Editing Duke of Normandy (section)

==History of the title==
There is no record of Rollo holding or using any title. His son and grandson, [[William Longsword|Duke William I]] and [[Richard I of Normandy|Duke Richard I]], used the titles "count" (Latin ''comes'' or ''consul'') and "prince" (''princeps'').<ref name=Chibnall>[[Marjorie Chibnall]], ''The Normans'' (Blackwell, 2006), pp. 15–16. According to her, "it is even doubtful if Rollo had any title."</ref> Prior to 1066, the most common title of the ruler of Normandy was "Count of Normandy" (''comes Normanniae'') or "Count of the Normans" (''comes Normannorum'').<ref name=Crouch>David Crouch, ''The Image of Aristocracy in Britain, 1000–1300'' (Taylor and Francis, 1992), pp. 40–41.</ref> The title '''Count of Rouen''' (''comes Rotomagensis'') was never used in any official document, but it was used of William I and his son by the anonymous author of a lament (''[[planctus]]'') on his death.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foley |first=Liam |date=2021-12-17 |title=December 17, 942: Death of William I Longsword of Normandy |url=https://europeanroyalhistory.wordpress.com/tag/william-ii-of-normandy/ |access-date=2024-01-07 |website=European Royal History ~ Exploring the Monarchs of Europe}}</ref> Defying Norman pretensions to the ducal title, [[Adémar de Chabannes|Adhemar de Chabannes]] was still referring to the Norman ruler as "Count of Rouen" as late as the 1020s. In the 12th century, the Icelandic historian [[Ari Thorgilsson]] in his ''[[Landnámabók]]'' referred to Rollo as ''Ruðu jarl'' (earl of Rouen), the only attested form in [[Old Norse]], although too late to be evidence for 10th-century practice.<ref>David C. Douglas, "The Earliest Norman Counts", ''The English Historical Review'', 61, 240 (1946): 129–56.</ref> The late 11th-century Norman historian [[William of Poitiers]] used the title "Count of Rouen" for the Norman rulers down to Richard II.{{cn|date=January 2024}} According to David C. Douglas, the title "Count of Rouen"  (comes Rotomagensis) was never used in any official document.<ref> David C. Douglas, "The Earliest Norman Counts", ''The English Historical Review'', 61, 240 (1946):130</ref> Charters are usually a source of information about titles, but none exist for Normandy in the middle of the tenth century.<ref>Elizabeth van Houts (ed.), ''The Normans in Europe'' (Manchester University Press, 2000), p. 41, n. 58.</ref>

The first official recorded use of the title duke (''dux'') is in an act in favour of the [[Fécamp Abbey|Abbey of Fécamp]] in 1006 by [[Richard II, Duke of Normandy]]. Earlier, the writer [[Richerus|Richer of Reims]] had called Richard I a ''dux pyratorum'', but which only means "leader of pirates" and was not a title. During the reign of Richard II, the French king's chancery began to call the Norman ruler "Duke of the Normans" (''dux Normannorum'') for the first time.<ref name=Chibnall/> As late as the reign of [[William the Conqueror|Duke William II]] (1035–87), the ruler of Normandy could style himself "prince and duke, count of Normandy" as if unsure what his title should be.<ref name=Crouch/> The literal Latin equivalent of "Duke of Normandy", ''dux Normanniae'', was in use by 1066,<ref>George Beech, "The Participation of Aquitanians in the Conquest of England 1066–1100", in R. Allen Brown, ed., ''Anglo-Norman Studies IX: Proceedings of the Battle Conference, 1986'' (Boydell Press, 1987), p. 16.</ref> but it did not supplant ''dux Normannorum'' until the [[Angevin Empire|Angevin period]] (1144–1204), at a time when [[Normans|Norman identity]] was fading.<ref>Nick Webber, ''The Evolution of Norman Identity, 911–1154'' (Boydell Press, 2005), p. 178.</ref>

Richard I experimented with the title "marquis" (''marchio'') as early as 966, when it was also used in a diploma of King [[Lothair of France|Lothair]].<ref>David Crouch, ''The Normans: The History of a Dynasty'' (Hambledon Continuum, 2002), p. 19.</ref> Richard II occasionally used it, but he seems to have preferred the title duke. It is his preference for the ducal title in his own charters that has led historians to believe that it was the chosen title of the Norman rulers. Certainly it was not granted to them by the French king. In the twelfth century, the Abbey of Fécamp spread the legend that it had been granted to Richard II by [[Pope Benedict VIII]] (ruled 1012–24). The French chancery did not regularly employ it until after 1204, when the duchy had been seized by the crown and Normandy lost its autonomy and its native rulers.<ref name=Crouch/>

The actual reason for the adoption of a higher title than that of count was that the rulers of Normandy began to grant the comital title to members of their own family. The creation of Norman counts subject to the ruler of Normandy necessitated the latter taking a higher title. The same process was at work in other principalities of France in the eleventh century, as the comital title came into wider use and thus depreciated. The Normans nevertheless kept the title of count for the ducal family and no non-family member was granted a county until [[Helias of Saint-Saëns]] was made Count of Arques by [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] in 1106.<ref name=Crouch/>

From 1066, when William II [[Norman Conquest|conquered England]], becoming King William I, the title Duke of Normandy was often held by the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom#English monarchy|King of England]]. In 1087, William died and the title passed to his eldest son, [[Robert Curthose]], while his second surviving son, [[William II of England|William Rufus]], inherited England. In 1096, Robert mortgaged Normandy to William, who was succeeded by another brother, [[Henry I of England|Henry I]], in 1100. In 1106, Henry conquered Normandy. It remained with the King of England down to 1144, when, during the civil war known as [[the Anarchy]], it was conquered by [[Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou|Geoffrey Plantagenet]], the [[Counts and dukes of Anjou|Count of Anjou]]. Geoffrey's son, [[Henry II of England|Henry II]], inherited Normandy (1150) and then England (1154), reuniting the two titles. In 1202, King [[Philip II of France]], as feudal suzerain, declared Normandy forfeit and by 1204 his armies had conquered it. [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] finally renounced the English claim in the [[Treaty of Paris (1259)]].

Thereafter, the duchy formed an integral part of the [[Crown lands of France|French royal demesne]]. The kings of the [[House of Valois]] started a tradition of granting the title to their heirs apparent. The title was granted four times (1332, 1350, 1465, 1785) between the French conquest of Normandy and the dissolution of the French monarchy in 1792. The [[French Revolution]] brought an end to the Duchy of Normandy as a political entity, by then a [[Provinces of France|province of France]], and it was replaced by several ''[[Departments of France|départements]]''.