Normandy was settled by Norwegians and Danes - the Northmen, hence the
name of Normandy - in the 9th century and the possession was confirmed
by a treaty in the 10th century between King Charles III and Rollo the
leader (jarl) of the now Normans. Normandy thus became an duchy, a fief of the French Crown,
from the earliest times. One of its
dukes - William the Bastard - became king of England by conquest in 1066
and the duchy in due course became part of the Angevin 'Empire' The
English crown lost Normandy - as well as most of its French possessions
- in the reign of King John. When the French regions were created in
1956 Normandy was divided into two regions, Upper Normandy and Lower
Normandy.
When the number of regions were reduced and reorganized in 2016
the two Normandy regions were united as simply Normandy. This roughly
corresponds to the lands of the old duchy and will be used (contrary to
elsewhere) in these pages. The regional capital is
Rouen.
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