Comment from abdoucon
Time: February 8, 2010, 4:12 am

not exactly. normandy was not really populated but ruled by norsemen (called normans) after saint-clair-sur-epte treaty (about 880).
they were a really few number so they mixed with population and gave up their mother tongue and learned to speak roman (old french). they kept some norse words (names of cities like Le Hâvre, La Hougue).
these french-speaking normans were people who conquerred england in 1066.

Comment from Matt
Time: February 8, 2010, 6:08 am

Some info here (with a funny kiss-my-foot story):http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_S…

Comment from notgnal
Time: February 8, 2010, 8:13 am

why yes….vikings..

Comment from bec
Time: February 8, 2010, 1:15 pm

Yes the vikings settled there – but they didn’t speak French for a very long time.

Comment from Cabal
Time: February 8, 2010, 3:25 pm

Yes, it was the land of the normans (northmen). But they didn’t speak French, French became the official language of France only at the end of the 19th century, until that time the Normands had their own language/dialect and would learn French only if they needed it and mostly as a second language (merchants, noblemen, and then after the revolution educated people).