1.
United Kingdom
–
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
2.
Dumbarton
–
Dumbarton is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Alclud, Dumbarton Castle, on top of Dumbarton Rock, dominates the area. Dumbarton was a Royal burgh between 1222 and 1975, Dumbarton emerged from the 19th century as a centre for shipbuilding, glassmaking, and whisky production. However these industries have declined, and Dumbarton today is increasingly a commuter town for Glasgow 13 miles east-southeast of it. Dumbarton F. C. is the football club. Dumbarton is home to BBC Scotlands drama studios, Dumbarton history goes back at least as far as the Iron Age and probably much earlier. It was the site of a strategically important Roman settlement known as Alcluith of a province named Valentia, the next record of a settlement in Dumbarton is a record in Irish chronicles of the death of Guret, rex Alo Cluathe, in AD658. The loss of the British power base led to the emergence of the new kingdom of Strathclyde, or Cumbria, the title king of the Britons of Srath Clúade was first used in 872. Dumbarton was later the county town of the county of Dunbartonshire, in September 1605 Chancellor Dunfermline reported to King James VI that inundations of the sea were likely to destroy and take away the whole town. It was estimated that the defences would cost 30,000 pounds Scots. During World War II Dumbarton was heavily bombed by the German air force, the Germans were targeting the shipyards, and the area in the vicinity of the yards was consequently hit, with Clyde and Leven Street being severely damaged. The ploy was sometimes successful in diverting the bombers and many bombs fell harmlessly onto the moors, Dumbarton Castle sits on Dumbarton Rock, at the east bank mouth of the River Leven, where it flows into the Clyde estuary. The Castle has a history and many well-known figures from Scottish and British history have visited it. The castle was a royal fortress long before Dumbarton became a Royal Burgh, its ownership went from Scottish to English, the castle was an important place during the Wars of Independence and was used to imprison William Wallace for a short time after his capture by the English. It was from here that Mary, Queen of Scots, was conveyed to France for safety as a child, Mary was trying to reach Dumbarton Castle when she suffered her final defeat at Langside. In later times, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II visited the castle, today, Dumbarton Rock is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, it has legal protection in order to maintain and conserve the site for the future. As such any sort of work on the rock is strictly regulated by the Scottish Government, from the top of the castle can be seen both the River Clyde and Leven Grove Park
3.
Paddle steamer
–
A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, modern paddle wheelers may be powered by diesel engines. The paddle wheel is a steel framework wheel. The outer edge of the wheel is fitted with numerous, regularly-spaced paddle blades, the bottom quarter or so of the wheel travels underwater. An engine rotates the wheel in the water to produce thrust. More advanced paddle wheel designs feature feathering methods that keep each paddle blade closer to vertical while in the water to increase efficiency, the upper part of a paddle wheel is normally enclosed in a paddlebox to minimise splashing. There are two ways to mount paddle wheels on a ship, either a single wheel on the rear, known as a sternwheeler, or a paddle wheel on each side. Both sternwheelers and sidewheelers were used as riverboats in the United States, some still operate for tourists, for example on the Mississippi River. Sidewheelers are used as riverboats and as coastal craft and this extra maneuverability makes sidewheelers popular on the narrower, winding rivers of the Murray-Darling system in Australia, where a number still operate. European sidewheelers, such as the PS Waverley, connect the wheels with solid drive shafts that limit maneuverability, some were built with paddle clutches that disengage one or both paddles so they can turn independently. However, wisdom gained from experience with sidewheelers deemed that they be operated with clutches out. Crews noticed that as ships approached the dock, passengers moved to the side of the ready to disembark. The shift in weight, added to independent movements of the paddles, could lead to imbalance, in a simple paddle wheel, where the paddles are fixed around the periphery, power is lost due to churning of the water as the paddles enter and leave the water surface. Ideally, the paddles should remain vertical while under water and this ideal can be approximated by use of levers and linkages connected to a fixed eccentric. The eccentric is fixed slightly forward of the wheel centre. It is coupled to each paddle via a rod and lever, the geometry is designed such that the paddles are kept almost vertical for the short duration that they are in the water. One of the drawings of the Anonymous Author of the Hussite Wars shows a boat with a pair of paddle-wheels at each end turned by men operating compound cranks. In 1704, the French physicist Denis Papin constructed the first ship powered by his steam engine and this made him the first to construct a steam-powered boat
4.
Southern Railway (UK)
–
The Southern Railway, sometimes shortened to Southern, was a British railway company established in the 1923 Grouping. It linked London with the Channel ports, South West England, South coast resorts, the construction of what was to become the Southern Railway began in 1838 with the opening of the London and Southampton Railway, which was renamed the London & South Western Railway. The railway was noted for its use of public relations. At 2,186 miles, the Southern Railway was the smallest of the Big Four railway companies and, unlike the others and it created what was at that time the worlds largest electrified main line railway system and the first electrified InterCity route. The Southern Railway operated a number of named trains, including the Brighton Belle, the Bournemouth Belle, the Golden Arrow. The West Country services were dominated by summer holiday traffic and included named trains such as the Atlantic Coast Express. The companys best-known livery was highly distinctive, locomotives and carriages were painted in a bright Malachite green above plain black frames, with bold, the Southern Railway was nationalised in 1948, becoming the Southern Region of British Railways. These companies were amalgamated, together several small independently operated lines and non-working companies, to form the Southern Railway in 1923. The first main line railway in southern England was the London and Southampton Railway and it was quickly followed by the London and Brighton Railway, and the South Eastern Railway in February 1844. The LSWR branched out to destinations including Portsmouth, Salisbury and later Exeter and it grew to be the largest of the four constituent companies. The LBSCR was a smaller railway than its LSWR neighbour, serving the port of Newhaven and several holiday resorts on the south coast. It had been almost bankrupt in 1867, but during the last twenty-five years of its existence it had been well-managed and it had begun to electrify routes around London from 1909 to compete with the new electric trams that were taking away some of its traffic. Finally, the SECR had been created after years of wasteful, both companies had been unpopular with the travelling public and operated poorly maintained vehicles and infrastructure. Nevertheless, real progress had made in rectifying this during the period 1899–1922. The formation of the Southern Railway was rooted in the outbreak of the First World War, many members of staff joined the armed forces and it was not possible to build and maintain equipment at peacetime levels. The resultant amalgamation of the four south coast railways to form the Southern Railway meant that several duplicate routes, the LSWR had most influence on the new company, although genuine attempts were made to integrate the services and staff after 1923. In addition to its operations, the Southern Railway inherited several important port and harbour facilities along the south coast, including Southampton, Newhaven. It also ran services to the harbours at Portsmouth, Dover and these had come into being for handling ocean-going and cross-channel passenger traffic and the size of the railway-owned installations reflected the prosperity that the industry generated
5.
Isle of Wight
–
The Isle of Wight /ˈaɪl əv ˈwaɪt/ is a county and the largest and second-most populous island in England. It is located in the English Channel, about 4 miles off the coast of Hampshire, the island has resorts that have been holiday destinations since Victorian times, and is known for its mild climate, coastal scenery, and verdant landscape of fields, downland and chines. The island has been home to the poets Swinburne and Tennyson and to Queen Victoria and it has a maritime and industrial tradition including boat building, sail making, the manufacture of flying boats, the hovercraft, and Britains space rockets. The island hosts annual festivals including the Isle of Wight Festival. It has well-conserved wildlife and some of the richest cliffs and quarries for dinosaur fossils in Europe, the Isle was owned by a Norman family until 1293 and was earlier a kingdom in its own right. Rural for most of its history, its Victorian fashionability and the affordability of holidays led to significant urban development during the late 19th. The island was part of Hampshire until 1890 when it became its own administrative county, apart from a shared police force, there is now no administrative link with Hampshire, although a combined local authority with Portsmouth and Southampton is being considered. Until 1995 the island had a governor, the quickest public transport link to the mainland is the hovercraft from Ryde to Southsea, while three ferry and two catamaran services cross the Solent to Southampton, Lymington and Portsmouth. During the Ice Age, sea levels were lower and the Solent was part of a river flowing south east from current day Poole Harbour towards mid-Channel. As sea levels rose, the valley became flooded. The first inhabitants are assumed to have been hunter-gatherers migrating by land during the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age period, as the ice age began to recede. From the Neolithic era onwards, there are indications that the island had wide trading links, with a port at Bouldnor, evidence of Bronze Age tin trading, caesar reported that the Belgae took the Isle of Wight in about 85 BC and gave its name as Vectis. The Roman historian Suetonius mentions that the island was captured by the commander Vespasian, the Romans built no towns or roads on the island, but the remains of at least seven Roman villas have been found, indicating the prosperity of local agriculture. During the Dark Ages the island was settled by Jutes as the kingdom of Wihtwara under King Arwald. In 685 it was invaded by Caedwalla, who tried to replace the inhabitants with his own followers and it suffered especially from Viking raids, and was often used as a winter base by Viking raiders when they were unable to reach Normandy. Later, both Earl Tostig and his brother Harold Godwinson held manors on the island, the Norman Conquest of 1066 created the position of Lord of the Isle of Wight, the island being given by William the Conqueror to his kinsman William FitzOsbern. Carisbrooke Priory and the fort of Carisbrooke Castle were then founded, allegiance was sworn to FitzOsbern rather than the king, the Lordship was subsequently granted to the de Redvers family by Henry I, after his succession in 1100. For nearly 200 years the island was a semi-independent feudal fiefdom, the final private owner was the Countess Isabella de Fortibus, who, on her deathbed in 1293, was persuaded to sell it to Edward I
6.
Island Harbour Marina
–
Island Harbour Marina, on the Isle of Wight, UK, is a commercial marina on the River Medina in the small hamlet of Binfield. It is located halfway between Cowes and the County Town of Newport. Visiting yachtsmen will find it just past the Folly Inn on the East bank, being a relatively small marina, it best suits pleasure craft of up to 20 metres in length. The marina accommodates both annual berthholders and short-term visiting craft, as the River Medina is tidal, the marina has lock gates to maintain a sufficient operational depth. It also means access to the marina by boat is dependent on the state of the tide. A table showing the approximate access times is shown below, Island Harbour Marina was built in 1966 on the site of a demolished water mill, with the main part of the marina being formed by enlarging the original millponds. The marinas creators and first owners were brothers Alan and Colin Ridett, as well as arriving by boat, access to the marina can be gained by car, bus and river water taxi. A new riverbank cycle-way has recently completed between Newport and Island Harbour Marina, with further plans for it to be extended to the Folly Inn in the future. As well as the marina, there is a large hardstanding area for around 100 boats to be stored ashore, the marina also has its own on-site restaurant. There is an on-site chandlery, boat builders and repair workshop, at Island Harbour there are also 96 holiday homes and three permanent dwellings situated within the marina grounds. In November 2014, work began on building a further 25 holiday apartments, a brand new customer showerblock was completed in June 2015 and in 2016, work was started on two more blocks of apartments. Also in 2016, the restaurant was greatly enlarged and refurbished. A major feature of the site is the paddle steamer Ryde, more details of this vessel are shown below. At the far end of the marina is a nature reserve. On the southern boundary of the land is a fairly large lake. Road access to Island Harbour is via Mill Lane, which connects to North Fairlee Road, in Mill Lane, adjoining Island Harbour, is Binfield Farm. The farm has long associated with Island Harbour and been in common ownership. A90 degree turn to port just before it, will take vessels parallel to the pontoon, yachtsmen should be beware of the mudbanks either side of the entry channel and stay within the channel markers
7.
River Medina
–
The river is a navigable tidal estuary from Newport northwards, where it takes the form of a ria. Its current state has occurred because the Medina used to be a tributary of what was once the River Solent and had a larger catchment area. As the Solent valley flooded and the island eroded, the river received less water flow and more sediment, the river is bridged at Newport. Cowes is connected to East Cowes by a ferry known as the Cowes Floating Bridge. The name Medina comes from the Old English Meðune meaning the one. The river is used by yachtsmen as a safe harbour. Along the banks of the Medina there are many old warehouses and wharves where in the past flying boats, hovercraft and steam ships were developed, the Classic Boat Museum displays much of the rivers history alongside the history of yachting. The Island Harbour Marina, at the site of an old mill, is also on the river. As well as the ferry, the River Medina has several small ferries which cater mainly for sailors. Medina, Western Australia is a suburb in Perth named after it
8.
Ryde Pier
–
Ryde Pier is an early 19th century pier serving the town of Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. It is the worlds oldest seaside pleasure pier, the need for a pier was obvious, especially if the town was to attract the wealthy and fashionable visitors who were beginning to patronise other seaside resorts. The pier was designed by John Kent of Southampton, and its foundation laid on 29 June 1813. The pier opened on 26 July 1814, with, as it still has, the structure was originally wholly timber, and measured 576 yards. By 1833, extensions took the length to 745 yards. It is this structure that has, with some modifications, carried pedestrians. A second tramway pier was next to the first, opening on 29 August 1864. Horse-drawn trams took passengers from the head to the esplanade. Before construction of the pier, the tramway continued to Ryde railway station at St Johns Road. From 1886 to 1927 the trams were powered by electricity from a third rail, on 12 July 1880 a third pier was opened, alongside the first two, providing a direct steam railway link to the pier-head. The railway was owned jointly by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and London and South Western Railway, as far as Ryde St Johns Road, to connect with their ship services to Portsmouth. In 1895 a concert pavilion was constructed at the pier-head, and it was at Ryde Pier that the Empress Eugénie landed from Sir John Burgoynes yacht The Gazelle, after her flight from Paris in 1870. The pier head was remodelled in the 1930s using concrete, and during the Second World War was used for military purposes, the pavilion was later demolished, but a few of the rotting piles are still visible around the edge of an extended car parking area constructed in 2010. The tramway closed in 1969 and the structure was partially dismantled and this has left the disused and decaying tramway pier between the railway and promenade piers. The remaining structure has proved useful for diversions, such as when a ship sliced through the promenade pier in 1974. In autumn 2010 the whole length was fitted with a deck to provide a walkway. Ryde Pier was made a Grade II listed building in 1976, in the early 1980s a modern waiting area, including some of the original buildings, replaced the original Victorian waiting rooms at the pier-head. Further modifications were made in 2009, including provision of a refreshment area with views towards Ryde
9.
Royal Navy
–
The Royal Navy is the United Kingdoms naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the medieval period. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century, from the middle decades of the 17th century and through the 18th century, the Royal Navy vied with the Dutch Navy and later with the French Navy for maritime supremacy. From the mid 18th century it was the worlds most powerful navy until surpassed by the United States Navy during the Second World War. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing the British Empire as the world power during the 19th. Due to this historical prominence, it is common, even among non-Britons, following World War I, the Royal Navy was significantly reduced in size, although at the onset of the Second World War it was still the worlds largest. By the end of the war, however, the United States Navy had emerged as the worlds largest, during the Cold War, the Royal Navy transformed into a primarily anti-submarine force, hunting for Soviet submarines, mostly active in the GIUK gap. The Royal Navy is part of Her Majestys Naval Service, which includes the Royal Marines. The professional head of the Naval Service is the First Sea Lord, the Defence Council delegates management of the Naval Service to the Admiralty Board, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence. The strength of the fleet of the Kingdom of England was an important element in the power in the 10th century. English naval power declined as a result of the Norman conquest. Medieval fleets, in England as elsewhere, were almost entirely composed of merchant ships enlisted into service in time of war. Englands naval organisation was haphazard and the mobilisation of fleets when war broke out was slow, early in the war French plans for an invasion of England failed when Edward III of England destroyed the French fleet in the Battle of Sluys in 1340. Major fighting was confined to French soil and Englands naval capabilities sufficed to transport armies and supplies safely to their continental destinations. Such raids halted finally only with the occupation of northern France by Henry V. Henry VII deserves a large share of credit in the establishment of a standing navy and he embarked on a program of building ships larger than heretofore. He also invested in dockyards, and commissioned the oldest surviving dry dock in 1495 at Portsmouth, a standing Navy Royal, with its own secretariat, dockyards and a permanent core of purpose-built warships, emerged during the reign of Henry VIII. Under Elizabeth I England became involved in a war with Spain, the new regimes introduction of Navigation Acts, providing that all merchant shipping to and from England or her colonies should be carried out by English ships, led to war with the Dutch Republic. In the early stages of this First Anglo-Dutch War, the superiority of the large, heavily armed English ships was offset by superior Dutch tactical organisation and the fighting was inconclusive
10.
Strait of Dover
–
Between these points lies the most popular route for cross-channel swimmers. The entire strait is within the waters of France and the United Kingdom. The strait is the busiest international seaway in the world, used by over 400 commercial vessels daily and this has made traffic safety a critical issue, with HM Coastguard and the Maritime Gendarmerie maintaining a 24-hour watch over the strait and enforcing a strict regime of shipping lanes. In addition to the intensive east–west traffic, the strait is crossed north to south by ferries linking Dover to Calais. Until 1994 these provided the route across it for land transport. The Channel Tunnel now provides a route, crossing beneath the strait at an average depth of 45 m below the seabed. The town of Dover gives its name to one of the sea areas of the British Shipping Forecast, the strait is believed to have been created by the erosion of a land bridge that linked the Weald in Great Britain to the Boulonnais in the Pas de Calais. The predominant geology on both the British and French sides and on the seafloor is chalk, although somewhat resistant to erosion, erosion of both coasts has created the famous white cliffs of Dover in the UK and the Cap Blanc Nez in France. The Channel Tunnel was bored through solid chalk, the Rhine flowed northwards into the North Sea as the sea level fell during the start of the first of the Pleistocene Ice Ages. This overflow channel became the Strait of Dover about 425,000 years ago, a narrow deep channel along the middle of the strait was the bed of the Rhine in the last Ice Age. A geological deposit in East Anglia marks the old preglacial northward course of the Rhine, a 2007 study concluded the English Channel was formed by erosion caused by two major floods. The first was about 425,000 years ago, when a lake in the southern North Sea overflowed and broke the Weald-Artois chalk range in a catastrophic erosion. Afterwards, the Thames and Scheldt flowed through the gap into the English Channel, in a second flood about 225,000 years ago the Meuse and Rhine were ice-dammed into a lake that broke catastrophically through a high weak barrier. Both floods cut massive flood channels in the dry bed of the English Channel, the Lobourg strait, a major feature of the straits seafloor, runs its 6 km wide slash on a NNE–SSW axis. The submarine depth of the varies between 68 m at the Lobourg strait and 20 m at the highest banks. It presents a succession of rocky areas relatively deserted by ships wanting to spare their nets, the strong currents of the Channel are slowed down around the rocky areas of the strait, with formation of countercurrents and calmer zones where many species can find shelter. Moreover, this is a zone for the species of the Atlantic Ocean. This mix of various environments promotes a variety of wildlife
11.
Harwich
–
Harwich /ˈhærɪtʃ/ is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district, nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south. It is the northernmost coastal town within Essex, the town became a naval base in 1657 and was heavily fortified, with Harwich Redoubt, Beacon Hill Battery, and Bath Side Battery. Harwich today is contiguous with Dovercourt and the two, along with Parkeston, are referred to collectively as Harwich. The towns name means settlement, from Old English here-wic. The town received its charter in 1238, although there is evidence of earlier settlement – for example, a record of a chapel in 1177, because of its strategic position, Harwich was the target for the invasion of Britain by William of Orange on 11 November 1688. However, unfavourable winds forced his fleet to sail into the English Channel instead, due to the involvement of the Schomberg family in the invasion, Charles Louis Schomberg was made Marquess of Harwich. Writer Daniel Defoe devotes a few pages to the town in A tour thro the Whole Island of Great Britain, visiting in 1722, he noted its formidable fort and harbour of a vast extent. The town, he recounts, was known for an unusual spring rising on Beacon Hill. The locals also claimed that the spring is said to turn wood into iron. Harwich Dockyard was established as a Royal Navy Dockyard in 1652 and it ceased to operate as a Royal Dockyard in 1713. The Royal Navy is no longer present in Harwich but Harwich International Port at nearby Parkeston continues to offer regular services to the Hook of Holland in the Netherlands. Many operations of the container port at Felixstowe and of Trinity House. The port is famous for the phrase Harwich for the Continent, seen on road signs, at least three pairs of lighthouses have been built over recent centuries as leading lights, to help guide vessels into Harwich. The earliest pair were wooden structures, the High Light stood on top of the old Town Gate, in 1818 these were replaced by stone structures, designed by John Rennie Senior, which can still be seen today. They were owned by General Rebow of Wivenhoe Park, who was able to charge 1d per ton on all cargo entering the port, for upkeep of the lights. They were in turn replaced by the pair of cast iron lights at nearby Dovercourt, these too remain in situ, the extant medieval structures are largely private homes. The house featured in the image of Kings Head St to the left is unique in the town and is an example of a sailmakers house, thought to have been built circa 1600
12.
Normandy
–
Normandy is one of the regions of France, roughly corresponding to the historical Duchy of Normandy. Administratively, Normandy is divided into five departments, Calvados, Eure, Manche, Orne and it covers 30,627 km², forming roughly 5% of the territory of France. Its population of 3.37 million accounts for around 5% of the population of France, Normans is the name given to the inhabitants of Normandy, and the region is the homeland of the Norman language. The historical region of Normandy comprised the region of Normandy, as well as small areas now part of the départements, or departments of Mayenne. For a century and a following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, Normandy and England were linked by Norman. Archaeological finds, such as paintings, prove that humans were present in the region in prehistoric times. Celts invaded Normandy in successive waves from the 4th to the 3rd century BC, when Julius Caesar invaded Gaul, there were nine different Celtic tribes living in Normandy. The Romanisation of Normandy was achieved by the methods, Roman roads. Classicists have knowledge of many Gallo-Roman villas in Normandy, in the late 3rd century, barbarian raids devastated Normandy. Coastal settlements were raided by Saxon pirates, Christianity also began to enter the area during this period. In 406, Germanic tribes began invading from the east, while the Saxons subjugated the Norman coast, the Roman Emperor withdrew from most of Normandy. As early as 487, the area between the River Somme and the River Loire came under the control of the Frankish lord Clovis, the Vikings started to raid the Seine Valley during the middle of the 9th century. As early as 841, a Viking fleet appeared at the mouth of the Seine, after attacking and destroying monasteries, including one at Jumièges, they took advantage of the power vacuum created by the disintegration of Charlemagnes empire to take northern France. The fiefdom of Normandy was created for the Norwegian Viking leader Hrólfr Ragnvaldsson, Rollo had besieged Paris but in 911 entered vassalage to the king of the West Franks, Charles the Simple, through the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. In exchange for his homage and fealty, Rollo legally gained the territory which he, the name Normandy reflects Rollos Viking origins. The descendants of Rollo and his followers adopted the local Gallo-Romance language and they became the Normans – a Norman-speaking mixture of Saxons and indigenous Franks and Celts. Besides the Norman conquest of England and the subsequent conquests of Wales and Ireland, Norman families, such as that of Tancred of Hauteville, Rainulf Drengot and Guimond de Moulins played important parts in the Norman conquest of southern Italy and Crusades. They also carved out a place for themselves and their descendants in the Crusader states of Asia Minor, the 14th century Norman explorer Jean de Béthencourt established a kingdom in the Canary Islands
.jpg)
.jpg)
