Discuss the subjection of English after Norman Conquest
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The Norman Conquest and the Subjection of English 1066-1200
Toward the close of the Old English period, a catastrophic event happened to speed up the rapidly changing language. This event is the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Norman Conquest changed the whole course of the English language.
Where is Normandy? Who is Normandy? Everybody talks about the Conquest of Normandy but nobody ever says who Normandy was, where Normandy was. Nothing. Normandy is on the Northern coast of France directly across from England. It derives its name from the Northmen (also of Viking descent), who settled there during the ninth and tenth centuries at the same time when similar people settled North and east of England. The Seine River was a convenient channel into the country. A generation after the Danelaw was created in England, Charles the Simple reached a similar agreement with Rollo, the leader of the Danes at in Normandy. Rollo became the Duke of the Normans.
The Scandinavians are remarkably adaptable. They accepted Christianity and began the construction of those great Norman cathedrals that are still marvels of modern architecture to this day. By the eleventh century when the Conquest of Norman occurred, their culture was essentially French and they were considered among the most progressive people of Europe. For a very long time, the relationship between the Normans and the English were friendly. In 1002 Ethelred the Unready, who was married to a Norman wife, was driven into exile by the Danes. He took refuge with the Duke of Normandy and raised his son, Edward, in France. In 1042, the Danish line in England died out, and Edward was restored to the throne that was taken from his father. When he came back to England, he brought a number of his friends with him, gave his them high ranks, and enriched them. So, even before the conquest in 1066, the English court was beginning to have a French feel to it.
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