The NormansBy Maciej Stec

Who Were the Normans• The Normans came from

Scandinavia and Jutland Peninsula• They were ancestors of the Vikings• They used their own alphabet

known as runes• They were good sailors• They were great ship builders• They were sea traders• They were also pirates and robbers

Why Did The Normans Travel?• Scandinavia was overcrowded• There were too many forests and mountain ranges and not enough fields

to grow crops• They wanted to loot richer parts of Europe• Clans were fighting for land and the defeated ones had to leave

Scandinavia• They wanted to run away from the cruel kings of Scandinavia

Norman Ships• The Norman ships were called Drakkars• They were about 21 metres long and 5 metres wide• They were propelled by oars and sails• Their top speed was about 10 knots• Norman’s ships had low draft and they could easily land on

a beach or sail up a river• They could not carry heavy load

and sail too far away from the shore

Normans Conquest Map

Norman’s Conquests• In the year 896 under the rule of Rollon, they settled by the

river Seine• Charles III The Simple, the king of France could not get rid of

the Normans• In 911 Charles allowed them to stay in exchange of conversion

to Christianity

• They were granted several counties which are today known as Normandy

Norman’s Conquests• The Normans arrived in Britain around the same time they settled in France• They started to conquer Britain using bases on the islands they have taken

earlier• Poorly armed British militia could not resist them• In 878 AD they signed a pact with King Alfred of Wessex and created their

own county Danelaw• Because of arguments among themselves the Normans were driven out of

Britain in 954 AD• After some time the Normans reunited and after the Battle of Hastings in

1066 they started to rule the whole Britain

The Normans invade Ireland• Around 100 years after the Battle of Hastings,

the Normans came to Ireland in 1169 during the reign of King Henry II

• It was not an invasion, they came to help the Irish kings fight amongst themselves

• The true invasion started in the year 1170 when Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (a.k.a Strongbow) came to Ireland with a powerful army

• Dublin became the Norman capital city in the year 1177

• After a while Strongbow married to daughter of Diarmait Mac Murchada and became king of Leinster

• At the same time Norman soldiers started to settle in Ireland and marrying into Irish families