Duke of Normandy
Duke of Normandy was the title given to the rulers of the Duchy of Normandy in northwestern France, a fief created in AD 911 by King Charles III "the Simple" of France for Rollo, a Scandinavian nobleman and leader of Northmen.
In 1066 the reigning duke, William the Bastard, conquered England, whereupon he became known as King William I "the Conqueror". From then on, the duke of Normandy and the king of England were usually the same person, until the king of France seized Normandy from King John in 1204. John's son, Henry III, renounced the ducal claim in the Treaty of Paris (1259).
Thereafter, the duchy formed an integral part of the French royal demesne. The Valois kings of France started a tradition of granting the title to their heirs apparent until it was supplanted by the title Dauphin. The title was granted four times between the French conquest of Normandy by Philip Augustus and the dissolution of the French monarchy in 1792.
Rollo the Viking
The fiefdom of Normandy was created in 911 for the Viking leader Rollo (also known as Rolf).
