LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Normandy: Rouen Cathedral
built 118 days ago
From 1106 to 1204 Normandy remained united to England. According to Ordericus Vitalis, whose Historia ecclesiastica is a chronicle of the greatest interest for the history of Normandy in the 11th and 12th centuries, Henry Beauclerc governed the two kingdoms wisely, checking the nobles, and protecting the Church and the common people. He carried on hostilities against the king of France and William Clito, son of Robert Curthose, whose claim to the duchy of Normandy was upheld by Louis VI., and won an important victory over his opponents at Bremule in Normandy (1119). After the disaster of the White Ship (1121), in which the Atheling William lost his life, Henry's only surviving child was a daughter, Matilda, widow of the emperor Henry V. In 1127 Matilda married Geoffrey the Fair, eldest son of Fulk V., count of Anjou. After the death of Henry I. in 1135, a struggle arose between Matilda, who claimed the kingdom of England and the duchy of Normandy in the name of her son Henry Plantagenet, and Theobald, count of Champagne, grandson of William the Conqueror on the side of his mother Adela, the candidate of the Normans of Normandy, while the Norman party in England supported Stephen, brother of Theobald. In 1144 Theobald, whose position had been much weakened since the taking of the castle of Rouen, gave up his rights in Normandy to Matilda's husband Geoffrey, count of Anjou, in favour of Henry Plantagenet.
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The cathedrals of Normandy have exerted influence down the centuries in matters of both faith and politics. Henry II, King of England, did penance at the cathedral of Avranches on 21 May 1172 and was absolved from the censures incurred by the assassination of Thomas Becket. Mont Saint-Michel is a historic pilgrimage site.
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The cathedrals of Normandy have exerted influence down the centuries in matters of both faith and politics. Mont Saint-Michel is a historic pilgrimage site. The influence of Celtic Christianity can still be found in the Cotentin.
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During the 16th century the Protestant Reformation met with some success in Normandy, where the Wars of Religion caused a certain amount of disturbance. The Reforming movement began with Pierre Bar in 1528, and the first apostle of the Reformation at Rouen was Francois Legay, called Boisnormand. In 1562 the town of Rouen was taken by the Calvinists, but retaken in the same year by the Catholics. Caen received the Reformed religion in 1531, and Alengon in 1582. In the massacre of Saint Bartholomew's day (1572) more than 500 victims were slaughtered by the Catholics.
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The Dukes of Normandy commissioned and inspired epic literature to record and legitimise their rule. Wace, Orderic Vitalis and Étienne of Rouen were among those who wrote in the service of the Dukes.
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Many examples of great architecture came from Normandy: Rouen Cathedral (c. 1037–63), followed by Westminster Abbey (1050–65) and the splendid abbeys built in Caen by Duke William and his duchess, Matilda. She built La Trinité, beginning in 1062, and was buried as queen in its sanctuary (1083). William's church, Saint-Étienne, was begun in 1067 and dedicated in 1081.
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Rouen Cathedral