Today’s Pivotal Person is the grandfather of William the Conquerer - Richard II ‘The Good’, Duke of Normandy from 996 to 1026.
Today’s Pivotal Person is the grandfather of William the Conquerer - Richard II ‘The Good’, Duke of Normandy from 996 to 1026. Richard II was the son of the first truly great Duke of Normandy, Richard I, who had successfully retained his Duchy's independence against the French Crown during the Tenth Century and furthermore forged Normandy into a minor military power. By his death in 996 however the still mostly Frankish peasantry were no longer content to be dominated by the descendants of Norsemen, and they rose up in a peasants revolt. The young Richard I’s guardian Rodulf of Ivry spared no time in brutally suppressing this rebellion, cutting the hands and feet off its leaders and blinding, burning and impaling others. Young Richard II was still a child at the time, yet this blunt show of force not only ensured that no one else would try and revolt for the rest of his reign, but also hammered home the 'Norman way' of the fist, so often implemented by him and his descend...