gher civilisation with which they
had come into contact, and the new generations that sprang up on French
soil added to the vigour and daring of their ancestors the manners and
advanced customs of France, although the Northmen continued to be called
"The Pirates" for a considerable time. When Rollo died he was succeeded by
his son William Longsword, and from an incident mentioned by Mr T.A. Cook
in his "Story of Rouen," we can see the attitude of the Normans towards
Charles the Simple. He had sent down to Rouen two court gallants to
sympathise with the Princess Gisela, his daughter, for the rough treatment
she had received at the hands of Rollo, but they were both promptly siezed
and hanged in what is now the Place du Marche Vieux.

Great stone castles were beginning to appear at all the chief places in
Normandy, and when Duke Richard had succeeded Harold Blacktooth we find
that the Duchy was assuming an ordered existence internally. The feudal
system had then reached its fullest development, and the laws established
by Rollo were properly administered. With the accession of Hugh Capet to
the throne of France, Normandy had become a most loyal as well as powerful
fief of the crown. The tenth century witnessed also an attempt on the part
of the serfs of the Duchy to throw off something of the awful grip of the
feudal power. These peasants were the descendants of Celts, of Romans, and
of Franks, and their efforts to form a representative assembly bear a
pathetic resemblance to the movement towards a similar end in Russia of
to-day. The representatives of the serfs were treated with the most fearful
cruelty and sent back to their villages; but the movement did not fail to
have its effects, for the condition of the villains in Normandy was always
better than in other parts of France.

Broadly speaking, all the successors of Rollo, the first Duke of Normandy,
governed the country with wisdom and ability, and although there was more
or less constant war, either with the French, who were always hoping to
regain the lost province, or with rebellious barons who disputed the
authority of the dukes, yet the country progressed steadily and became
prosperous. Abbeys and churches that the invaders had laid waste were
rebuilt on a larger scale. At Jumieges there are still to be seen some
remains of the church that William Longsword began to build for the
unfortunate monks who had been left homeless after their abbey had been
destroyed