History of the Normans by Dudo of St Quentin

by Eric Christiansen

This is the first English translation of a powerful work of semi-imaginary history which gave the Normans a past, present, and future at the outset of their triumphant century. Completed in or soon after 1015 by a visiting French scholar, it is a study in verse and prose of one family's rise from defeat and exile in the world of the heathen Vikings to an honoured place among the great territorial rulers of France. It recounts two campaigns in England by the founder, Rollo, and a series of stirring political, military and religious events on the Continent, most notably the dreadful murder of Rollo's son William, and the kidnapping, escape and precarious early career of Dudo's first patron, Count Richard I. The author's exuberant imagination is matched by his language, so presenting the unwary reader with difficulties, which ERIC CHRISTIANSEN notes and discusses throughout, defining and explaining the many poetic metres and prose embellishments used, and identifying the sources of numerous borrowings; he also re-examines and collates the manuscripts and printed versions of the text, and considers the most recent scholarship in the field.ERIC CHRISTIANSENis Fellow of New College and University Lecturer at Oxford.

Genres: Medieval

Unknown Binding

First published July 2, 1998

About the author

Eric Christiansen was a medieval historian and fellow emeritus of New College, Oxford University.

Christiansen was educated at Charterhouse School after which he served in the ranks of the Northamptonshire Regiment. He became a fellow of New College after completing a thesis on modern Spanish history but subsequently specialised in medieval history.

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read selections; if you actually want to learn about history with women included, skip Dudo and read the Norman chronicle by Wace.