The Viking in me

    We have to start in Denmark in 911. It was at this time that Rollo the Viking came down from Denmark/Sweden/Norway. He raided and settled in northern Frankish (today France). Rollo, as the Frankish called him, had the Viking name Hrolfr the Walker. Hrolfr the Viking and his men raided towns and settlements up to Paris. Through a treaty with Charles the Simple, Hrolfr settled in the land given to him in the treaty, and they called the new land Northmen (Normandy today).

Rollo had a son named William Longsword, who succeeded his father, Rollo, as Duke of Normandy. William Longsword was born in 893 and was believed to have been assassinated during a peace meeting with fellow Vikings who did not agree with the treaty. William Longsword’s son, Richard the Fearless, born in 923, succeeded his father William as Duke of Normandy. Richard’s son, Richard the Good, succeeded his father Richard the Fearless as Duke of Normandy. Richard the Good was born in 968, and he had two sons, Richard III and Robert the Magnificent. Robert the Magnificent, who was born in 1000, fought against his brother Richard III and became Duke of Normandy after his father Richard the Good.

Robert the Magnificent had children from different women, just like his parents and grandparents had children with different women. One of Robert’s children was William the Conqueror, who succeeded his father as Duke of Normandy as William II. He also invaded England in 1066 and became King of England as William I. As tales are told and history at the time of the Vikings was recorded sparingly, Robert the Magnificent had another son who was born in 1024 named Guillaume d’Audrieu. Guillaume was born in Audrieu, and William the Conqueror was born in Falaise, about 50 miles apart. Guillaume d’Audrieu had a son and named him Robert d’Audrieu (most likely after his father Robert the Magnificent). They became knights of William the Conqueror and were part of the invasion into England in 1066. Guillaume d’Audrieu was granted land according to William I’s Domesday Book, and he was given a more English name, William d’Audrieu. William d’Audrieu’s son married an English woman named Anne Winwick of Winwick, England, and changed his last name to a more English name, Sir Robert Andrews. This is the beginning of the Andrews line.

There is much conflict in records between the children of William the Conqueror and Guillaume d’Audrieu, being born at the same time near the same region and having children with similar names. But you can see that over the descendants, many of the names were reused by the Andrews family, such as Robert, Richard, and even possibly Ralph. One has to wonder if it was a reflection of Hrolfr.