Poppa of Bayeux
Poppa of Bayeux (French: [pɔpa d(ə) bɛjø]; born c. 880 AD), was the Christian wife or mistress[2] (perhaps more danico)[3] of the Viking conqueror Rollo. She was the mother of William I Longsword, Gerloc[4][5] and grandmother of Richard the Fearless, who forged the Duchy of Normandy into a great fief of medieval France.[6] Dudo of Saint-Quentin, in his panegyric of the Norman dukes, describes her as the daughter of a "Count Berengar", the dominant prince of that region, who was captured at Bayeux by Rollo in 885 or 889, shortly after the siege of Paris.[7] This has led to speculation that she was the daughter of Berengar II of Neustria.[8][9]
Poppa of Bayeux | |
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![]() Poppa of Bayeux's statue, Place de Gualle, Bayeux | |
Born | c. 880[1] Bayeux, West Francia |
Noble family | House of Normandy (by marriage) |
Spouse(s) | Rollo (perhaps more danico) |
Issue | |
Father | Berengar II of Neustria or Guy de Senlis |
Mother | Adelind, Adela of Vermandois or Cunegundis |
There are different opinions among medieval genealogy experts about Poppa's family. Christian Settipani says her parents were Guy de Senlis and Cunegundis, the daughter of Pepin, Count of Vermandois, and sister of Herbert I, Count of Vermandois.[10] Katherine Keats-Rohan states she was the daughter of Berengar II of Neustria by Adelind, whose father was Henry, Margrave of the Franks, or Adela of Vermandois.[11] Despite the uncertainty of her parentage, she undoubtedly was a member of the Frankish aristocracy.[12] A statue of Poppa stands at the Place de Gaulle in Bayeux.[13]
References
- Christian Settipani & Patrick van Kerrebrouck. La préhistoire des Capétiens: 481-987. P. Van Kerrebrouck, 1993. p 221
- Stewart Baldwin (2004-08-02). "Poppa, tenth century, wife of Rollo of Normandy". Archived from the original on 2018-09-29. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
- Philip Lyndon Reynolds, Marriage in the Western Church: The Christianization of Marriage during the Patristic and Early Medieval Periods (E.J. Brill, Leiden, New York, 1994), pp. 110-111
- François Neveux, La Normandie des ducs aux rois: Xe-XIIe siècle, (Editions Ouest-France, 1998), p.125
- David Crouch, The Normans: The History of a Dynasty, (A&C Black, 2006), p.5
- Eleanor Searle, Predatory Kinship and the Creation of Norman Power, 840–1066 (University of California Press, Berkeley, 1988), p. 89
- David C. Douglas, 'Rollo of Normandy', The English Historical Review, Vol. 57, No. 228 (Oct., 1942), p. 417
- Pierre Bouet, Rollon: Le chef viking qui fonda la Normandie, (Tallandier, Paris, 2016), p. 96
- Elisabeth van Houts. The Normans in Europe. Manchester University Press, 2000. p 30
- Christian Settipani & Patrick van Kerrebrouck. La préhistoire des Capétiens: 481-987. P. Van Kerrebrouck, 1993. p 221
- Stewart Baldwin (2004-08-02). "Poppa, tenth century, wife of Rollo of Normandy". Archived from the original on 2018-09-29. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
- François Neveux. Claire Ruelle, A brief history of the Normans: the conquests that changed the face of Europe (Robinson, 2008), p. 60-61
- Pierre Bouet, Rollon: Le chef viking qui fonda la Normandie, (Tallandier, Paris, 2016), p.235