Richard and Charlotte Allen Cosby Ancestry » Rollo Hrólfr Rolf Robert I "The Viking" Ragnvaldsson, Prince of Norway & Saint De Normandie "Count of Rouen" (846-????)

Personal data Rollo Hrólfr Rolf Robert I "The Viking" Ragnvaldsson, Prince of Norway & Saint De Normandie "Count of Rouen" 

• Alternative names: Rollo (Hrolf) "The Viking" Ragnaldsson, Rollo I "Rollo the Dane" Rognvaldsson Duke d'Normandy, Rollo Ragnvaldsson, Rollo Rognvaldsson "Rollo the Dane", Rolf Rognvaldsson, Rolf Ragnvaldsson, Rollo the Dane , First Duke of Normandy, Rolf "Rollo" of Normandy Duke of Normandy, 1st Duke of Normandy Rollo Rognvaldsson, Rolf "the Ganger" 1st Duke of Normandy, Rollo Rognvaldsson 1st Duke of Normandy, Robert 'Rollo' Rognvaldsson, 1st Duke of Normandy Rollo Rognvaldsson
• He was born on October 14, 846 in Maer, Nord-Trondelag, Norway.Source 5

  Attention: Was older than 65 years (71) when child (Adele (Gerlaug) de Normandy) was born (??-??-917).

• Alternative: He was born in the year 846 in Maer, Nord Trondelag, Norway.
• Alternative: He was born in the year 846 in Maer, Nord-Trondelag, Norway.
• Alternative: He was born about 860 in Maer, Nord-Trondelag, Norway.Source 4
• Alternative: He was born in the year 870 in Norway.
• Alternative: He was born in Maer, Nord-Trondelag, Norway.
• Alternative: He was born in Nord-Trondelag, Norway.
• Alternative: He was born in the year 846 in Maer, Nord Trondelag, Norway.
• Alternative: He was born about 854 in Maer, Nord-Trondelag, Norway.Source 1
• Baptized (at 8 years of age or later) by the priesthood authority of the LDS church on April 12, 1904 in SLAKE.Source 1
• (Record Change) on October 2, 2002.Source 1
• He died Bet. 16 Dec 931–932 in Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France, he was 84 years old.Source 5
• Alternative: He died in the year 931 in Notre Dame, Rouen, Normandy, France, he was 84 years old.
• Alternative: He died in the year 931 in Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France, he was 84 years old.
• Alternative: He died about 932 in Notre Dame, Seine-Inferieure, Normandy, France.
• Alternative: He died in the year 932 in Rouen, Normandy, he was 85 years old.
• Alternative: He died in Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France.
• Alternative: He died in the year 931 in Notre Dame, Rouen, Normandy, Neustria, he was 84 years old.
• Alternative: He died about 927 in Notre Dame, Calvados, France.Source 1
• Alternative: He died before 932 in Rouen, France.
• Alternative: He died about 932 in Notre Dame, rouen, Seine-Inferieure, Normandy, France.Source 4
• He is buried in The Sacristy, Notre Dame, Rouen.
• Alternative: He is buried in Notre Dame, Calvados, France.Source 1
• A child of Rognvald I "The Wise" Eysteinsson and Ragnhild Hilda Hrolfsdatter

Household of Rollo Hrólfr Rolf Robert I "The Viking" Ragnvaldsson, Prince of Norway & Saint De Normandie "Count of Rouen"

He is married to Countess of Bayeux Poppa.

They got married in the year 891 at Castle St. Cler, Évreux, Eure, Haute-Normandie, France, he was 44 years old.

Child(ren):

1. Emmeline de Normandie  ± 897-> 962
2. King Guillaume (William) I "Longsword" of the Franks,  900-942 
3. Adele (Gerlaug) de Normandy  917-1068 
4. Crispina d'Normandy  ± 920-????

Notes about Rollo Hrólfr Rolf Robert I "The Viking" Ragnvaldsson, Prince of Norway & Saint De Normandie "Count of Rouen"

From 'Elizabeth John Ancestry' Elizabeth Arhus--Ancestry.comr treaty of St Claire received Normandy from Charles III King of Francerating expeditions and, about 911, established himself in an area along the Seine River. Charles III the Simple of France held off his siege of Paris, battled him near Chartres, and negotiated the treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, giving him the part of Neustria that came to be called Normandy; Rollo in return agreed to end his brigandage. He gave his son, William I Longsword, governance of the dukedom (927) before his death. Rollo was baptized in 912 but is said to have died a pagan. [Encyclopaedia Britannica CD, 1997, ROLLO]-----------m [Ref: Watney p740]nts: [Ref: Moriarty p10, Moriarty p11, Paget p135, Watney #740]9 [Ref: Paget p135], names: [Ref: Henry Project citing (Eric Christiansen, ed. & trans., Dudo of St. Quentin, History of the Normans (The Boydell Press, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1998), Book ii Chapter 16 p38-9; Keats-Rohan, K. S. B., "Poppa of Bayeux and her Family", The American Genealogist 72 (1997), 187-204), Moriarty p11, p226, 39 Tompsett, Wurts p422]S II:79, Paget p135]is Frankish posterity as Rollo, was probably born of Norwegian stock, being the son of Rognvald, Earl of More, and before his formal establishment in Gaul he had a long career as a Viking, raiding not only in France but also, as it seems, in Scotland and Ireland. In 911, having entered Gaul afresh, perhaps by way of the Loire valley, he was defeated in a pitched battle outside the walls of of Chartres, and it was after this that he and his followers were given lands by the emperor in the valley of the lower Seine. Whether this famous grant of lands and recognition was made (as tradition later asserted) after a formal interview between Charles [King Charles III the Simple of France] and Rolf at Saint-Claire-sur Epte is questionable, and the application of the term 'treaty' to these arrangements is undoubtedly too precise. What, however, is certain is that before 918 Rolf and his followers already held considerable lands in this region, and that they had been formally confirmed in possession of them by the emperor. Equally certain is that in token of the new position he was henceforth to occupy in Gaul, Rolf accepted baptism at the hands of the archbishop of Rouen. [Ref: Wm Conqueror p17]t 911 [see Douglas 426-31], king Charles the Simple of France ceded a district around the city of Rouen to Rollo, which eventually evolved into the duchy of Normandy. He is said to have been baptized in 912, assuming the Christian name Robert [Dudo ii, 30 (p. 50)]. He was still living in 928, when he was holding Eudes, son of Heribert of Vermandois, as a captive [Flodoard's Annals, s.a. 928, see PL 135: 439, van Houts 45], and was probably dead by 933, when his son William was mentioned as leading the Normans [Flodoard's Annals, s.a. 933, see PL 135: 445, van Houts 45]. [Ref: Henry Project] note: the citations Douglas, Dudo, Flodoard, PL & van Houts are further identified in the Bibliography at the bottom of this page...Curtglish Historical review 1942, p417-36] seems to be one of the main secondary sources used by many who support the alleged Norwegian origin of Rollo, a brief discussion of Douglas's article is in order.hich he then expanded with much legendary material of dubious value. This Catillus is a significant figure in Richer, but is apparently unknown from other sources, and his legendary nature is evident. The statement that Rollo was the son of Catillus is apparently an attempt by Richer to amplify the fame of Catillus (whose existence is doubful) by giving him a famous son.lines the well known saga statements regarding Rollo's supposed identification with Ganger-Rolf, son of Rognvald. To support his claim that "Rollo" is an acceptable Latin form for "Hrolfr", Duglas (sic) brings forward a single charter [a charter of Richard II for St. Quen, which predated Dudo and the other later sources, mentions the _atavus Ralphus_ of the Duke] which reads "atavus Rolphus" (not Ralphus) which appears to be referring to Rollo (p.421). However, as Duglas (sic) admits, the charter itself is not above suspicion. Another example mentioned in a footnote is a certain Turstinus fillius Rolv who was apparently the same person as a Turstinus filius Rollonis. This is a very small sample to make the claim that Rollo was a Latin form for Rolf. Just as likely is the possibility that the names Rollo and Ralph were confused in a couple of manuscripts. Since Ralph was such a common name in Normandy and England, we should see a large number of examples of "Rollo" and "Ralph" being used as the same name, if they were in fact the same. Since the number of examples which Douglas was able to produce is so small, it is more likely that some sort of copying mistake was made on the above examples, in which the uncommon name Rollo was accidently replaced by the extremely common (and similar) Ralph. Important negative evidence is not given, for Douglas never mentions that there is a Norse name "Hrollaug" for which "Rollo" is an obvious Latinized form. Since the sagas give Rognvald of More two clearly different sons named Hrollaug and Hrolf, it would be difficult to argue that Hrollaug and Hrolf are supposed to be the same name. The main other piece of evidence Douglas gives for accepting the saga account is the supposed confirmation of a saga statement about Granger-Rolf in the contemporary records. The following statement by Ari is quoted: "Another son of Othere (he says) was Helge. He harried in Scotland and won there as his booty Nithbeorg, daughter of King Beolan and of Kathleen, daughter of Ganger-Rolf." Duglas (sic) then reads between the lines, and states that since Kathleen is a Celtic name, her mother would almost certainly be a Christian. He then turns to the nearly contemporary "Lament for the Death of William Longsword", which states that William was born outside France of a Christian mother at a time when his father was still pagan. He then states: "The suggestion of the Landnamabok is thus confirmed by an epic poem composed in Gaul in the tenth century. The fact would seem to be a powerful, if not a conclusive, argument in favor of the identity of Rollo with Ganger-Rolf." The first sentence in the above quote is completely false. There is not a single detail in the quote from Ari which is confirmed by the statement in "Lament for the death ..." This argument used by Duglas (sic), in which he deduces an additional statement not in the original, so that there is something which can be "confirmed" is unacceptable. The fact that Douglas would refer to such an argument as "powerful" only serves to emphasize how weak his argument really is. [Ref: Stewart Baldwin 7 Dec 1996] (Note: "Duglas" referred to above is actually spelled Douglas. David C. Douglas, Fellow of the British Academy, Emeritus Professor of History, University of Bristol, Ford's Lecturer to the University of Oxford & editor of a series of studies of the English monarchs...Curt)d is therefore intended to be identified with the historical Viking Rollo, who appears in the contemporary Frankish annals of the tenth century. Those who accept this view base their argument on these late Icelandic sources. In my opinion, the Icelandic sources are worthless for early Norman history, and should be rejected as a source for Rollo's parentage. Some of the basic reasons for this opinion are as follows:f Normandy, the Icelandic sources do not offer a single fact about early Norman history which can be corroborated in the contemporary continental sources. In fact, the Icelandic sources say remarkably little about early Norman history, which is suspicious for a source which supposedly knows the origin of Rollo.andic sources, tell a completely different story about the origin of Rollo, who is said to be of Danish origin. Even though some of the early Norman sources (such as Dudo) have been criticized for their innacuracy (and for deliberate embellishment), it is still reasonable to suppose that early native sources would be more reliable on the matter of Rollo's origin than late foreign sources.fortunately, the early tenth century is not well covered by the Frankish sources. However, even though the Norman sources have clearly embellished and romanticized the material on Rollo, the story of a Danish origin for Rollo fits quite well with what the Frankish sources for the late ninth century (a better covered period) say about the Danish invasions during that earlier period.y to what has been frequently claimed, the names Hrolf and Rollo do not appear to be the same. The Norse name Hrollaug, which is a different name (see #5), is the name which would have "Rollo" as a reasonable Latinization. The claim that "Hrolf" was Latinized as "Rollo" by mistake is unlikely, because the Franks were quite familiar with the name, and a different Viking raider named Hrolf from the ninth century has his name correctly Latinized as "Rodulf" in the contemporary ninth century sources.f whom are Hrolf, allegedly the same as the founder of Normandy, and Hrollaug, an early Icelandic settler. First, this shows that Hrolf and Hrollaug were regarded as different names. However, it also causes a big problem in the Icelandic story. If we are to believe the Icelandic account, Hrolf went to Normandy, where he was then known as Rollo/Hrollaug, i.e., the name of Hrolf's brother. If the Icelandic story were true, why would both the Frankish and Norman sources both refer to "Hrolf" by the name of his brother Hrollaug? (Claiming that the Icelandic sources were almost right, and that Rollo of Normandy was the same as Hrollaug son of Rognvald, is not feasible, because Hrollaug's role as an early settler of Iceland clearly marks him as a different person from Rollo of Normandy.) I would like to see this problem explained away by someone supporting position that Rollo was Rognvald's son. By the way, this last point (#5) has, to my knowledge, not been mentioned before (except by me in previous postings on the same subject), and I therefore have an obvious personal interest in knowing if this particular point has been mentioned by others. If point #5 has already been made somewhere else in the literature, I would be interested in having the reference.ald of More, and his parentage should be regarded as unknown. [Ref: Stewart Baldwin 16 Mar 1998]ng so tall, he preferred to go afoot rather than ride the little Norwegian horses. Also shown as Rollon, Row, or Robert Originally a Norse Viking, he was noted for strength and martial prowess.t is more likely that the title "Duke" is a tenth or eleventh century construct, as even the title count was not introduced until later documents, usually refered as count of Rouen. Neither Rollo or his son William Longsword issued many written instruments - certainly none that survive in the original.d also Rolf the Walker, because, being so tall, he preferred to go afoot rather than ride the little Norwegian horses. Also shown as Rollon, Row, or Robert. Originally a Norse Viking, he was noted for strength and martial prowess. In the reign of Charles II, the Bald, he sailed up the Seine River and took Rouen, which he kept as a base of operations. He gained a number of victories over the Franks, and extorted the cession of the province since called Normandy. By the famous treaty which Charles the Bald and Rollo signed the latter agreed to adopt Christianity. He was born in 846 and died in 932, and was buried in the Cathedral at Rouen. He married (1) Gisla, daughter of Charles the Simple, King of France, no issue; (2) Lady Poppa de Valois, (means puppet or little doll), daughter of Pepin de Senlis de Valois, Count Berenger (Berenarius) of Bretagne, Count of Bayeux, and sister of Bernard of St. Liz (Senlis), also recorded as Berenger, Count of Bayeux. Rollo lived with her for some time before the marriage. [Ref: McBride2]orget the form Dudo used) can be interpreted as Gorm or Guthorm. He portrays him as an extremely active individual rampaging, sacking, looting, and then being bought off by the French king to stop other vikings from doing the same, being baptized as Robert.t-grandson of Rollo) says that the Jarl of Orkney had a brother Hrolf the Walker, who conquered Normandy and was ancestor of the Norman kings of England. It explains the nickname as indicating that he was so fat he could not ride a horse. He is a Norwegian, and had numerous brothers (including, oddly enough, one named Rollo), but none named Gorm or Guthorm.ere, but one thing is clear. The accounts of Dudo and of the Orkneyinga saga are completely incompatable. Every single detail, other than that the man conquered Normandy, - name, ethnicity, physical characteristics, siblings, are all different. Obviously one of these sources is in error. Both contain material which is demonstrably false, and which has been used in the past to discredit them. However, Dudo probably actually knew people who knew Rollo, and it is difficult to come up with a motive for falsification of these details (why bother substituting danish for norwegian, for example) while the Orkneyinga saga author had no such direct connection, and furthermore had motive to invent such an ancient connection, to further glorify the family are the center of his tale. Still, nothing of this sort is certain, but given what each of the sources have to say, you have to give the nod to Dudo, which would mean that Rollo would not be identical to the Hrolf of the saga, and the claim that he was the founder of Normandy must rest on some sort of mistaken identity or intentional forgery. [Ref: TAF 27 Feb 2002]h Rollo of Normandy [Ref: Henry Project]nvaldr, jarl of Møre.e most widely repeated of which would make him a son of Rognvaldr, jarl of Møre by Ragnhildr or Hildr. As can be seen from the following brief notices, the various primary sources offer very contradictory information about Rollo's origin.vader of France named Catillus (presumably representing the Norse name Ketil) [Richer i, 28 (see PL 138: 35)]. Since Catillus appears to be a legendary individual, this account has generally been discredited, probably correctly [see Douglas 420-1].m, presumed to be the familiar name Gorm. Dudo states that Rollo and Gurim were sons of a man who held many lands in "Dacia" (Dudo's word for Denmark, following other authors), and that after the death of the (unnamed) father of Rollo and Gurim, the king of Dacia fought against the sons, killing Gurim and driving Rollo out [Dudo ii, 2-4 (pp. 26-7)]. Dudo later refers to duke Richard I as being related to a "king of Dacia" named Haigrold [Dudo iv, 84-88 (pp. 114-20 passim)], who must have been the Viking raider of France of that name [Flodoard's Annals, s.a. 945, see PL 135: 463-4, van Houts 51], and not king Harald "Bluetooth" of Denmark. Note that Gurim cannot be the famous Gorm "the Old" of Denmark, who survived Rollo by many years.o be the earliest author to attribute a Norwegian origin to Rollo [WM ii, 5 (p. 125)].c sources (such as the well known Heimskringla and Landnámabók), gives Rollo the name Hrólfr, and make him a son of Rognvaldr, jarl of Møre, and brother of (among others) jarl Torf-Einarr of the Orkneys [OI 1: 187]. Earlier sources, such as Ari's Íslendingabók (early to middle 12th century), mention Rognvald of Møre and his son Hrollaugr who settled in Iceland, but not the supposed connection to the dukes of Normandy [Ari 49, 61]. A poem allegedly written by Einar mentions his brothers, including a Hrólfr, but does not connect Hrólfr to Normandy, and does not name a Gorm among the brothers. (See ...Rognvaldr for more on this poem.)árfagri of Norway ("Harald Harfagyr") a brother named Rodulf (i.e., the Latin form of Hrólfr) who is called the founder of Normandy [HGK, 3-4]. However, this is evidently a corrupt version of the Scandinavian version, and the suggestion that Rollo was a brother of Haraldr Hárfagri need not be given any credence.hat Rollo was the same person as Hrólfr, son of Rognvaldr of Møre, was given by D. C. Douglas [Douglas 419-23], and those who accept this identification have generally followed the same arguments. On the other side, arguments against the identification were given by Viggo Starcke in his book Denmark in World History [Starcke 222-7].le of the sagas and rejecting evidence from the Norman sources which contradict the saga version, while explaining away the problems (on which more below). The evidence which Douglas puts forward as "a powerful, if not a conclusive, argument in favor of the identity of Rollo with Ganger-Rolf" concerns a passage in Landnáamabók that refers to a daughter of Gongu-Hrólfr:s vas Helge; hann herjaðe á Skottland, ok feck þar at herfange Niðbiorgo, dóttor Beolans konungs ok Caðlínar, dóttor Gongo-Hrólfs" (Another son of Óttarr was Helge. He harried in Scotland, and won there as his booty Niðbjorg, daughter of king Beolan and Caðlín, daughter of Gongu-Hrólfr.) [OI 1: 66-7]e been the author), is then compared with a passage from the nearly contemporary Plaintsong of Rollo's son William "Longsword" which was written soon after William's death:o natus patred to the sweet religion, he was blessed with the holy chrism.)las then state that "[t]he suggestion of the Landnámabók is thus confirmed by an epic poem composed in Gaul in the tenth century." While it is true that the two accounts as they stand are consistent with each other and with the claim that Rollo and Gongu-Hrólfr were the same man (ignoring all other evidence), it is surely a gross overstatement to claim that the Plaintsong "confirms" the other account, for there is not a single statement in the passage from Landnámabók that is confirmed by the Plaintsong. This is a clear case of circular reasoning, for without first assuming that Rollo and Gongu-Hrólfr were the same man, there is no evidence that the two passages have any relation whatsoever. Douglas's case is further undermined by the fact that another source [Laxd?la Saga chapter 32, see OI 1: 246] makes Niðbjorg's mother Caðlín a daughter of Gongu-Hrólfr, son of Oxna-Þórir, directly contradicting the thesis that Caðlín was supposedly a granddaughter of Rognvaldr of Møre. Yet, Douglas apparently regarded this as the strongest part of his argument.ith Hrólfr son of Rognvaldr:urces give Hrólfr several brothers, none of them named Gormr (the presumed Old-Norse form for Gurim). Although both of the sources have their problems, earlier native sources would seem to have a higher priority than later foreign sources. While many elements of the Dudo's account are clearly legendary, there appears to be no clear motive on the part of Dudo (writing less than a century after Rollo's death) to invent a younger brother for Rollo who is then immediately killed off., i.e., the early ninth century, the sagas have a poor record for reliability, even for Scandinavian history. For example, consider the following words of Peter Sawyer (written with regard to a different matter, but true in general), a well known expert on early Viking history: "... These sagas cannot, however, be accepted as reliable sources for the tenth century. The only trustworthy evidence for the tenth century in those sagas are the contemporary verses around which the saga writers wove their tales." [Sawyer 42] None of these verses confirm the identity of Rollo and Hrólfr. The suspicion is made even larger by the fact that the Icelandic sources show no knowledge of Norman history other than the fact (well known throughout Europe at the time) that William the Conqueror was a descendant of the dukes of Normandy.nsistently refer to the founder of Normandy as Rollo. Since these sources also include numerous individuals named Rodulfus, and consistently separate the two names, it appears that the names were regarded as different. Douglas explained this by suggesting a hypothetical hypochoristic form "Hrolle" of the name "Hroðwulf" as the basis for the name Rollo, and provides a single charter in which Rollo is referred to as "Rolphus" as evidence that the names were the same, acknowledging, however, that the charter itself was "not above suspicion." If the names were really regarded as the same, it would be expected that more convincing evidence to this effect could be offered.ely to have been invented by a saga writer who wanted to give the jarls of Orkney some famous relatives (i.e., the kings of England), and that whatever the confusing Norman sources say are probably about the closest we are going to get to Rollo's origin. However, based on the surviving evidence, it is not possible to come to any definitive conclusion one way or the other, and Rollo's parentage should be listed as "unknown" unless further evidence becomes available.nidentified. As discussed above, the evidence for her is less than satisfactory.]n (Islandica, vol. 20, Ithaca, 1930).er of Dudo's work, with the page number in parentheses.ts (2000), 42-51 (English translation of excerpts relating to the Normans).m Ducum of William of Jumièges, Orderic Vitalis and Robert of Torigni, 2 vols., (Oxford, 1992). Citation is by book and chapter of Guillaume's work, with the volume and page number of the edition by van Houts in parentheses.2 (1997), 187-204., 1978). Citation is by chapter, with the page number in parentheses.r of Richer's work, with the page number in parentheses.story (Philadelphia, 1962, a translation of the Danish edition of 1946 by Frank Noel Stagg, Ingeborg Nixon, and Mrs. Elmer Harp).e (Manchester & New York, 2000) [gives English translations of many of the primary sources relevant to early Norman history]ings of England (London, 1889). Citation is by book and chapter of William's work, with the page number in parentheses.

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