ther they started upon an
extensive campaign, the objective point of which was again Paris. But
the powerful fortifications baffled the Norsemen, who possessed no
machinery of destruction fit to cope with such defences. The siege had
therefore to be abandoned. Dijon and Chartres also made a successful
resistance. But a long chain of smaller cities surrendered, and the
country was ravaged far and wide. The peasants took to the woods and
refused to sow their fields, knowing that there was small chance of
their reaping them. So desperate became the situation that nobles and
peasants alike entreated the king to make peace with the Norsemen on
whatever terms he could procure. The king was not unwilling to listen to
such prayers. It occurred to him that in making a treaty with Rollo he
would be killing two birds with one stone. He would not only be ridding
France of a dangerous foe, but he might secure for himself a powerful
friend who might help him keep the unruly nobles in order, and secure
him in the possession of his shorn and reduced kingdom. With this end in
view he invested Rollo with the sovereignty of his northern province,
named after the Norsemen, Normandy, and conferred upon him the title of
duke (912 A.D.). Rollo was to recognize Charles as his overlord, and
defend him against external and internal foes; and he was to become a
Christian and marry the king's daughter, Gisla. It is told, however,
that when Rollo was required to kneel down and kiss the royal foot in
token of fealty, he stoutly refused.

"I will never bend my knee before any man," he said, "nor will I kiss
anyone's foot."

After much persuasion however, he permitted one of his men to perform
the act of homage in his stead. His proxy stalked sullenly forward, and
pausing before the king, who was on horseback, seized his foot and
raised it to his lips. By this manoeuvre, the king came to make a
somersault, at which there followed a great and disrespectful burst of
laughter from the Norsemen.

Shortly after the conclusion of this treaty Rollo was baptized, and his
marriage to the Princess Gisla was celebrated with great pomp in the
city of Rouen. His previous marriage to Popa does not seem to have
caused him any scruple, though, as a matter of fact, he continued to
regard the latter as his wife, and when Gisla died he resumed his
marital relations with her, if indeed they had ever been interrupted.
The princess had been to him nothing but a hostage