The subject of history of English

24. The Norman Conquest. French element in the ME.

The Norman conquest of England was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army of Norman, Breton, and French soldiers led by Duke William II of Normandy, later William the Conqueror. 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. Edward died in January 1066 and was succeeded by his brother-in-law Harold Godwinson. The Norwegian kingHarald Hardrada invaded northern England in September 1066, was victorious at the Battle of Fulford, but Harold defeated and killed him at the Battle of Stamford Bridge on 25 September 1066. Within days, William landed in southern England. Harold marched south to confront him, leaving a significant portion of his army in the north. Harold's army confronted William's invaders on 14 October at the Battle of Hastings; William's force defeated Harold, who was killed in the engagement. Following the Conquest a lot of Normans crossed the channel, and enlarged the population of England. For almost three centuries the French language was the official language of the English kingdom; it was the language of the royal court, the church, courts of law, army and the castle. Education, as it was mainly controlled by the church was also in French, though the Latin language was traditionally also taught. The three hundred years of French domination affected the English language enormously. But English language didn’t die as the English speakers demographically prevailed. The effects of the French language on the Middle English are hard to overestimate. The changes in spelling that took place in that period laid the basis for present-day English spelling, a great number of words came into the language and the majority of them are still used, fully assimilated and no longer perceived as borrowings, The English grammar was much simplified. The language under Norman rule lost its natural immunity to foreign influence, the nationalistic spirit guarding the purity of the language was muffled, which made the language more liberal, more tolerant to variation and more flexible.