French Arrives
The History of the English Language
Course 1 · Chapter 2 · French Arrives
In 1066 a French-speaking duke became king of England. The ruling class changed almost completely, and for a few centuries the people at the top spoke a variety of French while most people went on speaking English. This chapter covers what happened in 1066 and after, what Anglo-Norman was, how long French and Law French lasted, and how many French words came into English.
1066 and after
The Norman Conquest article gives these dates:
| Date | Event (per the article) |
|---|---|
| January 1066 | Edward the Confessor dies; Harold Godwinson becomes king |
| 25 September 1066 | Harold defeats and kills Harald Hardrada at Stamford Bridge |
| 28 September 1066 | William lands at Pevensey |
| 14 October 1066 | Battle of Hastings; Harold is killed |
| 25 December 1066 | William is crowned at Westminster Abbey |
| 1069 to 1070 | The Harrying of the North, in which William's forces devastated Northumbria |
| 1071 | End of the Ely rebellion, which marks the effective end of English resistance |
| 1086 | Domesday Book: only about 5% of land south of the Tees remained in English hands |
| 1095 | After Wulfstan died, no English bishop remained |
The article says the old English aristocracy was almost entirely eliminated and its land given to continental followers. After 1075 all earldoms were held by Normans, and in the Church English office-holders were replaced as they died. It says official documents shifted from Old English to Latin, and that William never developed a working knowledge of English. Place-names, it says, were little affected by the Conquest. This is where the period division of Chapter 1 gets its usual start date, but the language change came more slowly than the change of rulers.
What was Anglo-Norman?
Wikipedia's Anglo-Norman language article describes it as a dialect of Old Norman used in England, and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Great Britain and Ireland. It notes that scholars disagree on the name: some prefer "Insular French", and some describe it as a full member of the medieval French dialect family rather than a mixed language.
- Who used it: the Norman settlers and their descendants; it became the language of the king, his court and the upper class. It was also used by merchants for business, by jurors in court and by some churches. Ordinary people mostly spoke English, and Latin stayed in use for the Church and formal records.
- Records: Latin was the main language of official records until the late 13th century. From the mid-13th to the early 15th century Anglo-French was widely used in law reports, charters and official correspondence, and the first official document in Anglo-Norman was a statute of 1275.
- Literature: after the Conquest, literature in Britain was written in Latin or Anglo-Norman. From the 14th century some authors, including Geoffrey Chaucer, began writing in English.
- Not the same as Parisian French: it developed alongside the central Old French dialects, kept distinct features, and was influenced by Parisian French from the Plantagenet period onward. For example "del roy" became "du roi" by about 1330.
- End: the article dates it from the Conquest to the end of the 15th century, and the infobox lists it as extinct from the 15th century.
Law French
Wikipedia's Law French article describes an archaic form of French used in English law courts from about the 13th century. It began as Anglo-Norman, was later influenced by Parisian French and then by English.
| Date | Event (per the article) |
|---|---|
| 1258 | The Provisions of Oxford is among the earliest known English legal texts written in French |
| 1362 | The Pleading in English Act requires court pleadings to be in English, so that people can understand the law |
| 1628 | Sir Edward Coke notes that Law French had nearly stopped being spoken |
| 1730 | The Proceedings in Courts of Justice Act makes English the required language of English courts, replacing Law French and Latin |
The Anglo-Norman language article says Law French was banished from the common law courts in 1731, and the Law French article gives 1730 for the Act. I show both and do not choose. Many Law French terms survive: arson, bailiff, jury, plaintiff, defendant, larceny, mortgage and tort, and phrases with the French adjective-after-noun order such as attorney general.
French words in English
The French influence on English article says the main wave followed the Conquest, but that borrowing was gradual. The years 1250 to 1400 were the most prolific, and after 1400 borrowing slowed sharply without stopping. It says French lost prestige in England from the 1200s, and that English became the language of instruction at Oxford in 1349.
| Area | Examples (per the article) |
|---|---|
| Government, law and society | justice, parliament, heir, marriage, squire |
| Church and war | religion, abbey, army, battle, captain |
| Commerce | pay, debt, budget, bargain |
| Home | chamber, curtain, towel, chair, cushion |
| Food | mutton, beef, pork, veal, mustard, banquet |
On how much of English is French, the sources do not agree. The French influence on English article says about a third is commonly estimated, that Henriette Walter suggests it may be as high as two-thirds, and it tags the range as needing clarification. The Anglo-Norman language article cites a study estimating about 28%, which varies with how rare and technical words are counted, and says roughly 10,000 French loanwords are in English, about 90% first written after the mid-13th century and about three-quarters of the medieval ones still in use. The numbers depend on what is counted, so I report the ranges and do not choose.
Some words came in twice, from Norman and Parisian French, with different meanings. The articles give catch and chase, warranty and guarantee, and warden and guardian.
Words to know
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Anglo-Norman | The French of England after 1066; also Anglo-French or Insular French |
| Law French | The later, increasingly anglicised French used in English courts |
| Doublet | Two words that come from the same source by different routes |
| Harrying of the North | William's devastation of Northumbria, 1069 to 1070 |
| Domesday Book | The 1086 survey that shows who held the land |
| Statute | A written law passed by a legislature |
✏️ Try It Yourself
Think of the answer first, then click to check.
1. What happened on 14 October 1066?
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The Battle of Hastings; Harold was killed and William won.
2. What does Domesday Book show about land ownership in 1086?
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Only about 5% of land south of the Tees remained in English hands.
3. Which classes used Anglo-Norman, and which language did ordinary people mostly speak?
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The king, court and upper class (also merchants for business and jurors in court); ordinary people mostly spoke English.
4. What was the main language of official records until the late 13th century?
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Latin.
5. What did the 1362 Pleading in English Act require?
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That court pleadings be in English, so that people could understand the law.
6. Give the two dates the articles use for the end of Law French in the courts.
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1730 (the Law French article, the Proceedings in Courts of Justice Act) and 1731 (the Anglo-Norman language article).
7. In which years were most French loanwords borrowed, according to the article?
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1250 to 1400, with about 40% of the French words in English first appearing then.
8. Why does the article call the cow and beef story a myth?
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Recent scholarship finds French food terms first appear around 1300 and referred to both animal and meat for centuries; the strict split only became established after 1500.