Treaty Of Saint Clair Sur Epte

The Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte is concluded in the fall of the year 911 ^Background

Since the reign of Charlemagne , the abbeys of Christendom are subject to Viking raids. The establishment of military commands (including walking to Neustria ) and the establishment of fortified bridges (as in Pont-de-l'Arche on the Seine ) by the Carolingian kings do not stop these shipments.

910-911 Towards a Scandinavian chief named Rollo undertook an expedition through the march of Neustria but was defeated under the walls of Chartres by a coalition of French aristocrats. This is the moment chosen by Charles the Simple to negotiate. Negotiation all the more urgent that the king would put his hand over the kingdom of Lorraine without being threatened by the Vikings.

Articles of the Treaty

We do not have the text of the treaty but a historian of the early ^eleventh century , Dudo of St. Quentin , explains its content. Have doubts about the veracity of his story complete. The clauses are:

• Charles III grants Rollo the region between the " Epte and the sea. " Historians do not agree on the exact extent of the concession. The majority of them consider that the donation related counties or dioceses of Rouen , Evreux and Lisieux. This corresponds to the current Upper Normandy plus the Pays d'Auge. Bauduin Pierre hypothesizes a concession even smaller. This is not the first time a king sells part of its territory for the Vikings to have peace. In the late ^ninth century , the English king's Anglo-Saxon Alfred the Great had hosted several Scandinavian states and thus constituting the Danelaw.
• Rollo agreed to receive baptism.
• It must protect the kingdom, especially against her fellow Vikings who might be tempted to go up the Seine. The chief Norman ready tribute to the king. On this last point, Dudo of Saint Quentin, quick to flatter the Normans, tells the following anecdote: Rollo refuses to kneel before the king as a sign of honor to kiss his foot, then a compromise is found. A close of Rollo must make the gesture in his place. But the Norman, not kneel, rise so high the foot of the king that he lost his balance and fell backwards.

Consequences

The act is important because it gives birth to the future duchy of Normandy. Rollo and his son William Longsword , will seek to extend the original grant, including the West (the Lower Normandy and Brittany ).

Rollo will respect the treaty provisions and are cautioned not to invade the lands of the kingdom. After the imprisonment of Charles the Simple, but it will launch raids in Picardy.

Related articles

• Vikings
• Duchy of Normandy
• Rollo
• Council Trosly

References

• Franois Neveux , The Adventure of the Normans - ^VIII - XIII ^century, Perrin, Paris, 2006 ( ISBN 2-286-02004-3 )
• Franois Neveux, La Normandie dukes kings - ^eX - XII ^century, Editions Ouest-France University, Rennes, 1998 ( ISBN 2-7373-0985-9 )
• Jean Renaud , The Vikings and Normandy, Editions Ouest-France University, Rennes, 1989 ( ISBN 2-7373-0258-7 )
• Pierre Bauduin , "Scandinavian raids the establishment of the Principality of Rouen," in Elizabeth Deniaux Claude Lorren, Pierre Bauduin and Thomas Jarry, Normandy before the Normans, the Roman conquest to the arrival of the Vikings, Rennes, Ouest-France, 2002

References

• Law portal
• Gateway to Normandy