The Normans By Maciej Stec Who Were the

The Normans By Maciej Stec

Who Were the Normans • The Normans came from Scandinavia and Jutland Peninsula • They were ancestors of the Vikings • They used their own alphabet known as runes • They were good sailors • They were great ship builders • They were sea traders • They were also pirates and robbers

Why Did The Normans Travel? • Scandinavia was overcrowded • There were too many forests and mountain ranges and not enough fields to grow crops • They wanted to loot richer parts of Europe • Clans were fighting for land the defeated ones had to leave Scandinavia • They wanted to run away from the cruel kings of Scandinavia

Norman Ships The Norman ships were called Drakkars They were about 21 metres long and 5 metres wide They were propelled by oars and sails Their top speed was about 10 knots Norman’s ships had low draft and they could easily land on a beach or sail up a river • They could not carry heavy load and sail too far away from the shore • • •

Normans Conquest Map

Norman’s Conquests • In the year 896 under the rule of Rollon, they settled by the river Seine • Charles III The Simple, the king of France could not get rid of the Normans • In 911 Charles allowed them to stay in exchange of conversion to Christianity • They were granted several counties which are today known as Normandy

Norman’s Conquests • The Normans arrived in Britain around the same time they settled in France • They started to conquer Britain using bases on the islands they have taken earlier • Poorly armed British militia could not resist them • In 878 AD they signed a pact with King Alfred of Wessex and created their own county Danelaw • Because of arguments among themselves the Normans were driven out of Britain in 954 AD • After some time the Normans reunited and after the Battle of Hastings in 1066 they started to rule the whole Britain

The Normans invade Ireland • Around 100 years after the Battle of Hastings, the Normans came to Ireland in 1169 during the reign of King Henry II • It was not an invasion, they came to help the Irish kings fight amongst themselves • The true invasion started in the year 1170 when Richard de Clare, 2 nd Earl of Pembroke (a. k. a Strongbow) came to Ireland with a powerful army • Dublin became the Norman capital city in the year 1177 • After a while Strongbow married to daughter of Diarmait Mac Murchada and became king of Leinster • At the same time Norman soldiers started to settle in Ireland marrying into Irish families