William Longsword

William became count of Rouen in 927, inheriting the Norman territory his father Rollo had carved out of Francia. For fifteen years he governed a population still finding its shape between Norse roots and Frankish surroundings. Contemporary chroniclers like Flodoard called him and his father *principes* — chieftains — not dukes; that title wouldn't stick to Norman rulers for another century. On 17 December 942, he was assassinated. The "Longsword" epithet that defines him now appears nowhere in the records of his lifetime, surfacing only in texts written more than a hundred years after his dea…