a: places changed their names with their masters; and, no respect
being paid to the emperor or his descendants, Bertheville ceased to be
known under any other denomination than that of _Dyppe_, a Norman word,
expressive of the depth of water in its harbor. Under Rollo, we are told
that Dieppe became the principal port in the duchy. That politic
sovereign was too well versed in nautical affairs, not to be aware of
the importance of such a station; and he had the interest of his
newly-acquired territory too much at heart, not to labor at the
improving of it. It was at Dieppe that he embarked the troops, which he
dispatched, in 913, for the assistance of his countrymen, the Danes, in
their attempts to conquer England; and the town flourished under his
sway, and then laid the foundation for that maritime greatness to which
it has subsequently risen.

From this time forward, Dieppe is frequently mentioned in history:
William the Conqueror honored it with his presence in 1047, and received
in person the homage of its inhabitants, on his return from Arques, when
the surrender of that important fortress by his uncle, Telo, put an end
to the troubles occasioned by the illegitimacy of his birth. The same
monarch, during the preparations for his descent upon Britain, made a
particular call on the people of Dieppe, to arm their vessels for the
transport of his troops. They obeyed the summons; and they boast that
their ships were the first that arrived at the place of rendezvous. No
port in Normandy derived equal advantage from the conquest: the
intercourse between the sister countries was naturally conducted through
this channel; and such continued the case till 1194, when Richard
Coeur-de-Lion, defeated under the walls of Arques, was compelled to
leave this part of the province a prey to the victorious arms of
Philip-Augustus. Upon this occasion, the French monarch appears to have
singled out Dieppe as an object of particular vengeance, and he
conducted himself towards it with a cruelty for which it would be
difficult to assign an adequate reason. Not content with burning the
town and its shipping, he transported the inhabitants into the ulterior
parts of France, that they might never re-assemble and raise it from its
ashes. Brito, at the same time that he glosses over the more flagrant
part of the transaction, tells enough to leave no doubt of its truth;
and his passage upon the subject deserves attention, particularly as
being d