kings could and could not move. Instead the princes kaleidoscopically grouped and regrouped around rival candidates for the throne, and saw their best prospects in the gratitude of those whom they supported. The result, not primarily intended, was to deny the crown the continuity of lands, rights, personnel, law, customs which could alone make a monarchy secure when its roles as theocratic ruler and warleader had passed.

The Kingdom of France

France also saw the rise and fall of a great dominion during this period, but that dominion was not that of the French king. It had been formed largely to his prejudice and when it began to crumble the French crown enjoyed the advantage of coming to the fore at a time altogether more propitious for the development of a stable and enduring state. The dominion which was to fall had its roots during the reign of Charles the Simple, when that king granted Rouen and its environs to a Viking leader, Rollo, in order to buy off his attacks. By the end of the tenth century Rollo's descendants had secured extensive territories from this base and forged the duchy of Normandy. Its duke, William, became king of England in 1066 by conquest, and in so doing created a dominion which far outshone in resources and power any of the northern French lordships, including that of the French crown in the area around Paris. On his death in 1087 his territories were divided between his sons, but this proved temporary. The interests of their vassals were not suited by the dual allegiance which resulted, and with greater resources the kings of England were in a better position to take the whole than the dukes of Normandy. Already there were signs that these developments might enhance the very standing of the Norman duke in France. Norman dukes claimed that they need travel only to their own borders to do homage to the French king, and when King Henry I of England conquered Normandy from his brother in 1106 he began to assert that he could give no homage for Normandy since kings could not give homage, only receive it. The next generation

-150-