Were Norman invaders of England Scandinavian?

[TheForeigner]

What was the ethnic origin of the Norman invaders of England? Were they really still just Frenchified Scandinavians or were they of mixed ancestry? Did the army include many non-Normans too? We use to think of them as Scandinavian or Germanic, but is that accurate?

[TheForeigner]

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[Ouistreham]

Only a minority was of (pure or mixed) Scandinavian origin, due to two factors:
· The invasion force consisted of Normans for less than half. Duke William made of the conquest a sort of crusade against king Harold's perjury and got support from the Chruch. That way he attracted lots of minor lords, knights, squires and other soldiers of fortune from Brittany, Picardy, Flanders, France etc. who wanted to join in and take their share of the spoils.
· Among the Normans themselves, warriors from peripheral areas (those less impacted by Viking settlements) were over-represented, for lots of very logical reasons.

[Ilma]

What was the ethnic origin of the Norman invaders of England? Were they really still just Frenchified Scandinavians or were they of mixed ancestry? Did the army include many non-Normans too? We use to think of them as Scandinavian or Germanic, but is that accurate?

To begin with the men following William the Conqueror in 1066 to conquer England were already Normans since 911 (Creation of Normandy as legit land ruled by Norsemen). William was the descendant of Rollo, first Jarl of Normandy in 911. So actually 7 generations passed before William was born, 155 years passed before William conquered Normandy from the birth of Normandy and the settlement of Norsemen.

During those 155 years of Norsemen settlement in Normandy, people mixed with the indigenous population made of Saxons in central Normandy, Franks in Northern Normandy (for example, to know everything read my thread about the ethnogenesis of Normandy : http://www.theapricity.com/forum/sho...is-of-Normandy ).

Even William himself was a mixed between descendants of Normans / Dannish / Saxons (his mother) and Norsemen / Franks / some bretons (his father). We can assume ethnically speaking he was germano-nordic. He was around 1,73 m tall which is attested being 10cm more than average size for a man during this period.

Genealogy of William the Conqueror :

(His mother was the frilla of his father (not married but legit concubine by the Norman law, more dannico). She was Herleva from Fallaise, daughter of merchants).

Concerning the men who fought with him to conquer England, they came from Central Normandy and according to the origin of their surnames we can assume they were from Norsemen and Saxons ancestry. For the others, they were flemish, bretons (allies) etc...

Norman Conquest of England : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman...est_of_England

List of Companions of William the Conqueror : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compan..._the_Conqueror

Of course that list is not about all the men who came with him, they were too many (10 000), but those who have been recognized for their bravery etc.

Norman army reaching England coast (Hasting), Tapestry of Bayeux.

We have also the list of Norman nobles who ordered ships and helped William before the Conquest :

Robert de Conteville, demi-frère du duc, comte de Mortain : 120 longships
Odon de Conteville, évêque de Bayeux, l’autre demi-frère du duc : 100 longships
Guillaume, comte d’Évreux : 80 longships
Roger II de Montgomery : 60 longships
Robert, comte d’Eu : 60 longships
Guillaume Fitz Osbern : 60 longships
Hugues d'Avranches, vicomte d’Avranches : 60 longships
Roger de Beaumont : 60 longships
Hugues II de Montfort-sur-Risle : 50 longships and 60 soldiers
Foulques d’Aunou : 40 longships
Gérald le sénéchal : 40 longships
Gautier Ier Giffard : 30 longships and 100 soldiers
Nicolas de Normandie, abbé de Saint-Ouen de Rouen : 15 longships and 100 soldiers
Rémi de Fécamp, l’aumônier de Abbaye de la Trinité de Fécamp (plus tard évêque de Lincoln) : 1 ship and 20 soldiers

Just be careful with english sources because they tend to minimize or censor the story, they are not that objective.

Norman cavalry, Battle of Hastings (14th october 1066), Bayeux Tapestry.

About the soldiers, sources attest today they left from Normandy :

-10 000 men fighting for William

among them : 7500 soldiers + 2500 cavalry men

Each cavalry man had 2 horses so 10 000 men + 5000 horses from Southern Normandy, very robusts (Percherons).

According to Jessica Périsse (historian) the majority of them were Normans from Central Normandy and the others were Bretons, from Picardy, from Paris and from Flanders. William promised them lands in England once they conquered it.

Picards and Flemish were the closest to Normans ethnically speaking because they were descendants of Saxons and Franks as well (they didn't have the Norseman imput Normandy had though).

And for fun, that parodic song tells the real story of the Norman Conquest of England, haha