The Northmen or the Vikings who had settled in Northwestern France were called Normans. They had adopted the French civilization and language. They were good soldiers, administrators and lawyers.
In 1066 at the battle of Hastings [ 'heistrnz] the Norman Duke William defeated the Saxon King Harold. Again a new invasion took place. Within five years William the Conqueror was complete master of the whole of England. He divided the land of the conquered people among his lords. With the Norman conquest the feudal system was established in England. The English peasants were made to work for the Norman barons, they became their serfs and were cruelly oppressed.
William the Conqueror could not speak a word of English. He and his barons spoke Norman-French, not pure French, because the Normans were simply the same Danes with a French polish. The English language was neglected by the conquerors.
Norman-French became the official language of the state and
remained as such up to the middle of the 14th century. It was the language of the ruling class, of the court and the law, it was spoken by the Norman nobility.
But the common people of the native population kept speaking their mother tongue, Anglo-Saxon. While at the monasteries, at the centres of learning, the clergy used Latin for services and the literary activities.
In the Norman times three languages were spoken in the country. Until the 12th century it was mostly monks who were interested in books and learning. With the development of sciences, such as medicine and law, "Universities" appeared in Europe. Paris became the centre of higher education for English students.
In 1168 a group of professors from Paris founded the first university at Oxford. In 1209 the second university was formed at Cambridge. The students were taught Latin, theology, medicine, grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music.
By and by the elements of French and Latin penetrated into Anglo-Saxon. They belonged to all spheres of life-words denoting relations, religious terms, words connected with government and military terms. War, pbace, guard, council, tower, wage, comfort, beef, tailor all these words are of French origin. Sometimes the French words replaced the corresponding English words, sometimes they remained side by side forming synonyms. A well-known example of such differentiation is presented by the names of animals, which were of Anglo-Saxon origin, and the name of the meat of these animals, which was French, such as ox-beef, calf-veal, sheep-mutton etc. Enriched by French and Latin borrowings, their language still remained basically Anglo-Saxon.
Finally it became the national language (we now call it Middle English). The formation of the national language was completed in the 14th century.
In 1349 English began to be studied in schools. In 1366 it was adopted in the courts of Law.
Vocabulary
| nobility [nau'bihti] oppress [a'pres] v peasant ['pezsnt] polish [poilj] , pure [pjua] replace [n'pleis] v rhetoric ['retsnk] n serf [s3:f] sphere fsfis] , state1 [steit] state2 [steit] n term [t3:m] theology [9i'rjl3cfei] n tonque [Un] wage [weictj] n |
adopt [s'dnpt] v basically ['beisiksli] adv borrowing ['bDrsuin] briefly [bri:fli] adv clergy ['kl3:d^i] n complete [ksm'plil] ; v corresponding [^kDns'prmdin] council ['kaunsil] court [ko:t] differentiation [^difsrenfi'eijsn] n
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establish [is'taeblif] v neglect [m'glekt] v
Questions and Tasks
1. What was the name of the Northmen?
2. When did the battle of Hastings take place?
3. Who conquered England?
4. How many years was William the Conqueror complete master of the whole
of England?
5. Describe the conditions of peasants after the Norman conquest.
6. What language became the official language of the state?
7. Who spoke Anglo-Saxon?
8. What language did the clergy use?
9. How many languages were spoken in the Norman times?
10. Who was interested in books and learning until the 12th century?
11. What city became the centre of higher education for English students?
12. Where were the first and the second universities formed?
13. What subjects were the students taught there?
14. Comment on the state of the English language after the Norman Conquest.
15. When was the formation of the national language completed?
16. When did English begin to be studied in schools?
17. When was it adopted in the courts of Law?
18. Relate briefly the story of the Normans and the Norman Conquest.
LITERATURE IN THE NORMAN TIMES
The Normans brought to England romances love stories and lyrical poems about their brave knights and their ladies.
The first English romances were translations from French. But later on in the 12th century, there appeared romances of Arthur, a legendary king of Britain. In the 15th century Thomas Malory collected and published them under the title Sir Thomas Malory's Book of King Arthur and of his Noble Knights of the Round Table. The knights gathered in King Arthur's city of Camelot f kaemiltrt]. Their meetings were held at a round table, hence the title of the book. All the knights were brave and gallant in their struggle against robbers, bad kings and monsters. King Arthur was the wisest and most honest of them all.
The townsfolk expressed their thoughts in fabliaus [ 'fasbliauz] (funny stories about townsfolk) and fables. Fables were short stories with animals for characters and contained a moral.
Anglo-Saxon was spoken by the common people from the 5th till the 14th century. The songs and ballads about harvest, mowing, spinning and weaving were created by the country-folk, and were learnt by heart, recited and sung accompanied by musical instruments and dancing."
4. Who collected and published the romances?
5. Under what title did Thomas Malory collect the books?
6. What was the book about?
7. Where did the townsfolk express their thoughts?
8. What was created by the country-folk?
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9. Say how the Norman Conquest affected English literature.
Vocabulary
accompany ['] ^ legendary ['leapndgn]
contain [ ] v mowing [']
fable f'feibl] n recite [rfsait] v
fabliau [fae'blisu] n romance [re'maens] n
gallant ['gsebnt] spinning ['spmm] n
hence [hens] adv weaving ['wi:virj] n
knight [nait] wise [waiz]
Questions and Tasks
1. What stories did the Normans bring to England?
2. What were the first English romances?
3. What romances appeared in the 12th century?
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English Literature in the 14th Century
