[geeks] Now for something completely geek

[Mike Meredith]

On Sun, 27 Aug 2006 11:04:48 -0400, Phil Stracchino wrote:
> Mike Meredith wrote:
> > The point I was making was that the British (well the English in
> > this case) *did* conquer or hold parts of Europe. Was the Duchy of
> 
> Well, technically, that's not strictly correct.  Normandy wasn't ever
> really conquered by the English.  It was conquered by Danish Vikings

That's why I said "or hold".

> Had it still been an English possession in Queen Victoria's time, I
> suspect it would by then have been counted not so much a part of the
> British Empire, as part of Britain.

I mentioned Normandy for a specific reason. As I mentioned earlier, the
Channel Islands were originally part of the Duchy of Normandy. The
British monarchy makes the claim they still are ... and they are *not*
part of Britain. Legally they are included in the "British Islands"
category which includes but is not the same as "Great Britain".