Normandy Normandy ( , pronounced , Norman : " Nourmaundie " , from Old French " Normanz " , plural of " Normand " , originally from the word for " northman " in several Scandinavian languages ) is a geographical region of France corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy . The continental territory covers 30 , 627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5 % of the territory of France . It is divided for administrative purposes into two regions : Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy . The Channel Islands ( referred to as " Îles Anglo - Normandes " in French ) are historically part of Normandy , cover 194 km² and comprise two bailiwick s : Guernsey and Jersey , which are British Crown dependencies . Upper Normandy ( " Haute - Normandie " ) consists of the French " departments " of Seine - Maritime and Eure , and Lower Normandy ( " Basse - Normandie " ) of the " departments " of Orne , Calvados , and Manche . The former province of Normandy comprised present - day Upper and Lower Normandy , as well as small areas now part of the " départements " of Eure - et - Loir , Mayenne , and Sarthe . The name is derived from the settlement of the territory by Vikings ( " Northmen " ) from the 9th century , and confirmed by treaty in the 10th century . For a century and a half following the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 , Normandy and England were linked by Norman and Frankish rulers . During the Second World War , the D Day landings on the Normandy beaches , under the code name Operation Overlord , started the lengthy Battle of Normandy and resulted in the Liberation of Paris and the restoration of the French Republic . These landings were a significant turning point in the war . The population of Normandy is around 3 . 45 million . The continental population of 3 . 26 million accounts for 5 . 5 % of the population of France ( in 2005 ) . Lower Normandy is predominantly agricultural in character , with cattle breeding the most important sector ( although in decline from the peak levels of the 1970s and 1980s ) . The " bocage " is a patchwork of small fields with high hedges , typical of western areas . Upper Normandy contains a higher concentration of industry . Normandy is a significant cider - producing region , and also produces calvados , a distilled cider or apple brandy . Other activities of economic importance are dairy produce , flax ( 60 % of production in France ) , horse breeding ( including two French national stud farms ) , fishing , seafood , and tourism . The region contains three French nuclear power station s . There is also easy access to and from the UK using the ports of Cherbourg , Caen ( Ouistreham ) , Le Havre and Dieppe History . Archaeological finds , such as cave painting s , prove that humans were present in the region in prehistoric times . Belgae and Celts , known as Gauls , invaded Normandy in successive waves from the 4th to the 3rd century BC . When Julius Caesar invaded Gaul , there were nine different Gallic tribes in Normandy . The Romanisation of Normandy was achieved by the usual methods : Roman roads and a policy of urbanisation . Classicist s have knowledge of many Gallo - Roman villa s in Normandy . In the late 3rd century , barbarian raids devastated Normandy . Coastal settlements were raided by Saxon pirates . Christianity also began to enter the area during this period . In 406 , Germanic tribes began invading from the east , while the Saxons subjugated the Norman coast . The Roman Emperor withdrew from most of Normandy . As early as 487 , the area between the River Somme and the River Loire came under the control of the Frankish lord Clovis . The Vikings started to raid the Seine Valley during the middle of 9th century . After attacking and destroying monasteries , including one at Jumièges , they took advantage of the power vacuum created by the disintegration of Charlemagne ' s empire to take northern France . The fiefdom of Normandy was created for the Norwegian / Danish Viking leader Hrolf Ragnvaldsson , or Rollo ( also known as Robert of Normandy ) . Rollo had besieged Paris but in 911 entered vassalage to the king of the West Franks , Charles the Simple , through the Treaty of Saint - Clair - sur - Epte . In exchange for his homage and fealty , Rollo legally gained the territory which he and his Viking allies had previously conquered . The name " Normandy " reflects Rollo ' s Viking ( i . e . " Northman " ) origins . The descendants of Rollo and his followers adopted the local Gallo - Romance language and intermarried with the area ' s original inhabitants . They became the Normans – a Norman - speaking mixture of Scandinavians , Norwegians , Hiberno - Norse , Saxons , Orcadians , Anglo - Danish , and indigenous Franks and Gauls . Rollo ' s descendant William , Duke of Normandy , became king of England in 1066 in the Norman Conquest culminating at the Battle of Hastings , while retaining the fiefdom of Normandy for himself and his descendants . Norman expansion . Besides the Norman conquest of England and the subsequent conquests of Wales and Ireland , the Normans expanded into other areas . Norman families , such as that of Tancred of Hauteville , played important parts in the Crusades . Tancred ' s sons William Iron Arm , Drogo of Hauteville , Humphrey of Hauteville , Robert Guiscard and Roger the Great Count conquered the Emirate of Sicily and additional territories in Southern Italy . They also carved out a place for themselves and their descendants in the Crusader states of Asia Minor and the Holy Land . The 14th century Norman explorer Jean de Béthencourt established a kingdom in the Canary Islands . Béthencourt received the title King of the Canary Islands but recognised as his overlord Henry III of Castile , who had provided aid during the conquest . 13th to 17th centuries . In 1204 , during the reign of England ' s King John , mainland Normandy was taken from England by France under Philip II of France . Insular Normandy ( the Channel Islands ) remained under English control . In 1259 , Henry III of England recognised the legality of French possession of mainland Normandy under the Treaty of Paris . His successors , however , often fought to regain control of mainland French Normandy . The " Charte aux Normands " granted by Louis X of France in 1315 ( and later re - confirmed in 1339 ) – like the analogous Magna Carta granted in England in the aftermath of 1204 – guaranteed the liberties and privileges of the province of Normandy . French Normandy was occupied by English forces during the Hundred Years ' War in 1345 – 1360 and again in 1415 – 1450 . Normandy lost three - quarters of its population during the war . Afterward prosperity returned to Normandy until the Wars of Religion . When many Norman towns ( Alençon , Rouen , Caen , Coutances , Bayeux ) joined the Protestant Reformation , battles ensued throughout the province . In the Channel Islands , a period of Calvinism following the Reformation was suppressed when Anglicanism was imposed following the English Civil War . Samuel de Champlain left the port of Honfleur in 1604 and founded Acadia . Four years later , he founded Quebec City . From then onwards , Normans engaged in a policy of expansion in North America . They continued the exploration of the New World : René - Robert Cavelier de La Salle travelled in the area of the Great Lakes , then on the Mississippi River . Pierre Le Moyne d ' Iberville and his brother Lemoyne de Bienville founded Louisiana , Biloxi , Mobile and New Orleans . Territories located between Quebec and the Mississippi Delta were opened up to establish Canada and Louisiana . Colonists from Normandy were among the most active in New France , comprising Acadia , Canada , and Louisiana . Honfleur and Le Havre were two of the principal slave trade ports of France . 18th and 19th centuries . Although agriculture remained important , industries such as weaving , metallurgy , sugar refining , ceramics , and shipbuilding were introduced and developed . In the 1780s , the economic crisis and the crisis of the " Ancien Régime " struck Normandy as well as other parts of the nation , leading to the French Revolution . Bad harvests , technical progress and the effects of the Eden Agreement signed in 1786 affected employment and the economy of the province . Normans laboured under a heavy fiscal burden . In 1790 the five departments of Normandy replaced the former province . 11 July 1793 , the Norman Charlotte Corday assassinated Marat . The Normans reacted little to the many political upheavals which characterised the 19th century . Overall they warily accepted the changes of régime ( First French Empire , Bourbon Restoration , July Monarchy , French Second Republic , Second French Empire , French Third Republic ) . There was an economic revival ( mechanization of textile manufacture , first trains . . . ) after the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars ( 1792 – 1815 ) . And new economic activity stimulated the coasts : seaside tourism . The 19th century marks the birth of the first beach resorts . Second World War . During the Second World War , following the armistice of 22 June 1940 , continental Normandy was part of the German occupied zone of France . The Channel Islands were occupied by German forces between 30 June 1940 and 9 May 1945 . The town of Dieppe was the site of the unsuccessful Dieppe Raid by Canadian and British armed forces . The Allies in this case involving Britain , the U . S , and Canada coordinated a massive build - up of troops and supplies to support a large - scale invasion of Normandy in the D - Day landings on 6 June 1944 under the code name Operation Overlord . The Germans were dug into fortified emplacements above the beaches . Caen , Cherbourg , Carentan , Falaise and other Norman towns endured many casualties in the Battle of Normandy , which continued until the closing of the so - called Falaise gap between Chambois and Mont Ormel . The liberation of Le Havre followed . This was a significant turning point in the war and led to the restoration of the French Republic . The remainder of Normandy was liberated only on 9 May 1945 at the end of the war , when the Occupation of the Channel Islands effectively ended . Geography . The historical Duchy of Normandy was a formerly independent duchy occupying the lower Seine area , the Pays de Caux and the region to the west through the Pays d ' Auge as far as the Cotentin Peninsula . The region is bordered along the northern coasts by the English Channel . There are granite cliff s in the west and limestone cliffs in the east . There are also long stretches of beach in the centre of the region . The " bocage " typical of the western areas caused problems for the invading forces in the Battle of Normandy . A notable feature of the landscape is created by the meander s of the Seine as it approaches its estuary . The highest point is the Signal d ' Écouves ( 417m ) in the Massif armoricain . Normandy is sparsely forested : 12 . 8 % of the territory is wooded , compared to a French average of 23 . 6 % , although the proportion varies between the departments . Eure has most cover ( 21 % ) while Manche has least ( 4 % ) , a characteristic shared with the Islands . Regions . Channel Islands . The Channel Islands , although British Crown Dependencies , are considered culturally and historically a part of Normandy . Although the British surrendered claims to mainland Normandy , France , and other French possessions in 1801 , the monarch of the United Kingdom retains the title Duke of Normandy in respect to the Channel Islands . The Channel Islands ( except for Chausey ) remain Crown dependencies of the British Crown in the present era . Thus the Loyal Toast in the Channel Islands is " La Reine , notre Duc " ( " The Queen , our Duke " ) . The British monarch is understood to " not " be the Duke with regards to mainland Normandy described herein , by virtue of the Treaty of Paris of 1259 , the surrender of French possessions in 1801 , and the belief that the rights of succession to that title are subject to Salic Law which excludes inheritance through female heirs . Rivers . Rivers in Normandy include : And many coastal rivers : Towns . The principal cities ( population at the 1999 census ) are Rouen ( 518 , 316 inhabitants in the metropolitan area ) , the capital of Upper Normandy and formerly of the whole province ; Caen ( 420 , 000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area ) , the capital of Lower Normandy ; Le Havre ( 296 , 773 inhabitants in the metropolitan area ) ; and Cherbourg ( 117 , 855 inhabitants in the metropolitan area ) . Population . In January 2006 the population of Normandy ( including the part of Perche which lies inside the Orne " département " but excluding the Channel Islands ) was estimated at 3 , 260 , 000 with an average population density of 109 inhabitants per km² , just under the French national average , but rising to 147 for Upper Normandy . Food and drink . Parts of Normandy consist of rolling countryside typified by pasture for dairy cattle and apple orchards . A wide range of dairy products are produced and exported . Norman cheeses include Camembert , Livarot , Pont l ' Évêque , Brillat - Savarin , Neufchâtel , Petit Suisse and Boursin . Normandy butter and Normandy cream are lavishly used in gastronomic specialties . Fish and seafood are of superior quality in Normandy . Turbot and oysters from the Cotentin Peninsula are major delicacies throughout France . Normandy is the chief oyster - cultivating , scallop - exporting , and mussel - raising region in France . Normandy is a major cider - producing region ( very little wine is produced ) . Perry is also produced , but in less significant quantities . Apple brandy , of which the most famous variety is calvados , is also popular . The mealtime " trou normand " , or " Norman hole " , is a pause between meal courses in which diners partake of a glassful of calvados in order to improve the appetite and make room for the next course , and this is still observed in many homes and restaurants . " Pommeau " is an " apéritif " produced by blending unfermented cider and apple brandy . Another aperitif is the " kir normand " , a measure of crème de cassis topped up with cider . " Bénédictine " is produced in Fécamp . Apples are also widely used in cooking : for example , " moules à la normande " are mussels cooked with apples and cream , " bourdelots " are apples baked in pastry , partridges are flamed with reinette apples , and localities all over the province have their own variation of apple tart , that is more popular named tan tan tan tan , because the people can ' t say the correct name " Tarte Tatin " , a classic pastry dish from the region is Norman Tart a pastry - based variant of the apple tart . Other regional specialities include " tripe s à la mode de Caen " , " andouille s " and " andouillettes " , salt meadow ( " pré salé " ) lamb , seafood ( mussels , scallop s , lobsters , mackerel … ) , and " teurgoule " ( spiced rice pudding ) . Normandy dishes include duckling " à la rouennaise " , sautéed chicken " yvetois " , and goose " en daube " . Rabbit is cooked with morel s , or " à la havraise " ( stuffed with truffled pigs ' trotters ) . Other dishes are sheep ' s trotters " à la rouennaise " , casseroled veal , larded calf ' s liver braised with carrots , and veal ( or turkey ) in cream and mushrooms . Normandy is also noted for its pastries . It is the birthplace of brioche s ( especially those from Évreux and Gisors ) and also turns out " douillons " ( pears baked in pastry ) , " craquelins " , " roulettes " in Rouen , " fouaces " in Caen , " fallues " in Lisieux , " sablés " in Lisieux . Confectionery of the region includes Rouen apple sugar , Isigny caramels , Bayeux mint chews , Falaise berlingots , Le Havre marzipans , Argentan " croquettes " , and Rouen macaroons . Normandy is the native land of Taillevent , cook of the kings of France Charles V and Charles VI . He wrote the earliest French cookery book named " Le Viandier " . " Confiture de lait " was also made in Normandy around the 14th century . Culture . Symbols . The traditional provincial flag of Normandy , " gules , two leopards passant or " , is used in both modern regions . The historic three - leopard version ( known in the Norman language as " les treis cats " , " the three cats " ) is used by some associations and individuals , especially those who support reunification of the regions and cultural links with the Channel Islands and England . Jersey and Guernsey use three leopards in their national symbols . The three leopards represents the strength and courage Normandy has towards the neighbouring provinces . The unofficial anthem of the region is the song " Ma Normandie " . Literature . The dukes of Normandy commissioned and inspired epic literature to record and legitimise their rule . Wace , Orderic Vitalis and Étienne de Rouen were among those who wrote in the service of the dukes . After the division of 1204 , French literature provided the model for the development of literature in Normandy . Olivier Basselin wrote of the Vaux de Vire , the origin of literary " vaudeville " . Among notable Norman writers in French are Jean Marot , Rémy Belleau , Guy de Maupassant , Jules Barbey d ' Aurevilly , Gustave Flaubert , Octave Mirbeau , and Remy de Gourmont , and Alexis de Tocqueville . The Corneille brothers , Pierre and Thomas , born in Rouen , were great figures of French classical literature . David Ferrand ( 1591 – 1660 ) in his " Muse Normande " established a landmark of Norman language literature . In the 16th and 17th centuries , the workers and merchants of Rouen established a tradition of polemical and satirical literature in a form of language called the " parler purin " . At the end of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th century a new movement arose in the Channel Islands , led by writers such as George Métivier , which sparked a literary renaissance on the Norman mainland . In exile in Jersey and then Guernsey , Victor Hugo took an interest in the vernacular literature . " Les Travailleurs de la mer " is a well - known novel by Hugo set in the Channel Islands . The boom in insular literature in the early 19th century encouraged production especially in La Hague and around Cherbourg , where Alfred Rossel , Louis Beuve and Côtis - Capel became active . The typical medium for literary expression in Norman has traditionally been newspaper columns and almanacs . The novel " Zabeth " by André Louis which appeared in 1969 was the first novel published in Norman . Painting . In the 17th century some major French painters were Normans like Nicolas Poussin , born in Les Andelys and Jean Jouvenet . Romanticism drew painters to the Channel coasts of Normandy . Richard Parkes Bonington and J . M . W . Turner crossed the Channel from Great Britain , attracted by the light and landscapes . Théodore Géricault , a native of Rouen , was a notable figure in the Romantic movement . The competing Realist tendency was represented by Jean - François Millet , a native of La Hague . Breaking away from the more formalised and classical themes of the early part of the 19th century , Impressionist painters preferred to paint outdoors , in natural light , and to concentrate on landscapes , towns and scenes of daily life . Leader of the movement and father of modern painting , Claude Monet is perhaps one of the best known Impressionists and a major character in Normandy ' s artistic heritage . His house and gardens at Giverny are one of the region ' s major tourist sites , much visited for their beauty and their water lilies , as well as for their importance to Monet ' s artistic inspiration . Normandy was at the heart of his creation , from the paintings of Rouen ' s cathedral to the famous depictions of the cliffs at Etretat , the beach and port at Fécamp and the sunrise at Le Havre . It was " Impression , Sunrise " , Monet ' s painting of Le Havre , that led to the movement being dubbed Impressionism . Landscapes and scenes of daily life were also immortalised on canvas by artists such as William Turner , the Honfleur born Eugène Boudin , Camille Pissarro , Alfred Sisley , Auguste Renoir , Gustave Caillebotte , Paul Gauguin , Georges Seurat , Pierre Bonnard , Georges Braque , Henrique Padilha , Pedro Henrique and Pablo Picasso . While Monet ' s work adorns galleries and collections all over the world , a remarkable quantity of Impressionist works can be found in galleries throughout Normandy , such as the Museum of Fine Arts in Rouen , the Musée Eugène Boudin in Honfleur or the André Malraux Museum in Le Havre . The " Société Normande de Peinture Moderne " was founded in 1909 by Pierre Dumont , Robert Antoine Pinchon , Yvonne Barbier and Eugène Tirvert . Among members were Raoul Dufy , a native of Le Havre , Albert Marquet , Francis Picabia and Maurice Utrillo . Also in this movement were the Duchamp brothers , Jacques Villon and Marcel Duchamp , also natives of Normandy . Languages . French is the only official language in continental Normandy . English is also an official language in the Channel Islands . The Norman language , a regional language , is spoken by a minority of the population on the continent and the islands , with a concentration in the Cotentin Peninsula in the far West ( the Cotentinais dialect ) , and in the Pays de Caux in the East ( the Cauchois dialect ) . Many place names demonstrate the Norse influence in this Oïl language ; for example " - bec " ( stream ) , " - fleur " ( river ) , " - hou " ( island ) , " - tot " ( homestead ) , " - dal " or " - dalle " ( valley ) and " - hogue " ( hill , mound ) . Architecture . Architecturally , Norman cathedrals , abbeys ( such as the Abbey of Bec ) and castles characterise the former Duchy in a way that mirrors the similar pattern of Norman architecture in England following the Norman Conquest of 1066 . Domestic architecture in upper Normandy is typified by half - timbered buildings that also recall vernacular English architecture , although the farm enclosures of the more harshly landscaped Pays de Caux are a more idiosyncratic response to socio - economic and climatic imperatives . Much urban architectural heritage was destroyed during the Battle of Normandy in 1944 – post - war urban reconstruction , such as in Le Havre and Saint - Lô , could be said to demonstrate both the virtues and vices of modernist and brutalist trends of the 1950s and 1960s . Le Havre , the city rebuilt by Auguste Perret , was added to Unesco ’ s World Heritage List in 2005 . Vernacular architecture in lower Normandy takes its form from granite , the predominant local building material . The Channel Islands also share this influence – Chausey was for many years a source of quarried granite , including that used for the construction of Mont Saint - Michel . The south part of Bagnoles - de - l ' Orne is filled with bourgeois villas in " Belle Époque " style with polychrome façades , bow windows and unique roofing . This area , built between 1886 and 1914 , has an authentic “ Bagnolese ” style and is typical of high - society country vacation of the time . The Chapel of Saint Germanus ( " Chapelle Saint - Germain " ) at Querqueville with its trefoil floorplan incorporates elements of one of the earliest surviving places of Christian worship in the Cotentin – perhaps second only to the Gallo - Roman baptistry at Port - Bail . It is dedicated to Germanus of Normandy . Religion . Since the 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State there is no established church in mainland Normandy . In the Channel Islands , the Church of England is the established church . Christian missionaries implanted monastic communities in the territory in the 5th and 6th centuries . Some of these missionaries came from across the Channel . The influence of Celtic Christianity can still be found in the Cotentin . By the terms of the treaty of Saint - Clair - sur - Epte , Rollo , a Viking pagan , accepted Christianity and was baptised . The Duchy of Normandy was therefore formally a Christian state from its foundation . The cathedrals of Normandy have exerted influence down the centuries in matters of both faith and politics . King Henry II 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 . Normandy does not have one generally - agreed patron saint , although this title has been ascribed to Saint Michael , and to Saint Ouen . Many saints have been revered in Normandy down the centuries , including : References . 14 . http : / / www . thecanadianencyclopedia . com / articles / french - language # SEC820952