Perhaps after a time Rollo and his Vikings went home; but we do
not know what he did for about twenty-five years. We do know that
he abandoned his old home in Norway in 911. Then he and his people
sailed from the icy shore of Norway and again went up the Seine
in hundreds of Viking vessels.
Of course, on arriving in the land of the Franks, Rollo at once
began to plunder towns and farms.
Charles, then king of the Franks, although his people called him
the Simple, or Senseless, had sense enough to see that this must
be stopped.
So he sent a message to Rollo and proposed that they should have
a talk about peace. Rollo agreed and accordingly they met. The
king and his troops stood on one side of a little river, and Rollo
with his Vikings stood on the other. Messages passed between them.
The king asked Rollo what he wanted.
"Let me and my people live in the land of the Franks; let us make
ourselves home here, and I and my Vikings will become your vassals,"
answered Rollo. He asked for Rouen and the neighboring land. So
the king gave him that part of Francia; and ever since it has been
called Normandy, the land of the Northmen.
When it was decided that the Vikings should settle in Francia and
be subjects of the Frankish king, Rollo was told that he must kiss
the foot of Charles in token that he would be the king's vassal.
The haughty Viking refused. "Never," said he, "will I bend my knee
before any man, and no man's foot will I kiss." After some persuasion,
however, he ordered one of his men to perform the act of homage
for him. The king was on horseback and the Norseman, standing by
the side of the horse, suddenly seized the king's foot and drew
it up to his lips. This almost made the king fall from his horse,
to the great amusement of the Norsemen.
Becoming a vassal to the king meant that if the king went to war
Rollo would be obliged to join his army and bring a certain number
of armed men--one thousand or more.
Rollo now granted parts of Normandy to his leading men on condition
that they would bring soldiers to his army and fight under him.
They became his vassals, as he was the king's vassal.
The lands granted to vassals in this way were called feuds, and
this plan of holding lands was called the Feudal System.
It was established in every country of Europe during the Middle
Ages.
The poorest people were called serfs. They were almost slaves and
were never permitted to leave the estate to which they belonged.
They did all the work. They worked chiefly for the landlords, but
partly for themselves.
Having been a robber himself, Rollo knew what a shocking thing it
was to ravage and plunder, and he determined to change his people's
habits. He made strict laws and hanged robbers. His duchy thus
became one of the safest parts of Europe.
The Northmen learned the language of the Franks and adopted their
religion.
The story of Rollo is especially interesting to us, because Rollo
was the forefather of that famous Duke of Normandy who, less than
a hundred and fifty years later, conquered England and brought
into that country the Norman nobles with their French language and
customs.