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more_beans_mrtaggart t1_iz6wbhj wrote

Did you know that the Norman’s were basically vikings that moved south.

The French were a bit surprised to find them on their north coast and weren’t strong enough to throw them off.

Anyway the Vikings decided to learn French and English, learn the French way of life, and settled in.

They then came up with creative ways to raise tax revenue, and started upgrading their patch of what is now Normandy. They had good education, top shelf healthcare, lots of trade, all the trimmings of the good life.

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Dawnbreaker234 OP t1_iz7o34l wrote

Man Viking sure play a lot more significant role in history than people know about. They're not just raiders that worship pagan stuff the Norman were French Viking, there was the English Viking that went on a crusade and if course can't forget the awesome Vangarian Guards of Constantinople the Royal Guard of the Emperor.

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AHorseNamedPhil t1_j1loulh wrote

It's not so much that the Norse learned French, it's that the Norse settlement in Normandy tended to be localized to certain places like Rouen, and on the whole did not displace the native Franks, who remained the majority. The Norse also intermarried with the native Franks almost immediately, so by the time you get to William the Conqueror's day the Norse had long since been absorbed by the Frankish majority. The Normans of William's day spoke a dialect of French, because their ancestors had also been Franks.

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