CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE ( 1 )

THE DUCHY OF NORMANDY

Jean Renaud

THE TREATY OF SAINT-CLAIR

B

y the turn of the tenth century, the Vikings had sailed up and down the River Seine
many times and plundered the area far and wide since their first attack in 820. Some
of them had even settled along the estuary and lower part of the river, taking over several
abandoned harbours (Le Maho 2003 : 153 – 67 ). It is under these circumstances that
the Frankish king, Charles the Simple, agreed to negotiate with their chief, Rollo
(ON Hrólfr). (Figures 33. 1. 1 and 33. 1. 2 .)
We have no written record of the so-called ‘treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte’, and even
the date is unknown: probably autumn 911. Dudo of Saint-Quentin has left us the only
known account of that event, written a hundred years later and much criticised, perhaps
too much, by historians (Neveux 1998 : 19 – 27 ). The king apparently granted Rollo a

Figure 33. 1. 1 Successive borders of Normandy and Scandinavian place-name distribution.