Context 160 - July 2019

C O N T E X T 1 6 0 : J U L Y 2 0 1 9 39 Architecturally speaking The Dukes of Normandy and the second world war When Britain, Canada and the USA formed the D-Day landing forces that liberated Normandy, it was the current Queen’s father, King George VI, who was commander-in-chief of the British and Canadian forces. He was also the Duke of Normandy. These Dukes of Normandy have had a remarkable impact on world history. Among the cataclysmic events that shook the world in the 1920s and 30s were Mussolini coming to power in Italy in 1922, and Hitler becoming Germany’s chancellor in 1933. Rising inflation in the USA led to the 1929 Wall Street stock market collapse, resulting in the withdrawal of American capital from Germany. Then Japan initiated its expansionist Greater East Asia project. On 27 September 1940 a Tripartite Pact was agreed between Germany, Italy and Japan. Between 1939 and 1945, Hitler established hundreds of Jewish ghettos across his occupied territories, the largest being inWarsaw with over 400,000 inhabitants. These ghettos, transition zones to the death camps, were enclosed sites under constant surveillance. Anyone found trying to escape was executed, and ultimately all of the inhabitants were to be deported and executed. From 1940–1 Britain stood alone against Germany and its allies. Churchill had said: ‘It is better to perish than live as slaves’. British troops were defending their home skies against the Luftwaffe; defending the Atlantic Ocean against U boats; and combating German and Italian forces in the Mediterranean. What does this have to do with the Dukes of Normandy? The legacy of the Dukes of Normandy, most notablyWilliam I (the Conqueror), led to a system of government that eventually enabled Britain to build the largest land empire that has ever existed, and to influence the development of the USA and Canada, in a way that created the combined forces necessary to defeat Germany, Italy, Japan and Vichy France. The first Duke of Normandy, Rollon, the Viking, was given the land of Normandy, with a capital in Rouen, in 911 by the French King, Charles III, in return for a peaceable coexistence. Rollon converted to Christianity and was baptised. He died in around 933 and is buried in Rouen Cathedral. When Robert I, the 6th Duke of Normandy, went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1034 he arranged for William, his illegitimate son, to succeed him, should he not return. Robert died on his return from Jerusalem.William, while still a child, became the 7th Duke of Normandy. He also became a devout Christian. BeforeWilliam inherited, there had been a monastic revival in Normandy, including investment in cathedral schools for lay pupils, teaching literature, medicine, commerce, agriculture, music and art. These pupils continued the ecclesiastical and architectural revival in Normandy, which led to better government and the magnificent ornamentation of places of worship, including those at Rouen, Lisieux, Bayeux and Le Mont-Saint-Michel. Abbaye aux Hommes, Caen, built by William the Conqueror in 1063 and his final resting place (Photo: Gpesenti, Wikimedia)