The new Norman aristocracy gradually departed from the Norse (Bates 1982 :
15 – 38 ). William Longsword’s murder in 942 was a threat to the fragile existence of
Normandy. But his young son Richard I, who succeeded him, eventually regained
control of the situation and ruled firmly until 996 , and so did his own son, Richard II,
after him. From the beginning of the eleventh century onwards, the Scandinavian
flavour of the duchy faded more and more. Yet the Normans remained a people apart in
the eyes of their contemporaries, and still today, Normandy’s originality mainly derives
from its Viking past.
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–– chapter 33 ( 1 ): The Duchy of Normandy––