[#History] Man from the North in History

The term "Norseman" meaning "man from the North" is applied primarily to Old Norse-speaking tribes living in southern and central Scandinavia. In history, "Norse" or "Norseman" could be any person from Scandinavia.

"Vikings" were Norsemen who raided across wide areas of Europe during 8th to 11th centuries. The Siege of Paris during 885–86 was part of a Viking raid on the Seine, in the Kingdom of the West Franks.

The "Normans" were descendants from Vikings or Norsemen from Denmark, Iceland and Norway who under their chief named Rollo (Gaange Rolf) agreed to be loyal to King Charles III of France and in the 10th and 11th centuries, gave their name to Normandy - a region in France. The Normans were originally "Pagan" but after getting settlement in France they intermarried with the French and became Christians.

In 11th century, Normans conquered Sicily (Italy) from Muslims (Arabs) who were ruling it for centuries.

The Normans were famed for their martial spirit and eventually for their Catholic belief.

"Norman conquest of England" was the 11th century invasion and occupation of England by an army of Norman and French soldiers led by Duke William II of Normandy, later styled as "William the Conqueror". The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14th October 1066 between the Norman army of Duke William and English army under King Harold. King Harold was eventually killed in the battle and the English army fled. On December 25th 1066, William was crowned the new King of England.

England has never been successfully invaded since the Norman invasion.

The invading Normans and their descendants replaced the Anglo-Saxons as the ruling class of England. Norman-French, the language of the new ruling class, influenced the development of the English language as we know it today. The Normans built large numbers of castles, fortifications, monasteries, abbeys, churches and cathedrals, in a style characterized by the usual Romanesque rounded arches particularly over windows and doorways.

After the Norman conquest of 1066, the kings of England were vassals of the kings of France for their possessions in France. The French kings endeavored to reduce these possessions over the centuries, and in the end by and large only Gascony was left to the English. The confiscations had been part of French policy to check the growth of English power.

This was the background of the upcoming "Hundred Years' War" between England and France.

(To be continued)

- Rahul