Did you know about the foot-kissing adventure of the man who founded Normandy?

The political inception of Normandy, the site of the Allied landings on D-Day, goes back to the early 10th century. The background is preserved in the name of the region, since “Normandie” means “the land of the Northmen,” referring to the Vikings, the Scandinavian raiders who settled in the area. In 911, Charles III, King of West Francia, gave the land to the Viking warlord Rollo in exchange for Rollo getting baptized and accepting Charles’s authority. According to a medieval historian, however, the meeting was interrupted by a humorous incident.
 
Of course, the region had already been populated before. Viking raids began in the mid-9th century, but many of the raiders eventually settled in the area to take advantage of the power vacuum left by the disintegration of Charlemagne’s Carolingian Empire. The warlord Rollo conquered the city of Rouen (where he is buried to this day) in 876, and his men established a permanent presence in the area. The new aristocracy gradually adopted the local language and customs, intermarried with the locals, and accepted Christianity. The normalization of power relations in Normandy came about with the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte in 911

According to Dudo, a historian born half a century after the event, the bishops present for the meeting urged the Viking warlord Rollo to kiss the foot of King Charles III as a gesture of obeyance. Rollo declared "I will never bow my knees at the knees of any man, and no man's foot will I kiss”, but offered to have one of his warriors perform the gesture. The warrior stepped forward, grabbed the king’s leg… and lifted it up to his mouth, causing the king to topple backwards.

Rollo became the Count of Rouen despite the alleged incident. He is often described as the first Duke of Normandy, even though it was only his great-grandson who was actually given the title. One of Rollo’s descendants, William of Normandy, earned the title “the Conqueror” by invading England in 1066 and starting a new line in English kings. In fact, the King of Britain is still unofficially (and incorrectly) called the “Duke of Normandy” on the Channel Islands, and even officially on some local documents.
 
Join us on our Highlights of Normandy Tour to learn more about the history and culture of the Normans and see also Rollo’s grave in Rouen, the vibrant capital of Normandy.