Family Card - Person Sheet
Family Card - Person Sheet
NameRolf (Rollo) “The Ganger” Rognvaldsson , Duke of Normandy
Birthabt 860, Maer, Nord-Trondelag, Norway
Deathabt 932, Rouen, Normandy, France
BurialCathedral of Rouen, Normandy, France
Misc. Notes
Rollo (also called Rolf or Rou; sometimes spelled Hrolf; in French, Rollon; known as "the walker" or "Gangler" or Ganger; sometimes called Robert and sometimes known as Rollo the Viking) was the Scandinavian raider who founded the French duchy of Normandy. His nickname “the walker” came from being so big that no horse could carry him.

Leaving Norway to embark on pirating expeditions and raids of England, Scotland, and Flanders, Rollo headed into France around 911 and settled along the Seine, besieging Paris. Charles III (the Simple) of France was able to hold Rollo off for a while, but he eventually negotiated a treaty to stop him. The treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte gave Rollo part of Nuestria in return for his agreement that he and his fellow Vikings would stop pillaging any further in France.

Rollo stayed true to his word of defending the shores of the Seine river in accordance to the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, but in time he and his followers had very different ideas. Rollo began to divide the land between the Epte and Risle rivers among his chieftains and settled there with a de facto capital in Rouen. With these settlements, Rollo began to further raid other Frankish lands, now from the security of a settled homeland, rather than a mobile fleet. Eventually, however, Rollo's men intermarried with the local women, and became more settled as Frenchmen. At the time of his death, Rollo's expansion of his territory had extended as far west as the Vire River.

Because the region was settled by Northmen or "Normans," the territory took on the name "Normandy," and Rouen became its capital. Before Rollo died he turned over the governance of the duchy to his son, William I “Longsword” (Guillaume I “Longue Epée”).

A rather questionable biography of Rollo and other dukes of Normandy was written in the eleventh century by Dudo of St. Quentin.
Last Modified 12 Mar 2006Created 12 Oct 2023 using Reunion for Macintosh
Created Thursday, October 12, 2023 by Mike Perry

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