Normanization of England
Course Title: Development of English Language
Course Code: ENG (109)
Date of Submission: 27th July, 2013
Submitted By
Submitted To
1) Boby Rani
2) Mita Roy
3) Joysree Ghosh
4) Nafis Kamal
5) Tashnim Sazzad
Keya Chakraborty
Lecturer of English
The English name "Normans"
comes from the French
words Normans/Normanz,
plural of Normant, modern
French normand, which is itself
borrowed from Old low
Franconian
Nortmann "Northman"or
directly from Old
Norse Norðmaðr, Latinized
in Nortmannus (recorded in
Medieval Latin, 9th century) to
mean "Norseman" or "Viking".
 The Normans were Vikings
who began to settle in
northern France in the late
9th century. They soon
adopted the French
language and Christianity.
In the year 1066 an army of
Normans under Duke
William (later called "the
Conqueror") crossed the
English Channel and
defeated the English king
Harold at the Battle of
Hastings.
Where Did the Normans Come from?
The Normans originated from a band of Norwegian
Vikings that settled near Rouen in Northern France.
Norman is a tropical wave, in Normandy. They were
descended from Viking conquerors of the territory and
the native population of mostly Frankish and GalloRoman stock.
What is the Meaning of the Name Normandy?
Normandy is a name that means 'land of the
northern folk'. It is of French origin and it is a
variant form of the name Norman die. The name is
commonly used as a girl name or female name.
The Norman conquest
of England was the 11thcentury 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. The
Norman conquest
changed the hole course
of the English language .
The Norman monarchy was closely
linked to the Church - William I's
invasion of England was endorsed by
Pope Alexander II (1061-73), and Pope
Gregory VII (1073-85) had long been
William's friend and advisor.
Soon after the Conquest, William I
began the Normanization of the
English Church. He co-operated with
the Pope in the removal and
imprisonment of the Anglo-Saxon
Archbishop of Canterbury, Stigand
(who starved himself to death, 1072).
Durham Cathedral,almost
completely rebuilt during the
Norman period
The year 1066
Edward becomes king of England
Godwin, earl of the west saxon earldon
becomes Edwards advisor
Harold, son of Godwin becomes earl after
his father death
King Edwards dies childless and Harold
becomes king
William, duke of Normandy and second
cousin of the former king oposes Edward
 In September William landed at Pevensey, In
the south coast of England.
 His landing was unopposed. King Harold was
occupied in the north of England meeting an
invasion by the king of Norway, another
claimant to the throne.
 Hardly had Harold triumphed over the
invaders when word reached him of Williams
landing.
 Harold was killed during the battle.
 The English capitulated and on Christmas day
1066, William was crowned king of England.
The Normans crossed to England a few days after
Harold's victory over the Norwegians, following the
dispersal of Harold's naval force. They landed at
Pevensey in Sussex on 28 September and erected a
wooden castle at Hastings.
Harold, after defeating his brother Tostig and Harold
Hardrada in the north, left much of his force there,
including Morcar and Edwin, and marched the rest of
his army south to deal with the threatened Norman
invasion. It is unclear when Harold learned of William's
landing, but it was probably while he was travelling
south.
 Took place in 1066, at
Seniac Hill
 Two sides were the
Normans and the
English
 Around 8000 men died
 Harold was killed
 The Normans won and
William was crowned the
King of England
The day after the battle, Harold's body
was identified, either by his armour or
marks on his body. The bodies of the
English dead, who included some of
Harold's brothers and his housecarls,
were left on the battle field, although
some were removed by relatives
later. Gytha, Harold's mother, offered the
victorious duke the weight of her son's
body in gold for its custody, but her offer
was refused. William ordered that
Harold's body was to be thrown into the
sea, but whether that took place is
unclear. Another story relates that Harold
was buried at the top of a cliff. Waltham
Abbey, which had been founded by
Harold, later claimed that his body had
been buried there secretly. Later legends
claimed that Harold did not die at
Hastings, but escaped and became a
hermit at Chester.
One of the most important of
these consequences was the
introduction of a new
nobility.
For several generations after
the conquest the important
positions and the great states
were almost always held by
Norman or men of foreign
blood.
French literature at the English Court
It is interesting to find a
considerable body of French
literature being produced in
England from the beginning
of the twelfth century,
addressed to English patrons
and directed toward meeting
their special tests and
interests.
Visual arts
 A bronze lion sculpture
attributed to an ItaloNorman artist. Now in
the Metropolitan
Museum of Art.
 In the visual arts, the
Normans did not have
the rich and distinctive
traditions of the cultures
they conquered.
Normandy was the site of several important
developments in the history of classical music in the 11th
century.
Architecture
The Normans' architecture typically stands out as a new
stage in the architectural history of the regions which
they subdued.
1)
Upper Class( Knowledge of English among the upper
class)
2) Middle Class ( Knowledge of English among the
upper class)
Knowledge of English was
not uncommon at the end
of this century among
those who habitually used
French, that among
churchmen and men of
education it was even to be
expected, and that among
those whose activities
brought them into contact
with both upper and lower
classes ability to speak
both languages was quiet
general.
Among the nightly class
French seems to have been
cultivated even when the
mother tongue was English.
Next to the knights the
inhabitants of towns
probably contained the
largest number of this
among the middle class who
new French. In many towns,
especially in important
trading centers, men with
Norman names were the
most prominent burgesses
and probably constituted a
majority of the merchant
class.
Conclusion
A huge body of French words were ultimately to become part of
the English vocabulary, many of these continuing side by side
with there English equivalent, such as “sacred” and “holy”,
“legal” and “lawful”, “stench” and “aroma”, etc. Many French
words replaced English ones, So that before the end of the 14th
century Chaucer was able to use a vast store of new words such
as “courage” in place of “heartness,” of so on. English became
vastly enriched, more cosmopolitan, sharing its Teutonic and
Romance traditions.
Question
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