The Norman Conquest (The Bayeux Tapestry) mercoledì 23 dicembre 2009
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The Norman Conquest
(The Bayeux Tapestry)
mercoledì 23 dicembre 2009
Edward the Confessor
Reigned from 1042 to 1066.
After his death he was canonized.
Under his reign, Anglo-Saxon Britain experienced a 20-year-long peace.
Defended Malcom, son of the Scottish king Duncan, murdered by Macbeth.
mercoledì 23 dicembre 2009
King Edward had no sons!
BUT...
The right to the throne was claimed by:
☞ The King of Norway
☞ The King of Normandy
Because of the many Danish kings who had ruled over Britain.
King Edward had spent his childhood in Normandy.
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5th January 1066Edward the Confessor dies.
Harold of Wessex becomes the new king
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William Duke of Normandyinvades Britain
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14th October 1066The English and Norman armies facein the famous Battle of Hastings
The Normans winWilliam (later called the Conqueror)is crowned King on Christmas Day
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Who were the Normans?They were a Norse people (Scandinavian) who had settled in Northern France and had adapted themselves to the language and the religion of the French.
They spoke French and they were Christian.
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The Norman conquest plays a special role within the English culture, since it produced two important changes within the society:
☝The birth of the feudal system.
✌ The introduction of the French language.
mercoledì 23 dicembre 2009
The Feudal system in Britain
King
Barons
Knights
Peasants
↓
↓
↓
The Feudal societyhas a clear hierarchicorganisation
Hold their lands directly from the King
Hold their lands from the Barons
Bound to the land and to the lord who owns it.
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Such an organisation was mantained also in the villages.
Lord
Freemen
Villeins
Cottagers
The villages developed around the lord’s house, called manor house They held their land in free
tenure and owed only few light services to the lord
They could not leavethe village without thelord’s permission
They had less land to tend than the Villeins; they had to do extra work to live.
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The changes in the Language
In this period, Britain is characterised by a situation of quadrilinguism (four languages):
➠ French
➠ Latin
➠ Old English
➠ Gaelic
Spoken by the Norman nobility
Used for international relations and the lithurgy
Spoken by the Anglo-Saxon people, now subdued.
Still spoken in Wales and Scotland.
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The evolution of the English language: from Old English to Middle English
From the late Vth century (when the first form of English appeared) to the Norman conquest, the language had undergone a series of changes and simplifications
- Old English inflections strongly reduced and replaced by prepositions.
- Modern possessive case appears (‘s).
- After the Norman conquest great changes take place in vocabulary, with the introduction of French words.
mercoledì 23 dicembre 2009
➠
Old English (XI Cent.)
Sumer is icumen in,Lhude sing cuccu!Groweth sed and bloweth medand pringth the wde nu.Sing cuccu!Awe bleteh after lomb,lhouth after calue cu;Bulluc sterteth, bucke uertethMurie sing cuccu!....
Middle English (XII Cent.)mercoledì 23 dicembre 2009
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