Chausey is a group of small islands, islets and rocks off the coast of Normandy, in the English Channel. It lies 17 kilometres (11 mi) from Granville and forms a quartier of the Granville commune in the Manche département. Chausey forms part of the Channel Islands from a geographical point of view, but, because it is under French jurisdiction, it is almost never mentioned in the context of the other Channel Islands. There are no scheduled transport links between Chausey and the other Channel Islands, although between two and four daily shuttles link Chausey to mainland France through Granville, depending on the season.

In the Middle Ages, the duke of Normandy was the ruler of the Duchy of Normandy in north-western France. The duchy arose out of a grant of land to the Viking leader Rollo by the French king Charles the Simple in 911. In 924 and again in 933, Normandy was expanded by royal grant. Rollo's male-line descendants continued to rule it until 1135, and cognatic descendants ruled it until 1204. In 1202 the French king Philip II declared Normandy a forfeited fief and by 1204 his army had conquered it. It remained a French royal province thereafter, still called the Duchy of Normandy, but only occasionally granted to a duke of the royal house as an appanage.