History History

The first men landed in the region. Carved flints and traces of hearths bear witness to their presence. Engravings in the Gouy cave, a few kilometers from Rouen, show that men lived there towards the end of the Palaeolithic, from around 40,000 to 9,500 BC.

While France was known as Gaul, it was mainly the Celts who populated the future Normandy. The region was home to 9 tribes, whose divisions benefited the emperor Caesar in particular.

The Roman legions conquered the territory. Over the decades, the first cities sprang up: Rotomagus (future city of Rouen), Noviomagus (ancestor of Lisieux), Augustodurum (later Bayeux). The sanctuaries of Vieil-Evreux and Berthouville bear witness to this Roman presence. As is the small town of Vieux, where archaeological digs have unearthed a theater, aqueduct, thermal baths and more.

The Vikings are landing in the area. Coming from the Seine aboard their famous drakkars, they invaded Rouen and set fire to the abbeys of Saint-Ouen. Over the years, these warriors with a more than sulphurous reputation extended their hold on the territory by invading Saint-Lô and Bayeux in particular.

Official birth of Normandy, literally "land of the Northmen", following the signing of a peace treaty at Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between Charles the Simple, King of the Franks, and Rollon, Viking chieftain, who obtained what was then the Haute-Normandie region in exchange. Rollon, who became Count of Rouen, was also obliged to convert to Christianity.

Raoul, king of the Franks, ceded the Bessin region to Rollon, who became Robert after his conversion to Christianity.

The Duchy of Normandy expanded with the annexation of Avranchin, Cotentin and the Channel Islands. Originally occupied by the Bretons, these territories were taken over by Rollon's son, Guillaume Longue Epée. The configuration of the region then broadly resembled Normandy as we know it today. It was a prosperous duchy. The Vikings left few traces in the region, apart from a few commune names. Names ending in "fleur" - such as Honfleur or Barfleur - come from the Viking word floth, meaning river in French.

Birth in Falaise of William, later known as William the Conqueror. A descendant of Rollon, this bastard became Duke of Normandy at the age of 8. Over the years, he established a flourishing Normandy, thanks in particular to his marriage to Mathilde of Flanders, niece of the King of France. In 1066, William set out to conquer England: it was the famous Battle of Hastings.

William, Duke of Normandy, becomes King of England. Crowned at the famous Westminster Abbey, he is now William the Conqueror and his epic is depicted on the famous Bayeux Tapestry. He died in Rouen in 1070 and his tomb has since been laid to rest in the den of the Abbey of Men in Caen.

The Duchy of Normandy became part of the Kingdom of England following the Battle of Tinchebray, when William the Conqueror's son, Duke Robert Courteheuse, was taken prisoner by King Henry ^I Beauclair of England.

Richard ^I of England, better known as Richard the Lionheart, is born in Oxford, England. In 1189, he inherits the throne of England and becomes Duke of Normandy.

Having left for the Crusades in 1191, Richard the Lionheart has been imprisoned for three years. Thanks to a maneuver by his brother John Lackland, who wanted to take the throne from him, his duchy was invaded by Philip Augustus, King of France, who was determined to regain control. Back on his land, King Richard defends his territory ardently. But wounded by a crossbow, he died in 1199.

John Lackland, younger brother of Richard the Lionheart, had achieved his goal. He was crowned King of England and Duke of Normandy in Rouen.

King Philip Augustus of France and his army invade Normandy. First, they seize the Pays de Bray. Jean sans Terre loses his allies, and soon the battle.

It's the end of the Duchy of Normandy. After the siege of Château-Gaillard in Les Andelys, the city of Caen was taken over by the French army, then finally Rouen. The region now belongs to the royal domain and its inhabitants have to pay the taxes that go with it.

The beginning of the Hundred Years' War, which had a profound impact on the region, as it became a real battleground between the King of France and the King of England - not surprising, given the past that united these two regions. When the conflict broke out, Philip VI, King of France, demanded that the Normans provide a naval fleet the likes of which only Rouen could build. In 1340, the fleet sank in the face of the English army. This was the beginning of many defeats for the French.

The black plague has hit the region. Famine reigns and disease wreaks havoc.

After a few years of calm, the Hundred Years' War resumed. King Henry V of England arrives in Normandy, determined to reconquer the land. And it all starts with Harfleur. By 1419, Rouen was in the hands of the representative of the English throne, who annexed a large part of France in the process. Only Mont-Saint-Michel, thanks to its strategic position, escaped English control.

Charles VII becomes the new King of France. His objective: to recover the whole kingdom and drive the English out of France. He found in Joan of Arc, a young peasant girl, a decisive ally since the one that History nicknamed Joan the Maid allowed the French army to regain victory and Charles VII to be crowned in Reims. The reconquest of the kingdom of France is underway.

Joan of Arc, accused of heresy, was sold to the English and locked up in Rouen castle before being burned alive in the Place du Vieux-Marché.

The English occupation ends. Cherbourg is the last city liberated. Normandy regains its place in the kingdom of France.

The Duchy of Normandy became a scattered territory made up of several entities, divided into viscounties. Three years later, the title of Duke of Normandy disappears. Symbolically, the ducal ring was destroyed.

The city of Le Havre was born thanks to King Francis I who also launched the creation of a port.

Normandy is divided into two generalities (district for financial administration): that of Rouen and that of Caen. In 1636, a new generality joined them: that of Alençon.

Protestantism reigns supreme in the region. Temples were built in the towns of Saint-Lô, Coutances, Rouen, Caen... Alençon is one of the first to be acquired to Calvinism. But conflicts broke out and religious wars reigned throughout France. 80,000 Normans who had become Protestants decided to go into exile in the Netherlands or England to escape the massacres. Calm returned when Henry IV finally converted to Catholicism. Little by little, Protestantism declined in Normandy.

Two centuries marked by a great maritime epic. The many Norman ports saw the departure of great explorers: Samuel Champlain, Jean Cavelier de La Salle... Thanks to its port activities, trade was bound to flourish in the Normandy region.

Departure of Robert Giffard, a resident of Perche, to settle in Canada in the region of "New France" (i.e. Quebec City). More than a hundred inhabitants of this region of the Orne will settle on the shores of the St. Lawrence.

Born in Allouville, Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc colonized Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint-Christophe and Marie-Galante. At the instigation of a certain Richelieu, a cardinal who became famous, he became the first governor general of the French West Indies.

After a long lull with neighboring England, fighting resumed between the two enemy countries. The coastline was the target of attacks. In 1694, the towns of Le Havre and Dieppe were bombarded, and a fire largely destroyed the latter.

The region is thriving and trade is evolving. The beef industry allows the Auge, Bessin or Bray countries to sell meat, butter and cheese to the townspeople. The bocage and the Pays de Caux specialise in cereal farming. The textile industry is growing, especially in the Ouche country. Its proximity to the capital offers many opportunities for trade.

At the end of the French Revolution, Normandy was then divided into five departments: Calvados, Manche, Eure, Seine-Inférieure (now Seine-Maritime) and Orne, which was given the county of Perche.

Charlotte Corday from Orne, tired of the excesses of the Revolution, assassinates the mountain deputy Marat in his bathtub in Paris. A descendant of Corneille, she is executed a few days later for her crime.

Chouannerie, a movement of royalist insurgents, has developed particularly in Lower Normandy since 1795. It was brutally stopped by a certain Napoleon Bonaparte. It was in Alençon that the future emperor arrested the Count de Frotté, leader of the movement.

The first Paris-Rouen train line is inaugurated. Travelers from the Île-de-France region needed just over 4 hours to reach Normandy. 1855 saw the arrival of the first train at Caen station, and three years later at Cherbourg. Saint-Lô was connected in 1860 and Granville in 1870.

From then until 1974, liners regularly left the port of Le Havre for New York. Fast and luxurious, they fascinated the French.

Franco-German war. The Prussians landed in several parts of the region, including Rouen and Alençon. A little-known episode in the history of France and of the region, which nonetheless bears the seeds of the First World War.

The first seaside resorts were built along the 600 kilometers of the Normandy coast. Dieppe, Etretat, Le Tréport, Trouville, Deauville or Cabourg became the must-see destinations for the bourgeoisie coming straight from Paris - the capital being now linked to Normandy by train!

The famous Titanic calls at Cherbourg. Nearly 280 people will board this ship with a sinister destiny.

This is the year of the Popular Front and its famous paid holidays. On the Normandy coast and its beaches, people are in a hurry.

Over 40,000 Allied troops from the USA, Canada and England land on the beaches of Calvados and La Manche. This was Operation Overlord, a historic D-Day for the region on several counts. The D-Day landings and the ensuing Battle of Normandy were a major episode in the Second World War, in the reconquest of freedom for occupied nations. It was a turning point for the region, which over the decades has established itself as a true place of remembrance.

Normandy is divided in two. Orne, Calvados and Manche make up Basse-Normandie, while Eure and Seine-Maritime make up Haute-Normandie.

After more than half a century of separation, the two Normandy regions are reunited! After a bitter debate, Rouen became the prefecture of the region, and the seat of the Regional Council remained in Caen. The whole region has more than 3.3 million inhabitants.