The politics of being Norman in the reign of Richard the Fearless, Duke of Normandy (r. 942–996)
In 966, by the end of the reign of its third duke, Richard I, Normandy had overcome the crises that had beset it in the middle of the century. Much of this success came from the coherence of its ruling group, which expressed itself partly in terms of ‘Norman’ identity. This article uses Dudo's history of the dukes and Richard's charters to argue that ‘Norman’ as a political identity was a deliberate creation of the court of Richard I in the 960s, following the perceived failure of his and his father's policies of assimilation into Frankish culture.
Sourcing of chalkstone used in medieval buildings in the Eastern Duchy of Normandy (10th−14th centuries) through geological and geochemistry analyses
The provenance of medieval building stones links historic constructions with their quarrying areas, thereby revealing medieval trade routes and the spatial organization of past societies. In northern France, the Duchy of Normandy played a significant role in the medieval history of Europe, situated at the centre of the disputes between the English and French kingdoms. However, the historical documentation from this period is scarce, particularly in terms of the quarrying industry. Our study aims to define the quarrying areas and their diffusion zones and map the territorial organization of Eastern Normandy during the 10th–14th centuries. A multidisciplinary procedure using archaeological, geological and geochemical techniques was designed to establish the provenance of Normandy Chalkstone. First, we obtained a representative assembly of building stones by the selection and strategic sampling of 22 buildings. Second, we determined areas of chalk bedrock from a geological map rendered through GIS and sampled chalkstones from natural outcrops and quarries. In total, 118 samples from buildings, quarries and natural outcrops were characterized via optical microscopy and geochemical analyses for major, minor and trace elements (XRF, ICP‐MS and ICP‐OES), as well as for 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios (MC‐ICP‐MS). The application in situ of pXRF analysis allows for the identification of Normandy Chalkstone sources preserved in archaeological sites. The results indicate that all chalkstones came from five local varieties of Normandy Chalkstone and one of Shelly Limestone imported from nearby regions. The suitability of chalkstone as construction material was evaluated in situ using a sclerometer, which revealed that the singular and local geological features of the chalkstone make it suitable for walling. Our study demonstrates the development of a prominent and relatively continued quarrying industry over the 10th to 14th centuries in Eastern Normandy. The main quarrying areas were constituted of three chalkstone diffusion zones that run coevally with smaller and apparently sporadic quarries. The chalkstone diffusion was strongly related to the occurrence of singular and local geological resources and the stone transport system, which favoured the use of effective fluvial and maritime navigation for transport over 50 km from the quarrying areas.
Sur les origines de la Trêve de Dieu en Normandie
L'auteur etudie d'abord les circonstances dans lesquelles fut introduite en Normandie la Treve de Dieu : l'abbaye S. Ouen de Rouen, qui avait connu l'enseignement de Richard de Saint Vanne, organisa, de concert avec le jeune duc Guillaume le Bâtard, le concile de Caen (1047). Cette assemblee adopta, concernant la Treve, les modalites deja recues dans les dioceses de Laon et de Cambrai ; le meme regime fut introduit, une quinzaine d'annees plus tard, dans le diocese de Therouanne. Ainsi les institutions de Paix presentent-elles, dans les provinces ecclesiastiques de Reims et de Rouen, nombre de traits communs dont le plus important est sans doute la clause precisant que le Prince n'est point soumis a l'obligation de respecter la Treve.