book\pix\rollo.jpg.  
!AInfoNew* 911 In 911 King Charles III the Simple of France received the homage of Rollo (Hrolf), the Norse leader established on the river Seine, at St. Clair-sur-Epte. Rollo agrees to prevent other Vikings entering the Seine and is baptised as a Christian. In return, Charles grants him the county of Rouen. Rollo's lands become known as Normandy after the Nordmanni ("Northmen").11 
!AInfoNew 911 In 911 he recieved, under the Treaty of St. Clair, the Duchy of Normandy from Charles III "the Simple" , and became the First Duke of Normandy. John Yohalem enchante@herodotus.com tells us that it should be noted that Rollo never claimed the title of Duke. He was Count in Rouen, nothing more. The title was occasionally used interchangeably with Count by his descendants through Robert II (Rollo was Robert I) the Magnficent. Robert's son, William II (the Conqueror), insisted on the title of Duke, though his right to it is not at all clear. As no one ever got the better of William for long, what he demanded was accepted all around.12,1,13 
Baptism 912 Rollo was baptized in 912 at France. Some sources claim that he was Catholic from his mother and another says that he was baptized in 921. No matter. He WAS Catholici.5,9 
Marriage* 912 Rollo the Dane 1st Duke of Normandy married Gisela, daughter of Charles III The Simple and Eadgifu, 912. Rollo, having been made a catholic Christian, took to wife Gilla, the daughter of Charles the Simple, and began to call the land which had been given to him Normandy. (This from Louis Halphen and René Poupardin, Chroniques des Comtes d'Anjou et des Seigneurs d'Amboise (Paris: Picard 1913).14,15 
!AInfoNew* 914 The following was offered by Gayle Wilson (gayle@inforum.net) to Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.medieval Date: 1997/03/11

Permit me to explain the story, as I understand it, primarily from J de Petigny and Professor Launay's Historie Archeologique Du Vendome, I, pages 121-122, Academie des Inscriptions et Belle Lettres Chartes et Diplomas: Receuil Des Actes De Charles III, page xx, and Pere Anselme's (Pierre Guibors) Histoire Genealogicue et Chronilogique des Rois de France, II, pages 33-34.


Theobald, Viscount of Troyes, married Richelde, the daughter of Hugh Aquitaine, Count of Bourges and his wife, Rothaut (the daughter of Charles II 'l'Chauve' ['The Bald'] King of France and Ricardis Buwinis Amiens, although some list her mother as Ermentrude Orleans, but that is topic for another day...) circa 886. (My note: Is this date the date that Theobald and Richelde were married??)

As a result of this marriage, Theobald (Thiabald, Thiabault, etc) became guardian of Richelda's younger brother, Hugh, and was given the territories of Blois and Chartres in appreciation of this service. Shortly thereafter, a marauding band of Norman pirates, who had recently taken up residence on the banks of the Seine, attacked Chartres. These brigands, led by a certain 'Rollon', also called Rollo, were more than Theobald could handle on his own. Theobald sent messangers to his wife's cousin, King Charles III 'The Simple', Conrad, Duke of Bourgogne and Ebles, Count of Poiters, appealing for assistance.

The castle had been under seige for some time, when Joscelin, Bishop of Chartres, perched within the castle ramparts, saw clouds of dust rising in several directions on the horizon. Help was on its way!

The counter-attack was led by King Charles; the Norsemen were forced to lift the seige. King Charles and the renegade Rollon, or Rolf, had a little chit-chat and a diploma thereafter referred to as the Treaty of Saint Clair-sur-Epte was eventually drawn up, including an agreement by Rollon to revert to Christianity and be a good boy with a tight leash held on his followers. For these concessions he was given the area that would later be called Normandy to govern, and the hand of the fair Princess, Giselle, daughter of King Charles.16 
Note* 927 He abdicated his title of Duke of Normandy in 927.5 
Death* circa 931 Rollo the Dane died circa 931 at Rouen, at France. (Isenburg says 931). Some sources gives death date as early as 927. Maybe death date is confused with when he abdicated his position of Duke of Normandy.2,5,1 
Death 932 At least two sources claim that Rollo the Dane died in 932 at Normandy, at France.7,17 
Burial* Rollo was buried at Notre Dame, Rouen, Normandy, France.1 
!AInfoNew* He is listed in Europäisch Stammtafeln Bund II tafel 36.7 
Name Variation Rollo the Dane 1st Duke of Normandy was also found as Rolf the Ranger.2,1,6 

Family 1   Poppa de Valois b. circa 872
Children  1. William I Longsword 2nd Duke of Normandy+ b. c 891, d. 17 Dec 9425,18
  2. Gerloc of Normandy+ b. c 917, d. c 14 Oct 9622,12
  3. Crispina de Monaco+ b. bt 920 - 93510

Citations
  1. Download, http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~cousin/html/d0007/g0000087.html#I5098.
  2. [S10141] BigKings Pedigree, online Church Yard Genealogies.
  3. Download, http://www.surnames.com/gedcom/linkswiler_jane/i0003381.htm
    : Frederick L. Weis, Anc. Roots of 60 Colonists, (6th ed, Balt: GPC, 1988, 1990).
  4. Download, Jim Weber http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jweber&id=I07837.
  5. [S10206] "No hard copy. Information directly entered and noted from GedIndex at GeneStarks' site. If contributors are know they are indicated. Any sources cited are also indicated.", Albert E Myers http://www.ezonline.com/aem/gen/index/ind0570.htm.
  6. Download, http://mathematical.com/eysteinssonrognald.html.
  7. Download, http://www.dcs.hull.ac.uk/cgi-bin/gedlkup/n=royal?royal3012.
  8. Download, Jim Weber http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jweber&id=I07837 say ca 860.
  9. Download, http://www.finhall.demon.co.uk/rolf.htm.
  10. Download, Jim Weber http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jweber&id=I01763.
  11. [S9721] Unknown subject, Encarta.
  12. [S10206] "No hard copy. Information directly entered and noted from GedIndex at GeneStarks' site. If contributors are know they are indicated. Any sources cited are also indicated.".
  13. Download, soc.,genealogy.medival John Yohalem e-mail address 29 April 99.
  14. Download, http://www.dcs.hull.ac.uk/cgi-bin/gedlkup/n=royal?royal03084.
  15. Download, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/anjou.html
    Medieval Sourcebook.
  16. Download, Jim Weber e-mail address 14Nov2003 http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jweber&id=I05046.
  17. Download, http://www.gbnf.com/genealogy/sahlin/html/d0033/I7104.HTM.
  18. Download, http://www.people.virginia.edu/~wkb5j/clay.html#182: Exerpts from John S. Wurts, Magna Charta. (Philadelphia: Brookfield Publishing Company, 1954.).
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