What is the Norman Conquest and how does it affect our language?

Answer 1

The Norman Conquest occurred in England in the year 1066, an episode known as The Battle of Hastings. This event transformed language, literature and politics significantly because the English speaking populous was defeated by the french speaking Normans from France. This shift in language further encouraged a separation between the three estates; The Clergy speaking in Latin, the nobility speaking french, and the working classes speaking only English. This lack of bilingual ability on the part of the working class meant that they could not interpret the word of god (i.e. The Bible) freely but had to rely on the clergymen, who were often corrupt and greedy, to interact with God. The lower classes were at a further disadvantage by the introduction of Norman French because it created a larger gap between rich and poor, stressing illiteracy and excluding the working class from the new french literature and poetry of the aristocrats. Writers Such as Marie de France, a Norman noble, wrote french poetry called lais, romantic narratives written in prose. The lai often contains scenes of English Arthurian legend, but were however composed in french. These popular french works were shared only amongst royal court and noble company, thus rejecting the English speaking working class.

Answer 2

Since the Norman's spoke French the French language became the language for the nobility. This means for several hundred years the people who ruled England couldn't speak to the people they ruled. The common man spoke a form of English with a few Norse words here and there. So the result was the two languages lived side by side. As a result terms in courts still retain the French while common items retain the English. Except in foods. If a meat dish was needed the common man would call it a cow, but as soon as it hit the Norman table it became "beef." Even today the Queen has her menus in French. This difference went through the whole society and even came into the American colonies. A man was considered educated if he spoke French and more common if he didn't. George Washington never would admit he didn't know French.

Answer 3

The Normans introduced Anglo-Norman, a dialect of Old French, as the language of the ruling classes in England, which displaced Old English. Many, many French words were integrated into the English language and are still here today. During the time, William the Conquerer never bothered to learn English, and so Anglo-Norman became very integrated as a way for them to understand each other. Names like William and Robert also became very popular in England, instead of Anglo-Saxon names.

Answer 4

Normans contributed a great deal of French words and gave English the ability to have nuance of meaning for the same term.

Answer 5

Because they allowed their language and culture to fuse with those of the English.

This effected the English Language enormously.