If the Norman
Conquest hadn’t succeeded in 1066, English language would have probably
followed the same course as the other Germanic languages: retaining more
inflections, preserving its own vocabulary, following the same word formation
and incorporating words from other languages less freely. Particularly, it
would have lacked all the French words that today make English what it seems,
almost as much a Romance as a Germanic language.
This is the
reason why it must be explained the origin of Normandy. Normandy is a district
in the northern coast of France directly across from England. In 912 the right
of the Northmen to occupy this part of France was recognized and Rollo was
recognised as the first king of Normandy.
Thanks to the
adaptability of the Scandinavian to the ideas and customs of those among whom
they came to live, the Normans soon absorbed the most important elements of
French civilization. In the military aspect, they added French tactics to their
own impetuous courage, and they soon had one of the best armies, in Europe.
They took important features of Frankish law, including the idea of the jury,
making one of the best legal systems at that time. They accepted Christianity
and began the construction of the famous Norman cathedrals that are still
marvels to the modern architect. But most important of all, they soon gave up
their own language and learned French.
For some years
before the Norman Conquest, the relations between England and Normandy were
close. In 1002 Æthelred had married a Norman wife and, when driven into exile
by the Danes, took refuge with his brother-in-law, the duke of Normandy, and
this is why his son Edward was brought up in France. After all this, when in
1042 the Danish line died out and Edward was restored to the throne, he brought
with him some of his Norman friends, enriched them, and gave them important
places in the government. A strong French atmosphere pervaded the English
court. In January 1066, Edward died childless and left England without a
successor and finally, Harold was elected king.
His election was
challenged by William, the duke of Normandy, he was a second cousin to the late
king. Although this relationship did not give him any right of inheritance to
the English throne, he had the expectation of becoming Edward’s successor,
because Edward had assured him that he should succeed him, and only by force
could William hope to obtain the crown.
In September he
landed on the south coast of England, with a formidable force. His landing was
unopposed. Harold was occupied in the north of England meeting an invasion by
the king of Norway. It was just after
his victory that William lands. The news was expected, but the English were not
fully prepared for it. Moreover, William’s departure had been delayed, and with
the coming of the harvest season many of those whom Harold had assembled a few
months before, in anticipation of an attack, had been sent home. He drew up his
forces on a broad hill at Senlac and awaited William’s attack. Thanks to
Harold’s advantageous position and their great defence they were still
resisting in the afternoon. Due to the fact William could not drive them off,
he determined to try to lure them off and ordered a feigned retreat. The
English fell into the trap and the French won at night. Although William had
won the battle of Hastings and eliminated his rival, he had not yet attained
the English crown. It was only after he had burnt and pillaged the southeast of
England that the citizens of London decided that further resistance would be
useless. William was crowned king of England the same year.
William’s
possession was a matter of conquest. He introduced a new nobility, giving
important positions to William’s Norman followers and persecuting traitors
(there was severity with revolts). Norman upper class was gradually introduced
into all important positions in the church. The English abbots were replaced
more slowly. The lower class came into England with William’s army. Many of them
doubtless remained in the island and they increased their number throughout the
rest of the eleventh century and the whole of the next. William also built
castles and a considerable number of merchants and craftsmen arrived.
Whatever the
actual number of Normans settled in England, it is clear that the members of
the new ruling class were sufficiently predominant to continue to use their own
language, they knew no English and making no effort to do so as a matter of
policy. For 200 years, French remained the language of upper classes in
England, and this was creating a social distinction, between upper and lower
classes.
The most
important factor in the continued use of French by the English upper class was
the close connection between England and the continent: the kings of England
were likewise dukes of Normandy. To the end of his life, William felt more
closely attached to his dukedom than to England. And it is not surprising that
the attention of the English was focused upon affairs in France. For instance, except for Henry I, no English
king until Edward IV sought a wife in England. This is why it was easy to see
how continentally minded English royalty was and how natural a thing would seem
the continued use of French at the English court.
There is no
reason to think that the preference that the governing class in England showed
for French was anything more than a natural result of circumstances, the
newcomers weren’t hostile to the English language. It is true that English was
now an uncultivated tongue, but there is evidence of mutual respect and
peaceful cooperation. It was only that the attitude of the king and the upper
classes toward the English language was of simply indifference. They did not
cultivate English, because their activities in England did not necessitate it
and their constant concern with continental affairs made French for them more
useful.
Literature
played a more important part in the lives of the leisure class. And a
considerable part of French literature was being produced in England from the
beginning of the 12th century. William’s daughter, for example, was a patron of
poets, and his son Henry I was at least married successively to two queens who
supported poets. The court was the centre of much literary activity.
In the years following
the Norman Conquest, the defeat and the political and social hardships were
gradually forgotten. People accepted the new order a fact and adjusted
themselves to it... The fusion of Normans and English was rapid, but not more
rapid than national interest and the intercourse of everyday life would
normally bring about.
The Reestablishment t of English, 1200-1500.
As long as
England held its continental territory and its nobility united to the
continent, there were still reasons to keep French as the language of the
governing classes. Nevertheless, in the year 1200 things changed because
England lost part of its territory, and there was a revival of the English
language, moving gradually French into a lower position.
Apart from this
reason, several events in the 13th century promoted a more negative vision of
the French language. The first one was that the French invasion of Normandy in
1204 mad the English nobility and king lose economic interests with the
continent. Furthermore, in the same year, a decree by the French king offered
the possibility to choose between keeping their possessions either in England
or in France. Thus, the nobles that kept their possessions in England were
English and the ones that kept their possessions in France were French, causing
at the same time a loss of interest of the French language.
The second
reason was that England experienced a period of French emigration to France
during the decades of the 1230s and 1240s (in the reigns of King John and
Richard III), who was not well received by France. And this emigration produced
ironically in England, a national feeling against the French people that
remained in the country and to their language as well.
In the 13th
century, French was only used for social customs, business and administrative
conventions, whilst English substituted French as the language of upper
classes. The French language was even treated as a foreign language (for the
beginning of the 15th century, every child of England spoke as his or her
mother tongue)
In the 14th
century, even the more conservative institutions, as universities or churches,
gave support to English. Other institutions, such as the court, despite the
fact that they still read and wrote in French, they spoke in English, thanks to
the Parliament that in October 1362, established English as the language of the
court: for plead, defend, judge…
In addition to
this, the Hundred Years War (1337-1453) also contributed to the view of French
as the language of the enemy. The Black Death was also an important event that
influenced in the use of the English language, due to the fact that it killed a
big part of the lower class, and they were more economically important due to
their rise of wages.
In the 15th
century, the ability to speak French was exceptional and not many cultivated
people knew it, and this was gradually reflected in the writing. By the middle
of the century, all letters and records of towns were written in English, even
in the Parliament they started to write in English.
In the literary
aspect, religious books of the 12th and 13th century were commonly found and in
the following centuries, literature topics turn to more secular ones, as for
instance, romances. One of the most important authors who wrote in English in
the 14th century was Chaucer with his “Canterbury Tales”, Langland and Wycliffe.
ENGLISH LAW
The reason why French became the
spoken language of English law is difficult to answer. The date when the first
literary texts of law were written in French is known and how earlier law
treatises in Latin were translated into the same language as well. But it is quite
difficult to determine when French became the tongue used regularly in English
courts. Traditionally, it has been thought that the use of French in England for
all purposes was a direct result of the Norman Conquest, and that it became the
ordinary language of upper classes, so it was considered that Englishmen spoke
French in courts because they spoke it everywhere else. As far as it is known,
no attempt has ever tried to explain why the people as a whole adopted English
as the national tongue and the lawyers alone continued using French. Only a few
writers changed this opinion traditionally based on a very slight historical
basis and that lacked the support of any direct evidence from any first class
source. It is, in fact, the contrary, the French language did not drive out
English just after the conquest as a generally used tongue in courts, until
long after the conquest. Perhaps not until the time of Edward I, the period at
which it began to affect English legal literature.
References
Woodbine, George E. “The Language
of English Law.” Speculum, vol.
18, no. 4, 1943, pp. 395–436,
www.jstor.org/stable/2853661?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents, 10.2307/2853661.
Accessed 24 Apr. 2019.
Baugh, A. C., & Cable, T.
(1993). A history of the English language. Routledge.
