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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Magnus Maximus, post: 2606791, member: 73473&quot;]What happens when you cross Vikings with Romano-Celts? Well, you get one of the most successful peoples of the 10th, 11th, and 12th centuries: The Normans.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Normans were descended from Viking raiders who had been pillaging Medieval France and Britain under the command of a chief named Hrolfr, latinized Rollo.&nbsp; Raiding since the age of about 15, Rollo had amassed an enormous amount of wealth from raiding the French crown. The apex of his Viking career came in 885 with the siege of Paris. Shockingly the Vikings were driven off by the local frankish garrison and population. The Vikings and French then came to terms, and Rollo and his men were given the City of Rouen and surrounding territories in exchange for not attacking the French and for defending northern France against further Viking raiders. Rollo agreed to the terms and for the most part held up his end of the bargain.</p><p><br /></p><p>Like most Vikings, Rollo was crafty and smart; he realized that for the Vikings to have a shot at having a long-term settlement in France, they would have to adopt the local culture. Rollo himself married a Breton from neighboring Brittany and encouraged his men to do the same. The Vikings married the local Romano-Celts, adopted Christianity, and learned French. The children of these Vikings and Celts would be known as Normans, Frankish for Northmen. The results of this mixing of cultures and blood were amazing: by the second generation, the Normans were pious Christians who spoke fluent French. The Normans quickly adopted the French style of armored Knights on horses and court titles/life. Though they were indeed assimilated into Romance culture and language, they were still viewed with suspicion by their French neighbors, and for a good reason, the Normans would go on the conquer England, Wales, parts of Ireland, and Southern Italy in the coming centuries. The adoption of Romano-Frankish culture had not tamed their Viking spirit of adventure or war; they truly were “a race unbridled!”</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I personally like to think of myself as an amateur genealogist, nothing too serious. Anyhow, [USER=71514]@Pishpash[/USER] inspired me to look into my own family’s history earlier this year, so I gave it a shot and bought an Ancestry.com subscription and began researching the family. Initially, I was expecting my father’s family (the Cook’s) to be of Saxon or Irish descent, what I found was astonishing. My Great x30+ ancestor, William, was a Norman Knight who had moved to England before the conquest in 1066 by his brethren. He brought his wife Katherine to the island and lived in London until his death in 1070. A few people I’ve talked to think he may have been friends with the Normandy born Saxon King, Edward the Confessor who brought several his Norman friends to the island in the 1030’s and 40’s. I have no idea if this is true or not, but it certainly is possible. William is my direct male ancestor(I have his Y chromosome), but our family history gets even better: one of William’s descendants(my ancestor)married and had children with a descendent of Hugh of Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester. So it seems I get a double dose of Norman blood! Hugh, also known as the Wolf or the fat, was a powerful Norman earl who helped subjugate the Welsh border lands.</p><p><br /></p><p>There is one more member of the family I would like to talk about, but I’ll save his story for another time.</p><p><br /></p><p>My parents gratefully purchased this coin as a present for me for the New Year. Perhaps an ancestor held this coin!? Please post your Norman coins or stories about your ancestors.</p><p><br /></p><p>Also, I certainly would encourage everyone to look up their family history, you don&#039;t know what&#039;s hiding in your family tree!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Here are some other notable direct ancestors of mine.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cooke_(mayor)" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cooke_(mayor)" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cooke_(mayor)</a></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Cooke" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Cooke" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Cooke</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Now for the coin!</p><p>[ATTACH=full]569877[/ATTACH]</p><p>Richard I (the Fearless), grandson of Rollo.</p><p>AR Denier</p><p>942-996 CE</p><p>Rouen mint</p><p>1.27 grams</p><p>Here are some pics of the Normans in all their glory!</p><p>[ATTACH=full]569878[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]569879[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]569881[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Normandy during the reign of Richard I</p><p>[ATTACH=full]569880[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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