Tim's discourse on Britain's medieval period

[DarkAngelBGE]

Here is what I have so far:

-1066 – Norman Conquest: William the Conqueror, duke of Normandy, invaded England 
 -> defeated English army (of Harold II) at Hastings ('The Battle of Hastings')
-William crowned king (common people shouted “God save the king”)
-until 1070 Anglo-Saxon rebellions every year
-marches of Norman army from village to villages destroying places it could not control
-> true occupation army for 20 years
-lords not accepting William lost everything
-W. gave Saxon land to his nobles (4,000 Saxon landlords replaced by 200 Norman ones)

-> Feudalism -> king owned all land, but land held by “vassals” in return for services and goods 
-greater nobles gave parts to knights etc.; noble kept “serfs” on land (slaves)
-one principle: every man has a lord; every lord has land
-> king connected to lowest people through this “chain” of people
-lords had to give his vassals land and protection
-feudal duties extremely important (between 1066 and 14th century only 30 years peace)
-by 1086 W. wanted to know who owned what, why and where -> The Domesday Book (still existing)

-W. duke in Normandy (king above him) but king in England (nobody above him)
-W. died in 1087, left Normandy to son Robert

-Kingship: a family business
-> quite many people who wanted Normandy and England in between
-1154: Henry II first unquestioned ruler with far morel and than anyone before him
-still French king above him although Henry had morel and than him
-Richard I “Lionheart”, son of Henry II, took throne (was vassal of French king -> followed his duty)
-Richard followed by brother John who quarrelled with the pop over who should be Archbishop of Canterbury
-pope called king of France to invade England
-John not trustable with his nobles -> didn’t fight for him anymore
-> had to sign Magna Carta

Magna Carta:
-king promised all “freemen” protection from his officers
-years later used by Parliament to protect itself from a powerful king 
-Magna Carta marks clear stage in collapse of English feudalism
-at Runnymede (where John signed Magna Carta) nobles acting as a class not as vassals
-nobles wanted all successors to pay attention to Magna Carta
-> king could have 40 days military service -> too little -> rather pay with money than with land -> soldiers -> no vassals -> feudalism weak
-> beginnings of British class system

-John signed Magna Carta unwillingly -> nobles noticed that and rebelled -> John died in 1216
-John’s son only 9 years old
-people helped him in early years, influenced him
-at age of 25 spent too much money on war -> council of nobles took government -> first parliament discussed about


-cultural influence of Norman conquest:
-most significant impact on language (imagine declaring a national language that only a small percentage of the population spoke and even fewer could read

-Normans formed the aristocracy + continued to speak French
-> clear lines between plebs (common people) and aristocracy
(aristocracy mostly French-speaking Normans; plebs Germanic-speaking common people already living there)

-Germanic tongue stayed superior (common people – the majority - spoke it)
-French remained in some words (didn't reform whole language though)

-reign of the Normans -> more contact with France and its culture



In which part Celtic culture and language survive?
-Wales, Scotland and Ireland
-Scotland remained politically independent
(neither Romans nor Anglo-Saxons conquered it -> Hadrian's wall)
-Wales conquered by Romans no loss of Celtic culture though 
-Germanic tribes like Saxons invaded Britain -> only invaded England while Wales stayed independant for long

[Paal_101]

Looks great Tim Dark Age history is not my forte but I know enough to get my face slapped

Great work!

[Argalius]

VEry interessting, it's going to be a great talk

[DarkAngelBGE]

I sure hope so. I only have 10-15 min but I will make a quiz. People will have to fill out gaps so they listen and don't have to take notes. That way I have more time to speak.

[DarkAngelBGE]

Okay, found some more sources and put more stuff in:

King Edward (aka the Confessor) 
•	Spent half his life in exile in Normandy (northern France) (while Cnut and sons ruled England) 
•	Placed Norman friends in high offices in England 
•	Had little interest in ruling the country 
•	Had little interest in marriage 
•	Moved the capital from Winchester to London 
•	Died in 1066, leaving no children and no clear choice of heir 

Three contenders for England’s throne 
•	Harold Godwineson 
•	son of Edward’s main advisor 
•	chosen to be king by England’s earls 
•	Harald Hardraade 
•	King of Norway & Denmark 
•	coveted lost English throne 
•	Duke William of Normandy 
•	claimed Edw. had promised him the 
throne 
•	Wm. was Edward’s distant cousin 

Who were the Normans? 
•	Norsemen ( —> ‘Norman’), i.e. ‘northmen’ = Vikings who invaded northern France in early 900’s A.D. 
•	Adopted language, religion, and customs of the French 
•	Ruthlessly suppressed rebellious French barons 
•	William, a Norman, became Duke of Normandy in 1035 
•	Befriended Edward during Edw.’s exile in France 

Yet another Germanic conquest of England: 
The Norman Conquest 
•	William prepares to invade England, summer of 1066; delayed by weather 
•	Harald Hardraade invades first in the north 
•	Godwineson defeats Hardraade’s army at Stamford Bridge, Oct. 25 
•	Wind changes; the Normans sail for England, Oct. 27 
•	Godwineson and his army must march south to fight the Normans 
•	The English lose at Hastings; Godwineson dies 
•	Duke William of Normandy becomes king of England 

Norman rule in England 
•	The ‘Channel State’: England and France one empire under William 
•	William replaced English earls, abbots, bishops with French ones 
•	The Normans ruthlessly suppress English resistance 
•	Norman feudalism established in England; cements social-class divisions 
•	General linguistic outcome: 
•	French becomes the language of the rulers of the church, the government, the military, and the shires 
•	Vast majority of English people remain English-speaking 
•	BUT writing in English virtually ceases for 200 years 

The Middle English Period - ca. 1100-1500 
•	Divides roughly in two: 
•	Early half, 1066-ca. 1300 
•	Later half, ca. 1300-late 1400s 
•	Early ME period: 
•	Strong political and cultural ties between England’s ruling class and their territories in France 
•	Later ME period: 
•	1204: King John of England loses Normandy; earls of England must choose between lands in England and in Normandy 
•	In continued wars (Hundred Years’ War), English earls lose virtually all lands in France by 1453 
•	Result: English aristocracy begins to self-identify as English; growing animosity towards France 


Linguistic consequences of the Norman Conquest 
•	French, though superstratum, did not replace English 
•	English always outnumbered Normans 
•	Aristocrats gradually lose French identity 1200-1400 
•	Triglossia arose: French & Latin ‘high’, English ‘low’ 
Multilingualism: The individual vs. the society 
•	In England, early ME period: 
•	Peasant majority was monolingual: English 
•	Aristocracy was monolingual: French 
•	Clergy/scholars bilingual: French/Latin 
•	‘Interface’ classes bilingual: French/English 

Linguistic consequences of the Norman Conquest: Triglossia in the ME period 
•	Early ME period: 
•	High functions in Latin: 
o	religious and government documents; 
o	university teaching, scholarship; 
o	literature 
•	High functions in French: 
o	Everyday speech of royal court, aristocratic families, their higher servants; 
o	some ‘high art’ (romances; poetry) 
•	Low functions in English: 
o	Everyday speech of peasant majority, many townsfolk; 
o	folk tales, songs 
•	Commerce in English and French: 
o	buying/selling served both aristocracy and common folk 

Linguistic trends of later ME period 
•	Later ME period: 
•	English begins to permeate high-function domans: 
o	Aristocracy shifts to English as ties to France decline 
o	Increased gov., educ., and arts in English 
•	French becomes a ‘taught’ language; few native speakers 
•	Latin retains importance in church, government, scholarship 

Language in the later ME period: Who spoke what? 
•	English re-establishes itself as England’s primary language: 
•	English has remained the language of the common folk 
•	Aristocracy undergoes a gradual language shift from French to English 
•	French retains prestige as language of high culture, 
but is learned in schools, not at home
•	Latin retains role of primary language of gov. writing, scholarship/education, religion 

History makes literature 
•	1133-1189: Rule of Henry II 
•	Born in Angers, France; French-speaking; possessed Dukedom of Normandy 
•	1153: married Eleanor of Aquitaine, a well-educated ruler of a huge chunk of Southern France; had been married to the King of France 
( ANGEVIN EMPIRE MAP )
•	Culture of Paris and Aquitaine brought to English court 
•	Birth of the legends of Arthur & Camelot: 
o	King of England = Duke of Normandy; Duke of Normandy subject of King of France. A king answers to a king?? 
o	Geoffrey of Monmouth writes ‘History of the Kings of Britain’(1136) to ‘prove’ legitimacy of British kings over French (largely a fabrication); 
o	Arthur is a hero of this history; 
o	Arthur story melds with tales of courtly love sponsored by Queen Eleanor 
o	Such stories called ‘romances’ because written in romanz, an old name for the French language 
o	Introduces love themes and important roles for women to English literature (absent in previous warrior epics) 

Milestones of the Middle English Period 
•	1095: Beginning of the Crusades: 
•	win Holy Land back from Muslim conquerors 
•	control trade routes for valuable Eastern commodities: silk, spices, etc. 
•	Age of pilgrimages: 
o	England (Canterbury) 
o	Europe: Sites in Spain, Rome 
o	Ultimate: Jerusalem 
•	Linguistic effects: 
•	Loanwords from Arabic; from lands along Crusade & pilgrimage routes 
•	In England: 
o	Travelers from different dialect areas mix for long periods of travel together 
o	Leads to decrease of dialect differences? 

Milestones of the Middle English Period 
•	1348: Black Death (bubonic plague) arrives in England 
•	Kills 1/3 of the population (all social statuses) 
•	Causes a labor shortage 
o	Increases bargaining power of laborers, therefore wages 
o	Increases migration to cities; urban populations grow 
o	Destabilization of rigid feudal social structure: 
One aspect of move towards class mobility: 
the ability to rise in social status
•	Linguistic effects: 
•	Movement to urban areas brings other dialects to cities, esp.London 

Milestones of the Middle English Period
•	1348-1385: Schools for youth shift to teaching in English, not French or Latin (Crystal, p. 35) 
•	1362:Parliament decrees English as language of courts 
•	Conducts legislative sessions in English 
•	Linguistic effects: 
o	Increases use of English in high-function domains 
o	Cements legacy of French contact: 
o	French loanwords, spellings carry over from French tradition in these functional domains 

Milestones of the Middle English Period 
•	London emerging as England’s major city: 
•	Political: Royal court & government bureaucracy in London 
o	e.g., government documents office (the Chancery) 
•	Cultural: Aristocracy (even earls of distant earldoms) maintain presence in London 
•	Economic: Thriving commerce outgrows other English cities 
•	Intellectual: Major centers nearby of 
o	religion (Canterbury) 
o	scholarship (Oxford, Cambridge) 
o	1476: William Caxton sets up Britain’s first printing press in Westminster, close to royal court 
•	General linguistic effect, by end of ME period: 
o	Dialect of London area’s elite is primed to become the most prestigious dialect of all England 

Middle English ca. 1100-1500 A.D. 
French influence on spoken and written English 
•	On spoken English: 
•	New sounds: (ex. from Chaucer’s Prologue to Canterbury Tales) 
o	/v/ vertu, veyne, devout, aventure 
o	/z/ zephirus 
•	New words: Reflect nature of cultural contact: 
o	Government, law, military, war 
o	Aristocratic titles 
o	‘High culture’: arts, fine manners, religion, fashion 
o	Class divisions: 
	Anglo-Saxon cow, sheep, swine, calf ‘on the hoof’ 
	French: beef, mutton, pork, veal ‘on the plate’ 
	French: master, servant, dinner, banquet, supper 

[Mystic-Al-Bob]

I think you will need 25 minites

and then you will have mark 1 because of the quiz (she likes that especially because she said that on monday)

[Argalius]

I only have 10-15 min but I will make a quiz. People will have to fill out gaps so they listen and don't have to take notes. That way I have more time to speak.

Very smart, I need to remember that

Don't you have to use keywords?

then you will have mark 1 because of the quiz

That is so funny, in Holland a 1 is the lowest you can get, but in Germany it's the highest

[DarkAngelBGE]

Well I have a bit of a focus on the linguistic aspect. Maybe I should dump some of my notes about that. Let's see.

[Klaas]

Well make sure you don't focus on the Normans too much. Don't forget the Anglo-Saxon period and the post William period

So, don't start with Edward, go back a bit earlier. Alfred the Great for example is a very interesting subject to talk about. You can compare him to Charlemagne in the Frankish Empire.

Oh and good idea about mentioning Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales; very important piece of English literature. Maybe say something about Beowulf too

[rohirwine]

Magna Charta: it was not the crumble of feudalism, but the victory of the nobles against the king.

Sometimes we have to decript things written by medieval men: when they write "freemen" they intend not all men who were free, but basically nobility. The rights they asked for were for aristocracy only, in relation of the king.

Sidenote: many nobles were unhappy with John since the loss of Normandy to the french crown, hence the loss of feudal holdings in that region. John conducted a well planned campaign against the french king Philip (IV?) , but could only strengthen his holdings and not regain Normandy, since his allies from Flanders and from the Holy Roman Empire (the Emperor itself) moved so slowly against France that they were fought separately and were defeated. The nobles were veeeery angry about many promises being made by John, much more money being spent (many soldiers were mercenaries) out from their chests and nothing tangible being gained... ...they wanted to be assured not to be forced to give feudal services (money and partecipation to the war) if they did not want to...