Rollo Rognvaldsson, The Famous Viking Who Became The First Ruler Of Normandy
Wikimedia CommonsRollo eventually converted to Christianity and changed his name to Robert.
Rollo Rognvaldsson was one of the most consequential Vikings of his time. A feared raider, he eventually went on to establish a dynasty that fundamentally reshaped European history.
Rognvaldsson lived between 860 and 930 C.E. and ruled from 911 to 927 as the founder and first ruler of the region of Normandy in France. He was nicknamed “The Walker” because he was said to be too big to ride on a horse, with rumors putting Rognvaldsson at around 308 pounds and six and a half feet tall.
He was prominent among the Vikings who besieged Paris in 885, and later emerged as a war leader among the Norsemen who had secured a permanent foothold on Frankish soil in the valley of the lower Seine after the Siege of Chartres in 911. He commanded a Viking fleet believed to have numbered up to 700 ships that laid siege to Paris for 13 months, nearly starving the city into submission, before withdrawing when an army marched to relieve the city.
Charles the Simple, king of West Francia, agreed to the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, which granted Rognvaldsson lands between the river Epte and the sea in exchange for Rognvaldsson’s agreement to end his brigandage, swear allegiance to Charles, convert to Christianity, and pledge to defend the Seine estuary from other Viking raiders.
According to the Warfare History Network, when told he must kiss the foot of the sovereign, however, Rollo Rognvaldsson responded, “Never will I bend my knee before any man, and no man’s foot will I kiss.” However, he was eventually persuaded to instruct another Viking to perform the task, who grabbed the king’s foot so quickly that Charles nearly fell from his horse.
Rognvaldsson converted to Christianity as part of the deal, changing his name to Robert, and ruled with a Viking code of law based upon the concept of personal honor and individual responsibility. He is also the great-great-great-grandfather of William the Conqueror, the first Norman King of England.
Rollo Rognvaldsson retired around 927 and was succeeded by his son William Longsword, dying shortly afterwards around 930.
