3.1.2. The Norman Conquest

The Norman conquest of England began in 1066. It proved to be a turning point in English history and had a considerable effect on the English language.

After Edward the Confessor’s death his cousin William, Duke of Normandy, who had long claimed the English throne brought a big army of Normans to England by promise of land and plunder. He killed the king Harold of Wessex and his faithful thanes and defeated the English at the battle of Hastings. The same year William the Conqueror was crowned king of England. He mercilessly suppressed the numerous rebellions of the English. Anglo-Saxon aristocracy vanished almost completely: some of them perished in battles and uprisings, others were executed, the remainder fled from the country. The most mportant positions in the government, army and church belonged to Normans, who arrived in England in great numbers. During the reign of William the Conqueror (1066-1087), about 200 thousand of Frenchmen settled in England. Their influx lasted for about two centuries (up to 1203) and ended only with the loss of lands and possessions in Normandy by John Lackland. All the estates and lands of the Anglo-Saxon nobles were granted to Norman barons, and if you look at the map of England, you will see that some villages are still named by the names of the Normans to whom William had given them, e.g., Norton Mandeville in Essex. Some Englishmen nowadays have Norman names such as Harcourt, Montgomery, Montague. The Norman Conquest resulted in the strengthening of King’s power and feudalism.

In spite of their Scandinavian origin Normans (< Norþman) were French speakers and bearers of French culture. They spoke the Northern dialect of French, which differed in some points from Central Parisian French; therefore, their tongue in Britain is often referred to as Anglo-French or Anglo-Norman. The French language became the official language of the country and remained so for about 3 centuries. It was the language of the King’s court, the government, the church and the army. No one, who wished to be considered a gentleman, spoke English. Even teaching was done in French.

Nevertheless, England never stopped speaking English, though it was spoken by the lower classes in the towns and peasants in the villages (mostly in the Midlands and in the North).But since most of them were illiterate, the English language was almost exclusively used for spoken communication.

Gradually many common people mastered French, the language of the conquerors, so that the number of bilingual people (using both languages) was constantly increasing. Under such circumstances, the two languages could not but influence each other and when in the 14-th century English came out victorious in its fight with the French language it emerged in a changed condition. The French influence was especially great in the vocabulary of the English language and its orthography.

The earliest sign of the victory of the English language over French was the famous proclamation issued by Henry III in 1258 in French, Latin and English.

In mid-14-th century the influence of English rose. In 1362, Parliament ruled that courts of law should conduct their business in English as «French was too little known». The same year king Edward III made his speech in English in Parliament itself. Since 1363, the English language was used in Parliament discussions. Since 1477, English was used as the language of teaching in schools. Thus, by the end of the 14-th c. supremacy of Anglo-Norman came to an end, and the English language became the official language of England.