5

Historical Background: The Norman Conquest

The fall of the English kingdom – due to the inefficiency of Edward the Confessor who ruled 1042 to 1066.

He was not interested in running of the state, was very pious and believed in chastity, so had no successors.

After his death his brother in law, Harold, was made king. But William the Duke of Normandy was Edward’s closest relative, and it is possible that Edward himself had promised him the kingdom.

Offended, William decided to attack England. His conquest was successful (a battle near Hastings) and on Christmas Day 1066 he was crowned in Westminster

Historical Background: The Consequences of the Conquest

introduction of new nobility – the English ones either lost their lives or were treated as traitors, so the higher positions were kept by Normans or other foreigners

in order to control the conquered people a number of (foreign) troops were sent to different parts of the country, a number of castles were built to accommodate them

Norman clergymen replaced the English ones and new, foreign monasteries were founded

a number of foreign merchants and craftsmen arrived and settled in several cities

it is estimated that about 20 000 of Normans and French settled in England, but they constituted the most powerful social classes

Historical Background: The significance of French

since the nobility and kings had also their possessions in France, they spent much time there – this contributed to the use of French in England from the 11th to 13th cent and even later

the Normans used their own lg in England (a dialect different from the one of Paris) but their attitude to English was not hostile.

French was used at the English court also as the lg of literature, relatively little was written then in English

French was also learnt by English noblemen and it was a symbol of social and cultural prestige but also necessary to communicate with the Normans

ordinary people spoke English so e.g. priest preached in English •in written documents Latin replaced English after 1080, and the first French laws come from c. 1140 – 1150

The end of the French dominance

in 1204 King John lost Normandy to the French king Phillip Augustus – so the nobility of England had to consider themselves English

but the French still came to England, which was not liked by local nobility and led to the outbreak of the Baron’s War (1258 – 65) and driving out of the aliens from England – by 1300 French became a foreign lg

with the so-called Hundred Year’s War (1337 – 1453) French gained the status of the lg of the enemy

The revival of the English language

Henry IV was the first monolingual English king •in 1362 the parliament enacted the Statute of pleading whereby all law court proceedings were to be conducted in English, as ordinary people knew no French

in the 15th cent only few people could speak French and it was considered quite an achievement

French borrowings

Around 900 words entered English up to c. 1250, they were borrowed mostly from Norman French, and up to 1485 at least 10,000 words were borrowed

–in the 2nd half of the 13th cent Parisian French was the main source and the Anglo-Norman words were replaced by the Parisian ones e.g. callenge vs. challenge, campion vs champion or borrowed again with a different meaning e.g. convey vs. convoy

French borrowings Examples: religion, homily, cardinal, abbey, government, crown, treason, baron, duke, army, navy, peace, battle, sergeant, justice,

crime, bill, petition, bail, dress, robe, veil, button, fur, dinner, supper, feast, taste, plate, medicine, pain, stomach, pulse, remedy, plague, art, painting, music, tone, palace, mansion, poet, title, paper, pen, logic, study

Latin Borrowings Examples: congregation, curate, pulpit, monastery, scripture, requiem, rosary, ecclesiastical, catholic, evangelic, ceremonial, eternal, immortal, absolve, celebrate, consecrate

in the 14th and 15th cent. a considerable number of Latin words entered English •in Middle Ages Latin was the official written language in England •from 12th to 14th cent – part of the English literature was written in Latin

Latin was considered the language of the educated people, who not only wrote in it, but also used it as a spoken lg.

the translation of the Bible into English by the followers of John Wycliffe completed about 1395  it contains a number of Latin borrowings, many of which were retained in the later translations of the Bible

Low Dutch borrowings words connected with shipping: dogger (a fishing boat), ligher

other words: clock, brick, sled, pickle, clamp, splint, bulwark, mud, luck, pack, snap, scour, scrub

these words reflect the trade with Low Countries and the North German centres

especially important was wool trade  wool was exported to be woven in Flanders  export was in the hands of Flemish merchants

under Edward III, Flemish weavers were also invited to settle in England