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Pearsall Surname Project
Number of Pearsalls By Location
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Surname
History and Genealogy
of the Pearsall Family in England
and America:
Volume I
Front Cover
Inside Front Cover
The Motive
Thanks
Illustrations
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Appendix I
Volume II
Volume III
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(Rikard), father of Richard the Second, father of
Robert Longsword, father of Vilhjalm
(William) the Bastard, king of the English, from whom all subsequent
English kings are descended. The jarls in Normandi
are also of Hrolf's family. There seems to be some discrepancy in these
statements, as Rollo and his friends made the Hebrides their
headquarters, and from there they visited many lands as mere marauders;
all the time, however, he was adding to the numerical strength of his
forces and acquiring more vessels, until about the year 900, he landed in
Rouen, where the people and clergy, who were deserted by their natural
defenders, submitted to him, upon condition that he should protect them
against other bands of his countrymen. Finding the city and neighboring
country desolate and deserted, Rollo and his companions determined to
take possession of this fair and fertile land. Steenstrup
holds, and Maurer on this point agrees with him, that the overwhelming
majority of the host that followed him into Normandy
were more of Danish than Norway
descent. This is confirmed by later investigations, which have shown that
Rollo's forces were recruited not only from the Scandinavian peninsula,
but also from every Danish settlement as well, including those in England, Ireland,
Scotland, and the Hebrides. The thirty-five years of war-fare with
the Norseman had won from the Frank a respect for Northern prowess which
could not have been attained by a single expedition bent on piratical
intent, for pirates they must be called inasmuch as they were adventurers
with-out any home country and owing no allegiance to any government. Yet
withal, theirs was a notable company, and they seemed to have been
possessed of a strong desire to locate themselves
permanently somewhere, and to belong to organized society, as is
indicated by the fact that history records no viking
expeditions as coming from Normandy.
All together it seems to have been a happy chance which brought them to Rouen. There they
were welcome. There they could be useful. There they could have the best
of the lands for themselves. There Rollo would be a real ruler and his
companions would be his nobility. It happened also that the internal
condition of France
was at this time favorable to permanent conquest. The pretensions of
Charles the Simple, the legitimate heir to the crown of the Carlovingian line, who had been thrust aside by the
usurpation of Eudes, Count of Paris, sanctioned
by necessity and the popular voice were once more revived by a faction of
the higher nobility and clergy. The two parties, instead of uniting to
repel the common enemy, sought to make use of him against each other, and
secretly intrigued to gain his assistance. Charles had commenced a
negotiation for the purpose of making some kind of league with the Normans, when Foulk,
archbishop of Rheims,
after putting that city in a state of defense against their incursions,
addressed to the young king a letter, threatening him with resistance and
excommunication, if he did not desist from his project. [Strohm's Biskryvelse over
More, and Kraft's Norge. Harald
Fairhair's Saga, c. 24. See K. Maurer's review
of Steenstrup in the Jenaer
Literature-zeitung, 4th series, No. 2, Jan. 13,
1877, page 25. The conquest of England, by J. R. Green, page
236. History of the Northmen by Henry Wheaton, London 1831.]
"All
your friends," says the prelate, in this letter, are struck with
horror at the base idea of your soliciting the friendship of the enemies
of God, and calling
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