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.
Pro tutela regni: revisiting a royal diploma from 918 on the birth of Normandy and the first ‘ducal’ laws
The Treaty of Saint‐Clair‐sur‐Epte (911) and the cession of Normandy to Rollo have long been considered as evidence of a decline in Carolingian power during the reign of Charles III the Simple. If, during the twentieth century, this view has undergone gradual revision, the role that the king could have played in the process of the Normans’ installation on the Seine remains obscure. A review of the relevant royal diplomas, in particular that of 14 March 918, suggests, however, active participation by the king in the emergence of a Norman march in Neustria: that is to say, a political and legal programme intended to reaffirm royal authority over this part of the regnum Francorum. This rereading, based on Frankish texts, on Christian ideology and on the Roman heritage, suggests a new interpretation of the settlement of Scandinavians in Normandy, the emergence of a Norman principality, and the genesis of the famous ‘laws of Rollo’.
The German centenary of the First World War
In the run up to the 2014 centenary of the First World War, the German public was gripped by a heated debate on the origins of the war. This article explores the nature of this controversy and its role in shaping national commemoration of the Great War. It also draws parallels between the commemorations of the fiftieth anniversary of the outbreak of the war in 1964 and those of 2014. Through a comparison of Germany’s national memories of the war with those in Britain and France, the article also reveals how different and sometimes conflicting national interpretations of the history of the First World War have affected centenary commemoration. Memories of the First World War are nation-specific, constructed and developed over time to suit a particular view of a country’s past. Moreover, they can be instrumental in influencing that country’s future development and relations with its neighbours.