Blame the French

This chapter explains the role of the French in the weirdness of English. In 1066, William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, came over from France to defeat the English king and claim the throne. For the next few hundred years, England was controlled by French speakers. But the majority of people in England, those who did not rule, preach, study, or own land, did not become French speakers. Nevertheless, the ruling language managed to mix its way in. Because they controlled all official institutions, the vocabulary of government, law, and land administration came to be overwhelmingly rooted in Norman influence. Ultimately, the French transformed the vocabulary of English not just by introducing French words in almost every aspect of life, but also by providing an easy gateway to Latin borrowing and word creation. The French also introduced new word stress patterns that created confusion and splits based on stress alone, and left behind old word forms and phrase ordering. It even encouraged the development of a new English speech sound with its own letter, v.

The Acta of William the Conqueror, Domesday Book, the Oath of Salisbury, and the Legitimacy and Stability of the Norman Regime in England

Domesday Book, which is usually considered to be the product of William the Conqueror's great survey of England in 1086, is one of the most important sources of English medieval history. This article contributes to the vigorous and long-standing debate about the purpose of Domesday Book. It does so by exploring the light cast by some of William's royal acta on the activities and concerns of the king and his advisers while the Domesday survey was in progress. These are linked to the difficult political and military circumstances confronting William and his followers in 1085–86 and their desire to deal with these by strengthening the stability, legitimacy, and security of their regime in England. The article also casts additional light on the importance and dating of the relevant acta.

The Timeless Quest for Truth in a World of Doubt: Re-Examining Modes of Proof in the Medieval Era

This article presents a brief overview of historical methods of legal proof prior to and soon after the Norman Conquest of England in October 1066. Through an examination of the rituals of compurgation and the ordeal, which were techniques designed to discover truth prior to the establishment of the inquisition in medieval Europe and the common law jury trial in England, the human quest for intellectual conviction has been indelibly with us since the days of antiquity. And, whichever method to ascertain truth is ultimately utilized – compurgation or ordeal, inquisition or cross-examination, trial by judge or by jury – the law’s enduring search for certainty amidst a world of doubt owes much to the history and times of William the Conqueror.

Three Anglo-Norman Kings: The Lives of William the Conqueror and Sons by Benoît de Sainte-Maure, trans. Ian Short. Mediaeval Sources in Translation, 57. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2018, viii, 228.

Respected professor of medieval French and foremost specialist in Anglo- Norman, Ian Short can cast his net wide and does so brilliantly with the volume under review. Eleven thousand lines cover here the period from 1027 (conception of William the Conqueror) to 1135 (death of Henry I)—all lively and dynamic in this translation, while much historical background is revealed in these vivid and impressively-written pages (in spite of Benoît’s often stilted style): treason and transgressions, murder and mayhem, betrayals, hypocrisy, depravity, ominous dream sequences, punishing sieges; but also on occasion magnificent festivities amidst peace and prosperity. Revolting descriptions grace the narrative as well: “[they drew their…] swords, their trusty blades of engraved steel, and dashing out their enemies’ brains, […gouged] out their entrails and intestines.” (102) At this point we encounter a lion and a fire- breathing dragon (102–103). Elsewhere a bear is slaughtered (131). On the other hand, Benoît does gush enthusiastically over Henry II’s mother, the “Empress” Matilda (N.B., there are six Matildas in the index): a “[…] widely celebrated figure, for it is my firm belief that there is nothing in the whole of my book that people would be happier to listen to, seeing that her impressive and highly regarded achievements are so much more extraordinary than those of any other person.” (172)

Dalla guerra alla pace. L’Arazzo di Bayeux e la conquista normanna dell’Inghilterra (secolo XI)

The Bayeux Tapestry (or rather, embroidery) is one of the most famous medieval artworks, which narrates in images the conquest of England by the Normans led by Duke William the Conqueror. Images taken from the embroidery are reproduced on thousands of objects evoking the Middle Ages, and at the same time the work has been the subject of hundreds of studies in many European countries, by historians, art historians and narrative scholars. In all of this, some questions and some answers are lacking, in particular with regard to the political culture expressed in the work: there is no doubt that the embroidery is a narrative of the exploits of William the Conqueror, an attempt to reconcile the English and Normans and in part an exaltation of the role of Odo, bishop of Bayeux; but it is also the expression of a series of political ideals and models of order, a reading and an evaluation of the system of contemporary power, organized around the kingdom and based on the primacy of the aristocracy and the value of personal ties. The volume aims to follow this line of research, showing how the embroidery, from many points of view (the political ceremonial, the role of the king, the aristocratic bonds of fidelity), reflects a social imaginary and a series of clearly recognizable political ideals.