After the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, French dominated England for three hundred years. The decline of French can be traced to at least two main reasons, which are…
- War/politics
- Disease
This post will examine briefly the role of these two phenomena in shaping the decline of the French language in England as well as the reemergence of English.
War/Politics
The King of Normandy was also the King of England. In 1204, John, King of Normandy and England, lost his Norman territory to the King of France. This left a large number of Norman nobles living in England with any property back in France unless the swore allegiance to the King of France, Philipp II. The consequence of forced loyalty was the development of an English identity among the elite.
In 1295, Philip IV, King of France, threaten to invade England. Edward I, King of England, communicated with the people in English in order to unite the people. While speaking to the people in English, Edward I stated that Philip IV intended to destroy the English language. When the French invasion never came, Edward set aside his use of English
Disease
In the mid-1300’s, the Bubonic plague spread through England and wipe out 1/3 of the population. The plague was particularly hard on the clergy killing almost 1/2 of them and removing the influence of Latin on English. The replacement clergy used English.
The loss of so many people allowed English-speaking peasants to take over empty homes and demand higher wages. The price of land fell as there was no one to work the fields nor was there as much demand for products with so many dead. The bonds of serfdom were severely broken.
When the nobility tried to push the peasants back onto the lands as serfs, it led several revolts. When communicating both the nobility and peasants used English. The nobility used English to make promises that were not kept and destroy resistance their rule.
Aftermath
Through war and disease, English rose to prominence again. By the 1400’s English was the language of education and official business. In 1399, Henry IV was sworn in as king with the use of the English language. After three centuries of oppression, the English language emerged as the language of the elite as well as the commoner again.