The Norman Conquest

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Recommended: Contributions of middle English to the development of modern English

The Norman Conquest refers to the invasion of England by the Normans in the year 1066. Norman conquerors came from a province formerly in northwestern France called Normandy. The invasion happened under the leadership of Duke William II and William the conqueror (Thomas, 2008). The English people staged several attacks on the Normans with an aim to resist the invasion on their land. However, the strong leadership of the Normans led England to succumb to the pressure. The Norman Conquest had a number of consequences on the English people and their culture. The consequences were the elimination of an elite group from the society, expatriation of people from their native land, and the introduction of new governance systems. Others included the development of language, high rate of immigration, and intermarriages between the two groups. The Norman invasion marked a crucial time in the development of the English language. The conquest resulted in the development of two categories of the English language called the Old English and the Middle English (Thomas, 2008). Old English refers to the language used before the Norman Conquest, while the Middle English refers to the language used after the conquest following the addition of numerous French vocabularies. The main difference between the two categories is the grammatical elements and the collection of words (Butcher, 2013). The conquest also influenced the development of sound and structure elements of the English language. The Norman Conquest resulted in a complete transformation of the English language.

Discussion
The Norman conquerors arrived in England towards the end of the 11th Century. In the year 1066, some crucial events that led to the development of the modern English la...

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...wever, it is important to understand that the development of the Middle English involved numerous changes effected by various groups. These people had moved into England during the 11th century. One of the other groups that had settled in England at the same time with the Normans was the Nordics, who were a northern family of Germanic language spoken in Scandinavia, Iceland, and Norway (Freeman, 2009). Their settlement in England did not bring any communication barriers because their language belonged to the same linguistic family as the old English. Therefore, there was an understanding between the settlers and the natives because apart from sharing a linguistic connection, their culture also had a number of similarities (Butcher, 2013). The arrival of the Nordics in England complemented the English language because most elements improved or remained as they were.

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