57:
168:
fails to mention
Bernard the Dane either in this context or at any point in his forty year chronicle. This is surprising if the prominence ascribed by Dudo to Bernard is to be believed, especially since Flodoard is regarded as a light in the darkness of the history of this period. (In his notes to his edition of Flodoard's 'Annals', Philippe Lauer says that, but for Flodoard, "
136:) to raise an army which duly lands in Normandy and captures the king. He is then held hostage in Rouen. Negotiations follow, with Bernard playing a central role, which culminate in the release of the king in return for a renewed treaty re-asserting the Normans' right to their territory and Richard's right to its leadership.
113:
In 942 CE, William
Longsword is assassinated, sparking a series of dramatic events during which Dudo depicts Bernard the Dane as having a significant role, not only as a military leader in Rouen, but also as co-regent of the territory whilst William's son and heir, Richard, is still in his minority.
109:
We know extremely little about
Bernard the Dane and all that we do know comes from Dudo of Saint-Quentin in his work commonly referred to as 'De moribus', the story of the lives of the earliest leaders of Normandy. He would have been alive in the middle of the tenth century but we have no birth or
243:
and
Harcourt. This has since been replicated very widely and is evident in countless online genealogies and family histories today. La Roque's 'sources' for Bernard the Dane are limited to discussions with fellow genealogists and recent manuscripts, which do not provide a source for the family he
167:
Flodoard of Reims, maintained his 'Annals' over the period 920 to 960 CE. He would have been a young man when the treaty establishing
Normandy was signed and in the midst of writing his chronicles when William was killed in 942 CE. He describes this shocking event, and those that followed it, but
184:
Dudo started writing his version of events in 996 CE, over fifty years after the assassination of
William Longsword. His 'De moribus' is a panegyric, part prose and part verse, written in florid and arcane language, which has been widely questioned by modern historians.
221:
write histories of the period, mirroring Dudo for the tenth century, adding nothing of substance about
Bernard the Dane or indicating other primary sources. Dudo's 'De moribus' continues to form the basis of further histories of Normandy for the period.
295:", recalls the brave deeds of his father Rollo. This may refer to either Bernard the Dane or Bernard of Senlis, a relative of William. If it is indeed Bernard the Dane then there follows a period of some fifteen years when he is absent from Dudo's story.
110:
death dates for him. Dudo ascribes to him great wealth and a 'beautiful wife' but doesn't name her or mention any children. In fact, the section of Dudo's story that includes mentions of
Bernard the Dane only spans four years from 942 to 946 CE.
290:
In this work there is more than one character named
Bernard and Dudo sometimes fails to be clear about which Bernard he is referring to. For example, after Rollo hands over power to his son William Longsword (in 928 CE), Dudo mentions that
230:
Despite Dudo suggesting nothing more than
Bernard the Dane having an unnamed "beautiful wife", this hasn't stopped genealogists from creating a family for him. Notably, Gilles-André de La Roque in his 1633 work on the genealogy of the
175:
The 'Historia' by the monk Richer covers the period from 885 to 996 CE. For the earlier part of that period, that of interest in regard to Bernard, Richer relied upon and closely followed Flodoard. He doesn't mention Bernard the Dane.
495:
Sir Frank Stenton - speech made on becoming President of the Royal Historical Society in 1944, reproduced in 'The transactions of the Royal Historical Society', 4th Series, Volume 27, 1945.
649:
125:
under the guise of protecting and educating him. Then we hear of his rescue and return to Rouen where, Dudo says, he is put under the protection of Bernard the Dane.
191:
The panegyrical history of the early dukes written by Dudo of St. Quentin for Duke Richard II has suffered irretrievably from modern criticism.
147:
There is no extant contemporary source for Bernard the Dane, despite there being two writers who were both maintaining chronicles at the time:
382:. Based upon the Fécamp (Berlin) manuscript, the chapter and folio numbering of which are used for the citations of this work on this page.
268:) where 'Dacia' refers to a diocese of eastern Scandinavia, not the province bordering the Black Sea. Dudo sometimes follows the name with
170:
a good part of the tenth century history of France would consist only in a few scattered and discordant mentions, and in a web of legends
644:
281:
Dudo does not provide dates but these events appear in other sources (see references) and can be dated by contextual cross-referencing.
132:
both attack the province. The Normans - in the person of Bernard the Dane in Dudo's account - respond by calling on the Danish king (
96:
78:
71:
43:. In particular, Bernard is seen as being at the centre of events in the aftermath of the assassination of William Longsword.
323:
In dealing with any aspect of early Norman history it is impossible to get very far down beneath speculation to concrete fact
342:" or proofs. The side note for Bernard the Dane refers only to discussions with his colleagues in 1613 and a work entitled "
659:
639:
654:
260:
Bernard the Dane is a convenient widely-used standardisation of the name. Dudo calls him either 'Bernard of Rouen' (L.
354:" as copies or summaries of other documents, which lack source references and mainly lack dates, and are unverifiable.
67:
117:
Dudo recounts that, after the murder of his father, the young heir, Richard, is abducted by allies of the king (
634:
629:
574:
308:', ecclesiastical records kept by the monasteries and churches, do not generally stretch back to this period.
139:
These events had concluded by early 946 CE, after which Dudo makes no further mention of Bernard the Dane.
214:
40:
20:
590:
348:
drawn up from the Latin chronicles of Dudo of St. Quentin, William of Jumièges, and Orderic Vitalis
118:
239:
was Bernard's son, thus implying that Bernard was the earliest known forebear of the houses of
203:
either his own invention or the product of skilful plagiarisation or reworking of other events.
318:
240:
232:
205:" The historian Leah Shopkow regards Bernard the Dane, specifically, as an invention of Dudo.
186:
36:
523:
Graham A Loud - review of Eric Christiansen's 'Dudo of St Quentin: History of the Normans',
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327:
For the study of early Norman society materials are few, and many of them are untrustworthy.
133:
468:
379:
218:
129:
611:
538:
History and Community: Norman Historical Writing in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries
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family, ascribes a family to Bernard that is not found elsewhere. He asserts that
512:
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a piece of extremely learned, not to say remarkably pretentious, literary fiction
346:" which is described in the 'Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle', as being "
305:
194:
56:
511:, Latin with French facing page translation, edition by A.M. Poinsignon, 1855;
338:
La Roque includes some side notes and an extensive section which he calls his "
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As a result of the perceived weakness of Normandy at this point, the king and
39:, and co-regent of the territory during the minority of his son and heir,
554:
152:
148:
28:
524:
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24:
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122:
467:, Picard, 1905. In Latin with a French introduction and notes,
350:". The Foundation for Medieval Genealogy describes La Roque's "
50:
378:, English edition and translation by Felice Lifshitz, 1998,
27:
from 'Dacia', an ally and confidant of the first leaders of
19:
is described by the tenth century ecclesiastical writer
540:, Catholic University of America Press, 1997, ch.2.
293:a certain Bernard, privy to duke William's secrets
588:Histoire généalogique de la maison de Harcourt
650:Converts to Christianity from pagan religions
376:De moribus et actis primorum Normanniae ducum
201:" and adds that most of what Dudo wrote was "
8:
97:Learn how and when to remove this message
565:Hugh of Fleury, appendix to Lauer, p.216
321:also refers to the paucity of sources: "
367:
253:
121:) and taken to the royal stronghold of
491:
489:
77:Please improve this section by adding
7:
610:eds. Graeme Dunphy, Cristian Bratu
14:
483:, Introduction by Lauer, p. xviii
163:Absence from contemporary sources
55:
244:attaches to Bernard the Dane.
553:, edition by Francois Guizot,
264:) or 'Bernard the Dacian' (L.
1:
213:In the eleventh century both
79:secondary or tertiary sources
509:Historia congressus Gallorum
586:Gilles-André de La Roque -
676:
645:10th-century Danish people
404:The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles
31:, political counsellor to
463:Philippe Lauer (editor),
575:Gilles-André de La Roque
374:Dudo of Saint-Quentin -
272:('knight' or 'warrior').
551:Gesta Normannorum Ducum
481:Les annales de Flodoard
465:Les annales de Flodoard
454:chs. 38-42, ff. 56v-64r
442:chs. 34-36, ff. 52v-55v
418:chs. 27-42, ff. 46r-64r
344:Chroniques de Normandie
262:Bernardum Rothomagensis
549:William of Jumièges -
66:relies excessively on
601:La Roque, preface p.7
317:The noted historian,
197:has described it as "
180:Dudo of Saint-Quentin
41:Richard I of Normandy
21:Dudo of Saint-Quentin
660:10th-century Vikings
640:10th-century Normans
226:Bernard in genealogy
655:10th-century deaths
430:ch. 20, ff. 38r-39r
266:Bernardum Dacigenam
215:William of Jumièges
23:as a 'warrior' of
555:Project Gutenberg
319:Sir Frank Stenton
187:Sir Frank Stenton
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469:archive.org
306:cartularies
195:Graham Loud
143:Historicity
624:Categories
452:De moribus
440:De moribus
428:De moribus
416:De moribus
392:De moribus
362:References
155:, both of
68:references
507:Richer -
87:June 2023
577:(French)
241:Beaumont
233:Harcourt
149:Flodoard
119:Louis IV
29:Normandy
479:Lauer,
352:Preuves
340:Preuves
325:" and "
270:militem
35:'s son
172:").
153:Richer
612:Brill
525:JSTOR
304:The '
248:Notes
157:Reims
33:Rollo
25:Rouen
217:and
151:and
123:Laon
47:Life
591:BNF
513:BNF
497:MGH
380:ORB
70:to
626::
488:^
193:"
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329:"
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