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From: Stewart Baldwin< >
Subject: Rollo (was: Medieval Genealogy Books?)
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 05:23:28 GMT
(Patjorgen) wrote:
>A cousin in Norway recently told me that English kings were descendants of
>some of Norways early nobility who were literally thrown out of Norway and
>emigrated to England. Was he kidding me, or is there truth to this story?
It depends on whose opinion you listen to. The English king William
the Conqueror was descended from the Viking Rollo, who was ravaging
France in the early tenth century, and was granted land by the French
king which eventually expanded into the duchy of Normandy. Late
Icelandic sources give essentially the story you described above (in
considerably more detail). Norman sources contradict this, stating
that Rollo was of Danish origin. Some (including me) accept the
Norman account and reject the Icelandic account as a late invention.
Others reject the Norman account of their own origin, and accept the
Icelandic story. Since there are good scholars on both sides of the
question, the matter must be regarded as unsettled at the moment. You
can find arguments on both sides by accessing old articles of this
newsgroup (using "Rollo" as a keyword) at Dejanews:
http://www.dejanews.com/
Stewart Baldwin
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