NOR 
tive of Normandy.—This people, as before I have faid of 
the Danes, are not otherwife to be accompted of, than 
moft anciently to have been of the German nation. Their 
habitation was in Norway, fo called from the northern 
fituation thereof; and themfelves Northmen, now vul¬ 
garly Normans, \ipon like reafon. Verjiegan's Rejt. of Dec. 
Intell. —The Normans had been a late colony from Nor¬ 
way and Denmark, where the Scalds had arrived to the 
higheft pitch of credit before Rollo’s expedition into 
France. Bp. Percfs Efny on the Anc. Minjlrels. 
NOR'MAN, adj. Denoting perfons, cuftoms, or the 
language, of Normandy.—Great verily was the glory of 
our tongue, before the Norman conquell, in this; that 
the old Englilh could exprefs moll aptly all the conceits 
of the mind in theirown tongue, without borrowing from 
any. Camden's Rem. Languages. —A monk of very little 
eloquence, but who had a fmattering of the Norman lan¬ 
guage. Tymphit's EJfay on the Lang, of Chaucer. 
NOR'MAN, f. in lea-language, a name given to a Ihort 
wooden bar, thrull into one of the holes of the windlafs, 
in a merchant-lhip, whereon to fallen the cable. It is 
only ufed where there is very little drain on the cable, as 
in a commodious harbour, when the (hip is well Iheltered 
from the wind and tide. 
NOR'MAN’s I'SLAND, a fmall illand of United Ame¬ 
rica, near the fouth-welt coall of Martha’s Vineyard. 
Lat. 4.X.13.N. Ion. 70. 4.5. W. 
NOR'MAN’s I'SLAND, a fmall illand in the Well- 
Indies : eighteen miles eaft of St. John, one of the Virgin 
I (lands. 
NOR'MANDY, before the revolution, was a confider- 
able province of France, bounded on the north by the 
Englilh Channel; on the eaft by Picardy and the Ille of 
France; on the fouth by Beauce, Perche, and Maine; 
and on the weft by Bretagne ; about 150 miles from eaft 
to weft, and 75 from north to fouth. It was divided into 
Upper and Lower, and contained many confiderable cities 
and towns. The two principal were Rouen and Caen. 
It is now divided into the departments of the Channel, 
the Calvados, the Lower Seine, the Eure, the Orne, with 
a fmall part of the Eure and Loire. It was one of the 
moft fruitful provinces in the whole kingdom, as alfo one 
of the moft profitable to the king. It abounds in grain, 
flax, hemp, and vegetables for dying, &c. It yields great 
quantities of apples and pears, of which the natives make 
cider and perry for their ufual drink. It is alfo a fine 
country for cattle, being full of excellent paftures. The 
lea fupplies it with plenty of fifti ; and of its water are 
made great quantities of (alt. The many iron-works in 
it are alfo of no fmall advantage to the country, ft has 
likewile fome mines of copper and fome medicinal fprings. 
This country, under the Roman emperors, was the 
fecond Provincia Lugdunenfis, and under the kings of 
the Franks conllituted a part of the kingdom of Neultria. 
Under Charles the Bold, it was overrun by fwarms of 
piratical Normans, who feated themfelves in Neuftria, 
and, in the year 912, obliged Charles the Simple to cede 
it to them as a fief of France. Their duke and leader, 
Rollo, having been baptized, the laft-mentioned Charles 
gave him his daughter Gifle in marriage. The fucceed- 
ing dukes rofe to great power, both here and beyond fea ; 
and William, in the year io 56 , became king of England. 
In the year 1135, the male line of this king and duke be¬ 
came extindl, in the perfon of Henry I. and his daughter 
Matilda married Godfrey count of Anjou. The fruit of 
this marriage was, Henry II. king of England, duke of 
Normandy, lord of Guienne, Poitou, and Saintonge. He 
left three Ions, Richard, Godfrey, and John ; the laft of 
whom feized on the dominions of both his brothers, and 
even had Arthur, the fon of Godfrey, taken off; for 
which, in the year 1202, Philip Augultus, with the con- 
lent of the peers, deprived him of moft of his territories 
in France; and, in the year 1203, Normandy was annexed 
to the crown. Henry III. of England ceded to Louis the 
Pious, and his fucceffors, all his claim to this province, 
Vol. XVII, >No. 1167* 
NOR J40 
which afterwards, to the end of the fourteenth century, 
fome kings bellowed on their ekleft fons, with the title of 
Duke of Normandy, till that of Dauphin was inftituted. 
The animofities betwixt the houfes of Orleans and Bur¬ 
gundy gave the Englilh an opportunity of over-running 
not only Normandy, but a great part of France. This 
province they held about thirty years, when they were 
driven out by Charles VII. 
Some antiquities were difcovered in this province, in 
the early part of the laft century, on theeftate of a gen¬ 
tleman of Cotantin near Valone ; a difcovery which has 
occafioned many difputes among the learned. Cotantin 
is a length of land that extends itfelf to the fea in this 
province. In this divifion of Normandy (fee Cotantin, 
vol. v. p. 260.) there are feveral little towns, boroughs, 
and villages, well peopled ; and the land, carefully cul¬ 
tivated, produces in great abundance all things neceffary 
for the fubfiftence of the inhabitants. A gentleman oft 
Valone was fo extremely pleafed with the fituation of the 
place, that he employed workmen to build a caftle there. 
As they were digging pretty deep, in order to lay the 
foundations, they found fomething that refilled, and 
turned the edges of, their fpades; and, after having 
fcraped away the earth, they found a folid and regular 
building, many feet under ground. The gentleman, 
being informed of it, commanded that no damage fhould be 
done to the building, and that they (hould purlue their 
work in digging gradually all along the lides of it, let the 
extent be never fo great. With an infinite deal of labour 
and expenfe, they at laft difcovered a theatre, fpacious 
enough to contain five or fix thoufand perfons to be 
placed commodioufly. Every body was furprifed at this 
difcovery: the governor and the intendant of the pro¬ 
vince, came to infpedl it; and the court no fooner heard 
of it, than orders were lent to the troops, and to the pea- 
fants of the place, to work night and day, and lay the 
ground all open round about; imagining that, as there 
was a theatre, there were alfo other buildings no lefs 
worthy of the fearch. This conjecture proved not erro¬ 
neous: feveral very large and magnificent baths were 
difcovered ; a fort, or kind of citadel, the walls of which 
were fix feet thick, in fome places twelve feet high, and 
in others eighteen or twenty; many porches and gates 
half ruined; and in Ihort, moll certain marks that this 
had been a very great and beautiful - city. Thefe confi¬ 
derable remains of antiquity made fome imagine, that 
this was the ancient city of Alonee, of which Casfar fpeaks 
in his commentaries, the capital of the people who were 
called Venelly, or Unelly, the name of Valone fo nearly 
refembling that of Alonee; but there were no certain 
proofs of it, neither does any hiftory inform us how 
that great city came to be deltroyed, any more than by 
what accident, or in what time, this of Cotantin was 
fwallowed up. On feveral of the edifices, there were 
infcriptions in the Celtic language; but fo defaced by 
time, that it was impoflible to find out in what year they 
were eredfted, or under whole government. 
NORMAN'NIC, adj. Belonging to Normandj' - . 
NORMAN'TON, a village of England in the county 
of Rutland, with a chalybeate fpring: fix miles fouth- 
eaft of Okeham. 
NORMI'ER, a town of France, in the department of 
the Cote d’Or: nine miles fouth-eall of Semur en Auxois. 
NORMOLO'CO, a town of South America, in the 
province of Tucuman : feventy miles fouth of Salta. 
NOR'NDORFF, a town of Germany, belonging to the 
lordlhip of Fugger, on the Schmutter: twelve miles north 
of Auglburg, and thirty-fix eall-north-eaft of Ulm. 
NO'RO, a country of Africa, lituated to the fouth of 
Calhna, north of the Niger. 
NORO'CHI, a town of Mexico, in New Bifcay: ninety- 
five miles wellTfouth-weft of Parral. 
NOROY l’ARCHEVE'QUE, or Noroy le Bourg, 
a town of France, in the department of the Upper Saone: 
fix miles eaft of Vefoul, and nine fouth-weft of Lure. 
Q q NOROY 
