Prof. Ahmed Shafik Elkhatib
08/05/2007, 08:01 PM
The Norman Conquest and Its
Effect on English (1066 – 1200)
I. The Norman Conquest
Near the end of the Old English period an event took place that had a greater effect on English than any other incident in the course of its history. This event was the Norman Conquest, which occurred in the year 1066 on the hand of William the Conqueror. The Norman Conquest changed the whole course of the English language in several aspects. Without this conquest English would probably have pursued the same course as the other Germanic languages. This means that it would perhaps have retained more of its inflections, and would have preserved a predominantly Germanic vocabulary. It would also have added to its word-stock by forming compounds and by making use of prefixes and suffixes to form new words from old ones. And it would seldom have borrowed words from other languages. In particular, the English language would have lacked the enormous number of French words that make modern English seem, as far as vocabulary is concerned, almost as much a Romance as a Germanic language.
II. The Origin of Normandy
Since this far-reaching event is known as the Norman Conquest, it may be in order to consider the origin of Normandy, after which it is named. Normandy is a district on the northern coast of France directly across from England. This district extends about seventy-five miles back from the English Channel. Normandy derives its name from the groups of Northmen who settled there in the tenth and eleventh centuries. The Normans soon gave up their own language and learned French. Their old Scandinavian tongue disappeared in the Norman capital. In the eleventh century, at the time of the Norman Conquest, the civilization of the Normans was essentially French. At this time the Normans were among the most advanced of the European peoples. And for some years before the Norman Conquest there had been fairly close relations between England and Normandy.
III. The Year 1066
In January 1066, after a reign of twenty-four years, the English King Edward the Confessor died childless, and England had to choose a successor. The day after Edward's death, Harold was elected king. Harold was earl of the West Saxon, and during the last twelve years of Edward's reign had been an influential person. The election of Harold did not last unchallenged for long. William, the duke of Normandy at that time, was a second cousin to the late king. William had been living in expectation of becoming Edward's successor and claimed the throne. Harold had to unwillingly acknowledge William's claim. William could hope to obtain the English crown only by force. In September he landed at the south coast of England with a formidable force, and his landing was unopposed. In a later battle Harold was killed and the English became disorganized, having lost their leader. The confusion spread, and the English soon retreated. Although William won the battle he did not yet attain the English crown. It was only after he had burnt and plundered the southeast of England that the English decided that further resistance would be useless. According to this, the English surrendered, and on Christmas Day 1066, William the Great was crowned king of England.
IV. The Norman Settlement
William's possession of the throne and his subsequent coronation in London was a matter of conquest and was accompanied by all the consequences of the conquest of one people by another. One of the most important of these consequences was the introduction of a new nobility to replace the English nobility, many of whom had been killed on the battlefield. William entered upon a series of campaigns to face rebellions against him, and as a result of these campaigns the English nobility was practically wiped out. In 1072 only one of the twelve earls in England was an Englishman, and he was executed four years later. For several generations after the Conquest the important positions and the great estates were held by Normans, and so were posts in the church.
Many of the Normans of lower ranks who came into England with William's army remained in the island and their number increased throughout the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Merchants and craftsmen settled in England in large numbers.
At Norwich and Nottingham there was a French town beside the English one. In Southampton there was "French Street," which retains its name until today, and was in the Middle Ages one of the two principal streets of the town.
In the century and a half following the Conquest, the governing class in both state and church was almost exclusively Norman. Thus their influence was out of all proportion to their number, which is not possible to determine.
V. The Use of French by the Upper Class
The members of the new ruling class were sufficiently predominant to continue to use their French language. This was natural at first, because they knew no English; but they continued to do so for a long time, although they picked up some knowledge of English without exerting any effort to do so as a matter of policy. For 200 years after the Norman Conquest, French continued to be the language of the upper classes in England. In the beginning those who spoke French were of Norman origin, but soon through intermarriage and relation with the ruling class many English people found it useful to learn French. As a result of this, before long the distinction between those who spoke French and those who spoke English was not ethnic but largely social.
The language of the masses remained English. And a French soldier living on a manor with hundreds of English peasants soon learned English. We can say that England was bilingual during this period in its history.
Among the circumstances promoting the continued use of French until the beginning of the thirteenth century was the close connection that existed between England and Normandy. Form the time of the Conquest the kings of England were at the same time dukes of Normandy. King Henry II, through inheritance and marriage with a Frenchwoman, controlled about two-thirds of France. Except for Henry I, no English king until Edward IV (1461-1483) married an English woman.
Like the royal family, the English nobility was a nobility of an Anglo-French character. Nearly all English landlords had possessions in France, frequently married French women, and spent much time in France. The facts that English kings were engaged in military operations in the continent, and the clergy and merchants were going and coming between England and France, made the continued use of French natural and even inevitable.
VI. The Attitude toward the English Language
The preference that the governing class in England showed for French was only a natural result of circumstances, and did not mean that the Normans were actively hostile to the English language. But English was at that time an uncultivated tongue and the language of a socially inferior class. Although the English sometimes felt resentment and the Normans were haughty at times, there is evidence of mutual respect, peaceful cooperation, and intermarriage between them from the beginning.
William the Conqueror made an effort himself at the age of forty-three to learn English, but he could not make much progress because of his many other activities. His youngest son, Henry I, probably knew some English. In the period between the Conquest in 1066 and the year 1200 the attitude of the king and the upper classes toward English was characterized as simply indifferent. They did not have a command of English because their activities in England did not necessitate it, and their constant contact with Normandy made French much more useful to them. However, we should bear in mind that although they did not cultivate English, this did not mean that they had no knowledge of it.
VII. The Fusion of the English and the Norman Peoples
In the years following the Norman Conquest the defeat and hardships were forgotten, and the English people accepted the new order. The fusion of the English and the Normans was rapid, and was evident in the marriage of Normans to English women. It was also evident from the way in which the English gave their support to their French rulers. In the towns the relations resulting from trade were another factor in bringing about a union between the two peoples. It was only the events of the thirteenth century, the loss of Normandy, and the growing antagonism toward France that completed the psychological and physical union of all the inhabitants of England.
VIII. The Diffusion of the English and the French languages
It is not easy to determine the extent to which English and French were used in England after the Norman Conquest. However, the appearance of manuals from about 1250 for the teaching of French is a significant indication. In the fourteenth century writers and poets often began their works with an explanation of the language employed and sometimes indulged in valuable observations of a linguistic nature. In the fifteenth century the evidence became abundant that French was the language of the royal court and the upper classes, and that English was the language spoken by the mass of the people. To define the position of the two languages more specifically, we should consider two issues, namely knowledge of English among the upper class on the one hand, and knowledge of French among the middle class on the other. These two issues are dealt with in Sections IX and X below.
IX. Knowledge of English among the Upper Class
Since English was the language of the greater part of the population in England many of the upper class found it necessary to acquire some familiarity of it. This was the case, at least by the twelfth century. Henry II himself understood English though he did not speak it, whereas his wife always required an interpreter when people spoke English to her.
English survived for a considerable time in some monasteries, at least until 1154. Among churchmen the ability to speak English was fairly common. For example, the bishop of London, a man of Norman descent, was fluent in English, in addition to French and Latin. And the bishop of Coventry, a native of Normandy must have known English, since he criticized a fellow bishop for not knowing it. The bishop of St. Davids had such a knowledge of English that he could read and comment on the language of Alfred, and even compare the dialects of northern and southern England. And the head of the abbey of Bury St. Edmunds could read books written in English very well, and preached to the people in his native dialect of English. But these instances do not mean that a knowledge of English was universal among churchmen, some of whom could preach only in Latin or French. For example, the bishop of Lincoln in the time of Henry II did not even understand English and was in need for the services of an interpreter. William Longchamp, a Norman important churchman and one of the chief men of the kingdom was utterly unacquainted with the English language. However, the fact of their not knowing English was told by their contemporaries as something worth noting, which is an indication of the widespread knowledge of English.
Among those of lower rank, whose position brought them into contact with both the upper and the lower class, the ability to speak English as well as French was general.
And among children whose parents spoke different languages a knowledge of English was common even form the days of the Conqueror.
To sum up, a knowledge of English was not uncommon at the end of the twelfth century among those who habitually used French. Among churchmen and men of education it was even expected. And among those who had to contact both upper and lower classes the ability to speak both French and English was quite general.
X. Knowledge of French among the Middle Class
As we have already pointed out in section IX, knowledge of English was not unusual among the upper class. Likewise, knowledge of French was often found among members of the middle class, e.g. among the knightly class, even when the mother tongue was English.
The inhabitants of towns probably contained the largest number of those among the middle class who knew French.
However, knowledge of French in the Middle Ages was only exceptional among the common people as a whole. In the period preceding the loss of Normandy in 1204 there were some people who spoke only French and many more who spoke only English. There was also a considerable number who were bilingual, as well as many who understood both French and English.
Effect on English (1066 – 1200)
I. The Norman Conquest
Near the end of the Old English period an event took place that had a greater effect on English than any other incident in the course of its history. This event was the Norman Conquest, which occurred in the year 1066 on the hand of William the Conqueror. The Norman Conquest changed the whole course of the English language in several aspects. Without this conquest English would probably have pursued the same course as the other Germanic languages. This means that it would perhaps have retained more of its inflections, and would have preserved a predominantly Germanic vocabulary. It would also have added to its word-stock by forming compounds and by making use of prefixes and suffixes to form new words from old ones. And it would seldom have borrowed words from other languages. In particular, the English language would have lacked the enormous number of French words that make modern English seem, as far as vocabulary is concerned, almost as much a Romance as a Germanic language.
II. The Origin of Normandy
Since this far-reaching event is known as the Norman Conquest, it may be in order to consider the origin of Normandy, after which it is named. Normandy is a district on the northern coast of France directly across from England. This district extends about seventy-five miles back from the English Channel. Normandy derives its name from the groups of Northmen who settled there in the tenth and eleventh centuries. The Normans soon gave up their own language and learned French. Their old Scandinavian tongue disappeared in the Norman capital. In the eleventh century, at the time of the Norman Conquest, the civilization of the Normans was essentially French. At this time the Normans were among the most advanced of the European peoples. And for some years before the Norman Conquest there had been fairly close relations between England and Normandy.
III. The Year 1066
In January 1066, after a reign of twenty-four years, the English King Edward the Confessor died childless, and England had to choose a successor. The day after Edward's death, Harold was elected king. Harold was earl of the West Saxon, and during the last twelve years of Edward's reign had been an influential person. The election of Harold did not last unchallenged for long. William, the duke of Normandy at that time, was a second cousin to the late king. William had been living in expectation of becoming Edward's successor and claimed the throne. Harold had to unwillingly acknowledge William's claim. William could hope to obtain the English crown only by force. In September he landed at the south coast of England with a formidable force, and his landing was unopposed. In a later battle Harold was killed and the English became disorganized, having lost their leader. The confusion spread, and the English soon retreated. Although William won the battle he did not yet attain the English crown. It was only after he had burnt and plundered the southeast of England that the English decided that further resistance would be useless. According to this, the English surrendered, and on Christmas Day 1066, William the Great was crowned king of England.
IV. The Norman Settlement
William's possession of the throne and his subsequent coronation in London was a matter of conquest and was accompanied by all the consequences of the conquest of one people by another. One of the most important of these consequences was the introduction of a new nobility to replace the English nobility, many of whom had been killed on the battlefield. William entered upon a series of campaigns to face rebellions against him, and as a result of these campaigns the English nobility was practically wiped out. In 1072 only one of the twelve earls in England was an Englishman, and he was executed four years later. For several generations after the Conquest the important positions and the great estates were held by Normans, and so were posts in the church.
Many of the Normans of lower ranks who came into England with William's army remained in the island and their number increased throughout the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Merchants and craftsmen settled in England in large numbers.
At Norwich and Nottingham there was a French town beside the English one. In Southampton there was "French Street," which retains its name until today, and was in the Middle Ages one of the two principal streets of the town.
In the century and a half following the Conquest, the governing class in both state and church was almost exclusively Norman. Thus their influence was out of all proportion to their number, which is not possible to determine.
V. The Use of French by the Upper Class
The members of the new ruling class were sufficiently predominant to continue to use their French language. This was natural at first, because they knew no English; but they continued to do so for a long time, although they picked up some knowledge of English without exerting any effort to do so as a matter of policy. For 200 years after the Norman Conquest, French continued to be the language of the upper classes in England. In the beginning those who spoke French were of Norman origin, but soon through intermarriage and relation with the ruling class many English people found it useful to learn French. As a result of this, before long the distinction between those who spoke French and those who spoke English was not ethnic but largely social.
The language of the masses remained English. And a French soldier living on a manor with hundreds of English peasants soon learned English. We can say that England was bilingual during this period in its history.
Among the circumstances promoting the continued use of French until the beginning of the thirteenth century was the close connection that existed between England and Normandy. Form the time of the Conquest the kings of England were at the same time dukes of Normandy. King Henry II, through inheritance and marriage with a Frenchwoman, controlled about two-thirds of France. Except for Henry I, no English king until Edward IV (1461-1483) married an English woman.
Like the royal family, the English nobility was a nobility of an Anglo-French character. Nearly all English landlords had possessions in France, frequently married French women, and spent much time in France. The facts that English kings were engaged in military operations in the continent, and the clergy and merchants were going and coming between England and France, made the continued use of French natural and even inevitable.
VI. The Attitude toward the English Language
The preference that the governing class in England showed for French was only a natural result of circumstances, and did not mean that the Normans were actively hostile to the English language. But English was at that time an uncultivated tongue and the language of a socially inferior class. Although the English sometimes felt resentment and the Normans were haughty at times, there is evidence of mutual respect, peaceful cooperation, and intermarriage between them from the beginning.
William the Conqueror made an effort himself at the age of forty-three to learn English, but he could not make much progress because of his many other activities. His youngest son, Henry I, probably knew some English. In the period between the Conquest in 1066 and the year 1200 the attitude of the king and the upper classes toward English was characterized as simply indifferent. They did not have a command of English because their activities in England did not necessitate it, and their constant contact with Normandy made French much more useful to them. However, we should bear in mind that although they did not cultivate English, this did not mean that they had no knowledge of it.
VII. The Fusion of the English and the Norman Peoples
In the years following the Norman Conquest the defeat and hardships were forgotten, and the English people accepted the new order. The fusion of the English and the Normans was rapid, and was evident in the marriage of Normans to English women. It was also evident from the way in which the English gave their support to their French rulers. In the towns the relations resulting from trade were another factor in bringing about a union between the two peoples. It was only the events of the thirteenth century, the loss of Normandy, and the growing antagonism toward France that completed the psychological and physical union of all the inhabitants of England.
VIII. The Diffusion of the English and the French languages
It is not easy to determine the extent to which English and French were used in England after the Norman Conquest. However, the appearance of manuals from about 1250 for the teaching of French is a significant indication. In the fourteenth century writers and poets often began their works with an explanation of the language employed and sometimes indulged in valuable observations of a linguistic nature. In the fifteenth century the evidence became abundant that French was the language of the royal court and the upper classes, and that English was the language spoken by the mass of the people. To define the position of the two languages more specifically, we should consider two issues, namely knowledge of English among the upper class on the one hand, and knowledge of French among the middle class on the other. These two issues are dealt with in Sections IX and X below.
IX. Knowledge of English among the Upper Class
Since English was the language of the greater part of the population in England many of the upper class found it necessary to acquire some familiarity of it. This was the case, at least by the twelfth century. Henry II himself understood English though he did not speak it, whereas his wife always required an interpreter when people spoke English to her.
English survived for a considerable time in some monasteries, at least until 1154. Among churchmen the ability to speak English was fairly common. For example, the bishop of London, a man of Norman descent, was fluent in English, in addition to French and Latin. And the bishop of Coventry, a native of Normandy must have known English, since he criticized a fellow bishop for not knowing it. The bishop of St. Davids had such a knowledge of English that he could read and comment on the language of Alfred, and even compare the dialects of northern and southern England. And the head of the abbey of Bury St. Edmunds could read books written in English very well, and preached to the people in his native dialect of English. But these instances do not mean that a knowledge of English was universal among churchmen, some of whom could preach only in Latin or French. For example, the bishop of Lincoln in the time of Henry II did not even understand English and was in need for the services of an interpreter. William Longchamp, a Norman important churchman and one of the chief men of the kingdom was utterly unacquainted with the English language. However, the fact of their not knowing English was told by their contemporaries as something worth noting, which is an indication of the widespread knowledge of English.
Among those of lower rank, whose position brought them into contact with both the upper and the lower class, the ability to speak English as well as French was general.
And among children whose parents spoke different languages a knowledge of English was common even form the days of the Conqueror.
To sum up, a knowledge of English was not uncommon at the end of the twelfth century among those who habitually used French. Among churchmen and men of education it was even expected. And among those who had to contact both upper and lower classes the ability to speak both French and English was quite general.
X. Knowledge of French among the Middle Class
As we have already pointed out in section IX, knowledge of English was not unusual among the upper class. Likewise, knowledge of French was often found among members of the middle class, e.g. among the knightly class, even when the mother tongue was English.
The inhabitants of towns probably contained the largest number of those among the middle class who knew French.
However, knowledge of French in the Middle Ages was only exceptional among the common people as a whole. In the period preceding the loss of Normandy in 1204 there were some people who spoke only French and many more who spoke only English. There was also a considerable number who were bilingual, as well as many who understood both French and English.