Historical and genealogical memoirs of the House of Hamilton

viii INTRODUCTION.
To save the dismemberment of his other dominions, Charles the Third,
called the Simple, who then swayed the French sceptre, ceded to them,
in 918, the rich and fertile province of Neustria, and a Princess of the
blood of Charlemagne was given in marriage to a descendant of those
bold and terrible Vikingr, whose descents and depredations had for cen-
turies alternately threatened and harassed the coasts of Europe, from the
Baltic sea to the shores of the Mediterranean.
This was the first appearance of the Normans on the great theatre of
Europe. We shall behold them, at an after period, acquiring, by their
valour, possession of a great and powerful kingdom, and their leaders and
chiefs becoming the founders of a race of nobles, some of whose posterity
flourish even in our days.
Agreeably to the feudal usage of the times, Rollo parcelled out the
lands to his captains and chiefs ; while, under the title of Duke of Nor-
mandy, conferred on him by his father-in-law Charles, he acknowledged
a nominal subjection to the French crown.
In course of time, these barons became each almost independent on
their own estates : They acquired the most extensive privileges, and only
considered themselves bound to obey their chief during actual warfare,
when, in all the parade of feudal grandeur, they appeared in the field,
attended by their followers and vassals.
These brave and hardy sons of the North, although exposed to the
influence of a more enervating and luxurious climate, and assimilating in
language, manners, and customs, with their neighbours the French, yet
preserved distinct their original fierceness and warlike disposition ; and
we shall see that, after a lapse of nearly two centuries, the descendants of
the same Normans evinced the same love of arms, and the same uncon-
querable spirit of enterprise and adventure, which had so remarkably dis-
tinguished their forefathers.