Siege of Chartres (911)

Siege of Chartres
Date July 20, 911[1] Location Chartres, France Result Frankish victory; Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte
Belligerents
Danes, Norwegians Normans	Franks
Commanders and leaders
Rollo	Richard, Duke of Burgundy Robert I of France
Strength
20,000	8,000

The Siege of Chartres was the part of Norman incursions. In 858 the Normans captured and burned Chartres. After that, in the time of relative peace, the town defenses were rebuilt and strengthened. It turned into a fortified, trapezoid-like city, going close to the river.

When Rollo led the Danes in a siege, they were formidable enough to persuade Charles the Simple that they might become valuable allies.^[2] Richard, Duke of Burgundy split his forces into three corps. The first was made up of Aquitanians, assisted by a group of Neustrian nobles.^[3] According to legend, Bishop Gantelme exposed the Virgin's tunic on the ramparts and the Normans fled.^[4][5] In 1618 the Italian painter Padovanino painted a version of the event which now hangs in the Pinacoteca di Brera.^[6]

Notes

1. Gesta Regum Anglorum: The History of the English Kings. Oxford University Press. 1998. p. 110. ISBN 0-19-820682-8.
2. Chibnall, Marjorie (2000). The Normans. Blackwell Publishing. p. 11. ISBN 0-631-18671-9.
3. Lair, Jules. Le siege de Chartres par les Normands, 1901
4. France. New Holland Publishers. 2004. p. 328. ISBN 1-86011-881-X.
5. Ordericus Vitalis (1853). The ecclesiastical history of England and Normandy. p. 136.
6. La vittoria dei Carnutesi sui Normanni