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UNIT 7. THE NORMAN CONQUEST AND ITS EFFECT ON THE
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| UNIT 7. THE NORMAN CONQUEST AND ITS EFFECT ON THE
LINGUISTIC SITUATION § 1. The historical background The Normans, or ‗ Northmen‘, were descended from Vikings who had settled in northern France (Normandy) during the 9 th century. They were swiftly assimilated by the French and in the 11 th c. came to Britain as French speakers and bearers of French culture. They spoke the Northern dialect of French, which differed in some points from Central, Parisian French. In 1066 (this year in the history of the English language is often regarded as the opening of the Middle English period) King Edward the Confessor of England died and was succeeded by Harold, Earl of Wessex. However there were two other claimants to the throne: William, Duke of Normandy and Harold Hardrada of Norway. Both invaded Britain: Harold the north, but was defeated, and William – three days later – invaded in the south with the best cavalry in Europe. The Battle of Hastings was one of the most decisive battles in English history, and it brought victory to William who became the English king – William I (1066-1087), known as ‗ William the Conqueror‘. In the course of a few years, putting down revolts in various parts of the country, the Normans became masters of England. William also controlled most of Wales 25 despite uprisings by the Welsh princes, but he failed to make the Scottish king accept him as his overlord though he had made raids on Scotland too. The Normans introduced a new social system into England which is known as feudalism. William I organized a strong central government in which Normans held most positions of power. All posts in the church, from abbots upwards, were also given to persons of French culture. Frenchmen arrived in England in great numbers. Among them were merchants, soldiers, teachers, seeking for a new field of activity. During the reign of William the Conqueror about 200 000 Frenchmen settled in England. This influx lasted for about two centuries. The ruling class of Anglo-Saxon nobility vanished almost completely: some of them perished in battles and uprisings, others were executed, the remainder emigrated. During several centuries the ruling language in England was French. It was the language of the court, the government, the courts of law, and the church; the English language was reduced to a lower social sphere: the main mass of peasantry and townspeople. The relation between French and English was, thus, different from that between Scandinavian and English: French was the language of the ruling class. жүктеу/скачать 0,78 Mb. Достарыңызбен бөлісу:
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