Contrary to many expectations, medieval intellectuals were rather deeply concerned with linguistics, etymology, and the history of languages, especially as they pertained to regional, territorial, and ‘national’ identity. England proves to be a particularly fertile ground
in that regard because of the various languages spoken there from early on, with the Anglo-Saxons having marginalized the ancient Celtic population in the fourth and fifth centuries, with the Normans imposing their form of French on the land after the conquest in 1066, with Vikings and Flemish
arrivals throughout the centuries and leaving their mark, etc., not to forget the continued presence of Welsh and Cornish. Sara Harris offers a detailed investigation of the intellectual debate about the various languages as they were encountered in the documents and in reality, and which
regularly served the commentators to reflect upon the country’s past, at least in the southern half of the island, although the linguistic connection, among many others, to the Continent via French and Latin continued strongly throughout the centuries.
