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The Normans at that time considered themselves to be a separate and independent people: the gens Normannorum; not French, not Scandinavian Vikings and not English. They were descended from Scandinavian Vikings living in the northern part of France, but they had lost many elements of Viking culture, including the language.

For the Saxons of England, this distinction was meaningless - the Norman invaders came from France, therefore they must be French. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles frequently call them "Frenchmen". Even today many people incorrectly call the Normans of the 11th and 12th centuries "French".

A Norman such as William I was fiercely proud of his Norman culture and passionately resented the French king and all things French; he considered himself not French but Norman.

The distinction between Norman and French finally ended around 1215, when king John lost all of the territories his father Henry II had gained on the continent of Europe. Normandy was taken over by the French king and became a mere region of France.

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13y ago

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