THE NORMAN CONQUEST AND

THE RISE OF FRENCH

NORMANS
The name NORMANS comes from the word
“northman”.
They were originally Vikings who conquered
the region of NORMANDY, which is now part
of France
 NORMANS TO FRENCH

In the course of few generations, the Viking

invaders of Normandy became French both
culturally and linguistically
 WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR INVADES
ENGLAND
• William, Duke of Normandy, claimed the
English throne and invaded England in (1066-
1087)
• He defeated the English king Harold at the
Battle of Hastings and was crowned the king
of England
 FRENCH SUPPLANTED ENGLISH
• The English - speaking ruling class was largely
supplanted by one that spoke Norman French
• Consequently, English words except King and
Queen were replaced by French words like-
 Authority, chancellor, council, country
 Crown, exchequer, minister, nation, people
 Power, state, govern , government , realm,
reign, sovereign
 NORMANS’ TYRANNY
The Conquest has often been viewed as a
linguistic cataclysm in which William the
Norman deposed the English language,
installing in its place a “barbarous” French
dialect that would function for centuries
thereafter as an “ evident and shameful
badge….. of tyranny and foreign servitude”.
 THE BLUE-BLOODED LANGUAGE
• Normans took on positions of prominence,
Norman French became the language of
power, honour, chivalry and even of justice
• French was the language of the aristocracy
and, while English remained the language of
the masses
 NORMAN’S LEGAL LANGUAGE
• William encouraged some use of English as
their legal language in order to reinforce his
claim that he was not just a foreign interloper,
but the legitimate heir of the throne
• Use of English was restricted to emphasize the
continuity of kingship, law and property rights
 WRITTEN LEGAL LANGUAGE
• By the reign of Henry I (1100-1135) the
occasional use of English in legal documents
ceased, to be replaced by Latin exclusively
• The Normans were accustomed to writing in
Latin
• The Norman Conquest did depose English as a
written legal language, but it did not
immediately enthrone French
STATUTES AND TREATISES FROM FRENCH TO
LATIN TO ENGLISH
• First statute in French – 1275
• French or Latin – 1275- 1310
• Latin – 1460
• English – by the end of 1480s
Most of these translations into English were legal
terms, which suggests that even at this late date,
educated readers were familiar with English legal
terminology, perhaps more so than French
 ORAL LEGAL LANGUAGE
• The royal councils with certain judicial
functions were in French immediately after
the Conquest

• On the other hand, local courts conducted

their business in English particularly because
litigants in those courts would have spoken
little, if any, French
 DEAD LANGUAGE
• In 1417,while fighting the French King Henry V
(1413-1422) finally broke all linguistics ties
with his Norman ancestry
• Official and legal language – English
• Thus, French became a dead language even in
the royal household
 LAW AS PROFESSION
• Law was taken as a profession when French
was used as the language of courts --
evidently in 1200s
• This development was stimulated in the mid-
thirteenth century, when the church banned
the priests from serving as legal
representatives in courts
 TRAINED LAWYERS

By the time of Edward I (1272-1307), there is

indisputable evidence of a group of technically
trained lawyers who appeared regularly as
pleaders in the royal (common law)courts;
these men used French in pleading.
 NEED AND DEVELOPMENT OF LEGAL
LANGUAGE
• Once lawyers constituted a profession, it made
some sense for them to develop their own
professional language
• These lawyers were trained not at the university
(where the language of instruction was Latin), but by
other lawyers at the Inns of Court, the mechanism
was in place for French to be passed down from one
generation of lawyers to the next, even after it died
out among the rest of the population
 LAW LATIN
• Despite the emergence of French, Latin
remained an important legal language in
England, especially in written form
• Court records, writs, some other legal
documents were in Latin
• Latin language – language of clergy, language
of elite ---- a way of oppressing masses
• English – too many dialects- confusion
• Latin – standard legal language throughout the
country
• Law Latin- language adopted for the needs of the
English law- quoting a Latin term in English
language wherever required, providing English
gloss for Latin illiterates
• Eg: sorceri vocati wytches
sorcerers, called witches
 French to Latin words
• Barganizando – bargaining
• Attornatus- attorney
• Juratores- jurors
• Seisitus- seised
 LATIN TO ENGLISH WRITS
• Rex vicecomitati X salutem
• The king to the sheriff of X, greetings

• Mandamus
• We command
 LATIN MAXIMS AND EXPRESSIONS
• expressio unius one or more things mentioned and others excluded
• ubi jus, ibi remedium The law does not concern itself with trifles
• de minimus non curat lex
• Versus, ex rel.,, et al.,
• in personam
• in rem
• ex parte
 FRENCH- ENGLISH WORDS
• Accounts payable/ receivable
• Letters patent
• Malice aforethought
• Notary public
• Solicitor general
• Court martial
 LATIN- FRENCH- ENGLISH
CODE- SWITCHING

• Multi-lingual speakers switch between these

three languages

Law has always been a profession of words,

but in some respects that may have been even
more true in medieval England than it is today