Norman Conquest

Introduction: The Norman Conquest of England in 1066 traditionally signifies the beginning of the domination of French in English. The name ‘Norman’ is basically a softened form of ‘Northman’. The Normans were originally the inhabitants of Scandinavia. At first they led their livelihood by plundering and adventuring in their Viking ships. Later they landed on the French coast and conquered the whole northern country and accepted the French ideals and spoke the French language. Slowly within a century they became the most polished and intellectual people in all Europe. In 1066 ‘The Battle of Hastings’ took place. William of Normandy became the conqueror defeating the last Anglo-Saxon king Harold II of Wessex, and it is truly said “The Norman conquest brought England more than a change of rulers”. William's claim to the English throne derived from his familial relationship with the childless Anglo-Saxon King Edward the Confessor, who may have encouraged William's hopes for the throne.

Effect of Norman Conquest: The immediate consequence of the Conquest was the introduction of feudalism, a new kind of aristocracy. Feudalism was based on the exchange of lands for military services. The demise of the English aristocrat was almost complete at the end of William's reign. In the Domesday Book records of landowners in 1086, it is rare to find an English name. Along with this came French as the normal language of the aristocracy, which continued to be used at least for two hundred years afterwards. English, however, remained the language of the mass and the uncultivated. Again, all the important positions in the Church were given to the French clergy, who would use Latin as their vernacular and as the language for learning. This provided the much-needed stimulus to the intellectual life of the English people, as it opened their ways to the classical worlds of Greece and Rome. In the field of literature the Old English poetic themes and forms were replaced by the French ones—romance & allegory. Probably the most regrettable effect of the conquest was the total eclipse of the English vernacular as the language of literature, law, and administration.

Influence on English Language & Literature: 1. In form and tone the English Literature was thoroughly changed coming in contact with the French literature. It acquired an ease; mastered skill and the polish which were not seen in Anglo-Saxon Literature. In place of heroic sagas there came a bright varied wonderful literature that is ever to be remembered. Another potent influence of French literature on middle English was that of the Romances. The Romances set up an ideal which was widely imitated in aristocratic literature of the middle English period.

2. In vocabulary, about 10000 words entered the English language at this stage. English Grammar & pronunciation also changed gradually.

3. In place of the only alliterative metre that the Anglo-Saxon poets used, the variety of different syllables and rhymes started to be used as well as experimented.

4. The West-Saxon dialect as the language of writing lost its position. Writers writing in English preferred their native dialect and as a result all the dialects flourished at the same time.

Towards the end of the Middle English period East Midland dialect became the standard literary language. The main dialect regions during the whole middle English period are usually referred to as Northern, Midlands, Southern and Kentish, although they were just natural developments from the Northumbrian, Mercian, West Saxon and Kentish dialects of Old English. Thus, influence of Norman Conquest was profound, multilevelled and vivid. On social life the effect was immediate, on language it was gradual, and on literature it was even slower but fruitful.