The Norman Occupation of England

[Schwarzkald]

The Normans And French are related they are both Germanic, Normans were from Norway and the French were from Germanic tribes called the Franks, they both understood each other when they spoke their mother tongue. When they enter Gallia what is now France, they fused the Latino-Celtic Languages with their Germanic Language and that's how it became French. to the Northwest is Norman French and to the Southeast is Provencal French. Ce'st la vie. 

[1234weyman]

@Schwarzkald the normans married french females and became culturally french, they had two languages norman french and latin, i imagine alot french people would disagree with being considered germanic, your statement is more accurate for the english being a cultural mix of germanic, norse, latin, french

[norskasbj1]

@Schwarzkald I think in Britanny, 1 of the 22 France's lands, they speak a Celtic language and even today Britanny is considered as one of the 6 Celtic nations like Irland, Wales, Scotland...

I think France is a mix country with lot of different influences, but they kept their Gallic soul.

[reksub10]

WHY DONT THESE CUNTS INVADE AND ATTACK WHILE THEY ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF BUILDING A CASTLE ...."OH LET THEM BUILD A MASSIVE CASTLE STRONG HOLD BEFORE WE ATTACK ,YES THATS AN AWESOME IDEA ,MEANS WELL KILL MORE SERFS WHILE WE STAND ON A HILL FAR AWAY "fucking aristicratic pussies..id love to see all the upper class go to fight a war ,the would piss their pants without the real men guarding them...assholes

[MultiAngryguy]

... In that sense Anglo-Norman England wasnt French or English but a hybrid of the two, although the Norman and early Plantagnet kings main language was French (it wasn't until the reign of Edward III that English became the primary language of the kings of England) English culture had never died out.

[1234weyman]

@MultiAngryguy modern english is only 30 percent old english influenced, around 60 percent of it is latin/french, so they did change english culture and language, also the french colonizers introduced names such as roger richard william etc and changed the architecture

[MultiAngryguy]

@1234weyman I agree with you, the point i was trying to make is that middle English and modern English are influenced by both Saxon and Norman French rather than either one or the other. Intrestingly when English culture began to emerge after the reign of king John the kings/nobility of England began using old Saxon names like Edward and Edmund.

[MultiAngryguy]

CONT... When the Normans and Saxons intermarried and had children they found being 'Anglo-Norman' to be confusing and 'impure', they didn't want to be considered "pure French" because that would mean they would be subjects to the king of France and the norman lords wanted to be seperate to France and be their own country. However they also didn't want to be "pure English" either because that would mean they would lose their legitimate claims to their French territories....

[MultiAngryguy]

Norman England is confusing because it was neither English nor French. When the Normans conquered England they replaced the Saxon lords with Norman ones, however the commoners and the majority of England still spoke English and William the conqueror knew that he wouldn't be able to convert England towards French culture. Instead the Norman lords of England decided to edapt to English culture (William tried to learn English but was too busy in Normandy to learn it properly). CONT...

[legomyeggo713]

@Aenglaland you idiot the Normans were from mainly Scandinavia and Saxony learn some history

[espoire1757]

@Aenglaland In addition, the company said Norman who was the face of Hastings Harold King Goddwinson came not only from Normandy! The left wing of the army was composed of Britons, while the right wing was composed of a knights from different regions of the north of France! The center of the army was composed of troops that came from the Duchy of Normandy

[espoire1757]

@Aenglaland Thus, in two generations the Scandinavian element is diluted in the vast French genetics. Vikings there remained the name of Norman. The Normans were now in the blood by french language and culture. Succeeded the Norman house another French dynasty, that of Plantegenets of the House of Anjou. So until the 14 th century french language became official language of the kingdom of England

[espoire1757]

@Aenglaland I don't know if the English are ignorant or simply in bad faith but you're ashamed that the Normans are French because You have been conquered by the French! maybe it's because of this you don't like the French! While some of the Normans ancestors were pirates Vikings who had settled in France but their numbers were tiny compared to the local population, the Vikings also got married to local women and their children are also married to locals and so on!

[AuxaneD]

Norman language is a dialect of langue d'oïl which is more commonly known as French. Reading Norman text of old as a French-speaker i understand almost everything and it's very similar to vieux François = old French, modern Norman is very close to modern French. It's as if saying Alsacian wasn't a dialect of German. It's just a fact, Normans are French culturally and even in terms of ADN...unlike some of their Norse of ancestors who came to protect the coasts of Normandy from Viking invasions!..

[Anquetil79]

@Aenglaland The Norman islands of Jersey and Guernsey are not a part of the UK or even the EU. They are in a liason with the British crown because of the Norman conquest of England. These islands are officially called the Duchy of Normandy. They are not English, the natives are Normans as these islands are the insular part of Normandy but not a part of France. The British immigrants are numerous but immigrants they are and not natives, like the Normans there.

[Anquetil79]

We in Normandy are proud to be Normans and Normans only. We not only conquered England, Wales and Ireland but also Southern Italy, Sicily, parts of Northern-Africa (under Roger II the Norman king of Sicily), Malta and Antioch.

Beside Hastings on of our great victories was the battle of Civitate. The French want to use out victories because of their lack of victories. My family name is of Scandinavian origins.

[MyKingdom13]

Henry 1st was son of William the Conqueror. He married Edith of Scotland who was daughter of Margaret of Wessex. Therefore. The Normans may have won the battle but every king thereafter has Anglo Saxon blood. Shot themselves in the foot I think plus if you do some research they were all distant relatives anyway.

[ImperialGuard9001]

@MyKingdom13 Normans and "English" mix the history of "English people" is one of mixture of various peoples the Anglo Saxons werent a single people they had Jutes Angles Saxons to name a few Franks Frisians Norse and other peoples also came during Migration Era then came in mass the Norse the so called Viking age that brough even more Norseman to England finaly the last Norse man or norse descends were Normans

[MyKingdom13]

@ImperialGuard9001 I dont understand your point - I know this. The generic term in England for the subjected people (jutes etc) is Anglo Saxons since the danelaw no longer applied to the northern part of England and those Norse settlers (and any others) were by then considered a part of England. The battle of Stamford Bridge immediately before Hastings put an end to the fresh Norse attempt at ruling in England. However, this is ironic since the Normans were Norse descendants themselves.

[steleona1]

For a ripping Norse/Saxon story, try Sigurd's Saga on YouTube.

[XannunakiX]

ce qui se passe à l'saxon?

[SaxonBrit]

Is English heritage considered atleast primarily if not completely Anglo-Saxon by tradition, or are the invasive Norman and Viking populations considered significant ingredients in the English gene pool and heritage?

[joezzzify]

@gipcambero the normans were not french!!!

[chevygearhead454]

My family the Demaree's originated from normandy!!!!

[MrHistoryhelp]

very good

[ManOWar2Red]

@Aenglaland The english channel is the way you call it, if you want. It makes no differences if others call it differently, US books also call it ''Manche'' btw.

Now, if the normans quicly integrated in the culture english,

explain to me why your's kings spoke french only until the 13th century and why english has litterally around 30% (most conservatives numbers) of french word, litterally copy/pasted in writting ?

I call that a sucessfull merging of old english and french norman

[ManOWar2Red]

Dieu et mon droit.

[ManOWar2Red]

@Aenglaland The plantagenets we're a group of families. but most specifically, plantagenet, you see ? it's not like they were a people of their own. Normans of the 11th century we're french in culture, in speaking and in names. The norman langage is heavily french and it's still even spoked in today in normandy and some british isles in the ''manche'' and a part of the langage is used today in french canada.

[Anquetil79]

@ManOWar2Red The Norman language is not heavily French. Norman is a heavily Romance language. Jersey and Guernsey are not British and not a part of the UK or EU. Us the Normans in continental Normandy and the Normans in insular Normandy are all Normans. And we are all celebrating the 11th century anniversary of Normandy this year togeather as having Norman festivals between each other every year. The Normans had different laws and architecture from the French, same culture? Not at all mon hars.

[joy2559]

@Aenglaland well correct me if iam wrong but most of my family are dark haired, now that`s not scando-germanic, but we are white,9 out of 11 of my family names are french in origin, some huegonot, some older, we have no scando germanic names or blonde haired types in my family so, we are not english?

[joy2559]

@Aenglaland can we agree that english is a mix of european tribes? not asian or african and so on

[joy2559]

@Aenglaland there are 10,000 words of french origin in english, butcher/boucher/village/villag­e/rude/rude/joy/joie/face/face­/damage/dommage/farm/ferm/bott­le/bouteille/vermin/vermine/da­ngerous/dangeroux/gibbet/gibet­/flower/fleur/lake/lac/beef/bo­euf/fool/fou/court of justice/ cour de justice/manner/maniere/view/vi­eux/lantern/lanterne/romance/r­omance/desire/desir/obeir/obey­/prefer/prefere/beauty/beute/t­ouch/toucher/jealous/jaloux/ many words english people use are from french, and germanic/ latin

[psviking1]

translate this!--Min onkel er i Danmark. Han har et fotogrfiapparat. Han fotograferer ofte. Han har fotograferet en gaas, en svane, en ro/d ko.et ho/jt trae. et lille gro/nt hus. en gruppe skolebo/rn. en familie i en sejlbaad. en grimme dame. en praest i en kirke. en kat aedende en mus. en flyvemaskine. en mand riddende paa en elefant. et snolandskab. en masse hunde.. Han er en af de bedste amato/rfotografer i ko/benhavn now say that in french! you truly don.t know what you are talking about!

[joy2559]

ps viking you are spastic you did not give me the original root of the words quoted, please put yourself infront, enfrente, of a train, en treno, cazzo de mierda!

[psviking1]

kombat. prove. djaevel. meget(much) gips. mo/nt(penge) radikal. blomst. pas. monument. katedral. park. taarn. flask.mineral.post. . vild/brutalt. spar. resten, pervert. homosekuelle. lesbiosk. holde. drog/stof. narkomand. meget. beholde.undsklyde mig(excuse me)  parasit. well JOY i have enJOYed our SAMTALE(same talk) conversation , so i will wish you FARVEL OG GODNAT (Farewell and good night) By the way the angles(english) and vikings were the same people, spoke the same, over a 1000 yrs ago.

[joy2559]

@psviking1 combat is combattere.it is italian all the words i qouted some are french, some roman latin , some of the words are even greek,joy is french, mineral is latin, park is latin parque, much is mucho, you stupid imbecil.your people vikings were destroyed in england, we are not the same, you spastic idiot,buy that dictionary that i said, if all people in denmark are as stupid as you, then i hope the clandestini take over it,i will not be going to denmark, decapitate!

[TemplarX2]

@joy2559 I think you don't understand. The origin of word as it enters the English language is French. The ultimate origin of latin, Germanic, Greek or Celtic.

[joy2559]

ps viking tell me the origins of these English words, combat, army, myth, intelligent,devil,proof,please­,plenty,gibbet,plaster,money,r­adical,tirade,flower,pass,monu­ment,cathedral,park,tower,bott­le,mineral,mail,savage,save,re­st,pervert,homosexual,lesbian,­retain,recess,drug,addict, much,preserve,frenzy,pardon,pa­rasite. tell me then mr viking if you know English

[psviking1]

du skal laer Dansk Fo/rst og du vil se klar hvor engesk stammer fra.jeg boede i Danmark i naesten 20 aar,og der er simpelhen tusinde ord der er i famlie med engkeske ord. det er derfor at dankerne kan taler saa godt engelsk. You shall learn Danish first and you will see clear where english stems from, i aboded in Denmark for nearly 20 years, and there are simply thousands of words that are in family(related to) with english words. it is therefore that the danes talk such good english. !

[joy2559]

pissviking you clearly do not know the English language, I suggest you buy the collins concise dictionary and educate yourself, it gives the root language of all English words, most are latin and old French, some are norse, some saxon, and even some Greek, and by the way arm is an old French word arma.House is a germanic word not norse, hand is also a germanic word,door is from the word duru,bastard from the latin bastardo, idiot from latin idiota, and fuck off is old anglo-saxon

[psviking1]

@joy2559 FUCK OFF is also danish! FUCK AF er ogsaa dansk!

[psviking1]

@joy2559 what is the French for ' I can stick my little finger up my nose and pluck snot out' in danish it is 'Jeg(yi) kan stikke min lille finger op min naese og plukke snot ud' French sounds fuck all like english when it.s spoken! french is mediteranean in origin. English is scando-germanic! related to danish, norwegian . swedish, icelandic, dutch, german.

[joy2559]

@psviking1 there are thousands of words in the English language that are latin based, French does not sound like English when spoken, but there are still many French words in the English language, there are also Germanic and Norse words in English, Our language is a mix of scando-germanic and Latin I suggest you buy the dictionary that I mentioned. the danes did very little for England and were defeated by the Saxons. ok lascio me in pace, leave me in peace in Italian. English is a mixed

[psviking1]

@joy2559 The danes did nothing for England! Te Danes ruled england. there were more danes her in england(Danelaw) than were back home,King Canute (Kong Knud) was England's and denmark's king at the same time. The Angles came from an area called Angeln which until the danish/german war of 1861 was in denmark, in southern Jutland (now just across the border in germany) The Jutes came from north Jutland at the same time as the angles, the settled in Kent, so many came that Jutland was empty!

[joy2559]

@psviking1 the vikings burned the place down, they were terrible,they gave us a few words in our language.the anglo saxons defeated them, the immigrants that came under the norman period contributed more by building beautiful cathedrals, and shaping our language and identity, via the church,this is why there latin influence in our culture, language, buildings, is because of the catholic church.

[psviking1]

@joy2559 by the way the danish word for JOY is GLAD!

[rlzzxx]

I love seeing how the human race is basically a species of killers, liars, murderers, thieves, we should be so proud of ourselves

[mastercheff1216]

I like learning about the Norman conquest and their heritage from Scandinavia.

[gipcambero]

The Gothic art was called "The French style" in england, The Normans imposed French as official language for almost 3 centuries, even today Englsih is made up by 40% of French words

[way2tehdawn]

Yean English is like a mix of Saxon language whatever it is, French and some old scandinavian languages. The original English lands languages are long forgotten except in Brittany and Cornwall.

[gipcambero]

If you compare of danish text to an english text there will be more difference than between a French text and an english one

[psviking1]

@gipcambero hand-haand. head-hoved. hair-haar . eye-o/je. ear -o/re. nose-naese. tongue-tunge.lip-laebe. neck-nakke. finger-finger. nail-negl. fingernail-fingernegl. arm-arm. elbow-albue. knee-knae. foot-fod. toe -taa. heel-hael. sole-saal. skin-skind. door-do/r. window-vindue. house-hus. tree-trae. grass-graes. chair-stol. pot-potte. pan.pande.kettle-kedel.oven-ov­n.coffee-kaffe. tea-te. bread-bro/d. cake-kage. knife-kniv.warm-varm. cold kold. up-op. in-ind. out-ud. here-her. there-der. pis-piss

[joy2559]

@way2tehdawn modern english is 33 percent saxon 28 percent old french, 28 percent old roman latin, via the catholic church, some viking and old greek words aswell, the old celtic languages are wales and scotland and ireland,cornwall, english is a mixed language, modern english mainly latin in its origin

[psviking1]

@joy2559 Du har sagde at Engelsk er for det meste, latinsk. for du komme ud med dette pis, laer Dansk fo/rst., You have said that English is for the most, latin, before you come out with that piss, learn Danish first. En idiot kan se hvor Engelsk stammer fra. An idiot can see where English stems from. saa Gaa tilbage til skole. So go (to)back to school. Og laer Engelsk historie korrekt. And learn English history correctly. Over seksti procent af Engelsk kommer fra Danmark

[joy2559]

@psviking1 I am English and I know my own language, you are not English. modern English is a mixed language, english words of old french origin and latin, cure-curer, damage-damnum, danger- dongier, debate,-debatre, decide-decidre,deduct-dedctus,­defence-defensum,defend-defend­-defendere,degrade-degradare,d­emonstrate-demonstrare.despera­te-despararede,detail-detaille­r.deviate-deviare,diamond-diam­ant,dictionary-dictionarium,di­rect-directus,disaster-disastr­o,disease-desaise,double-duplu­s,easy-aisie,

[savioblanc]

I love the fact that William the Bastard became William the Conqueror after his conquest of England - i heard that somewhere...is that true/

[gipcambero]

England in the middle ages just a Clone of France

[gipcambero]

Stop to say "Norman occupation of England", say directly " FRENCH COLONISATION"

[savioblanc]

@gipcambero - Nope, William was very much related to this English cousins - it was an invasion by a guy who considered the throne in England very much his. Calling it colonisation does not make sense as the concept of colonialism is more modern!

[gipcambero]

More modern ??? For Instance, Marseille is a former greek colony of the 7th century BC

[gipcambero]

Serach: "ENGLAND Colonny of France" on Youtube

[gipcambero]

I thanks the norman to have brought the french civilization (french language and gothic art) to England

[Saxonsoldiers]

Norman scum! Wanabe frenchman race traitors to their scandinavian blood!

[blumetatron]

I grew up in Somerset and we have always been a riotous bunch.

[EmperiumConstructum]

Wimps are soooooooo owned!

[QueenieLizzie]

The Normandy Dynasty!

[YoungNubb]

It wasn't really an occupation, because they stayed there. They altered it forever. They could have renamed England "Normandie Minor" (small Normandy) as some Normans of the day suggested.

[HengistTheGreat]

What does "to occupy" mean then, YoungNubb?

[TemplarX2]

@YoungNubb It was actually colonization. There was basically a system of apartheid there, French speaking ruling elite on one hand that married among themselves or the continent and the dispossessed Anglo-Saxons and danes (from dane law) that the Normans brutally suppressed. Not until they were cut off after their defeat in France that they started to integrate. although the Royals remained overwhelming French until even now.

[ImperialGuard9001]

@TemplarX2 Normans spoke Norman that was language close to French but not French itself. They did married with Anglo Saxons aswell exmaple would be of course Henry I wasnt that strict. After their defeat in France? That are you talking about? The Royals are Germans now actualy since the Glorious Revolution first Dutch then Germans haha is funny how British History has strange details the present royal house comes from German Hannover

[TemplarX2]

@ImperialGuard9001 Norman french is oil language and falls in the same category as old French. It is closer to old parisian french than the languages spoken in south. The Old English spoken in the south of England is more different than that spoken in the North than Norman french is to parisian French. You are confusing Normans with Norsemen. The Viking were defeated at chartre not the Gallic Normans. And Henry I married a Scot (Scot are also Celtic like the average Normans) not an anglo-Saxon.

[TemplarX2]

@TemplarX2 I mean the battle of Bouvine where the Angevins (now controlling England but originally from Anjou) were defeated and cut off from their French territories Anjou, Normandy etc.

[PurePerfection]

I am related to Robert de Conteville (Count of Mortain). He was the full brother of Odo the Bishop and like Odo, William the Conquerer's half brother. However; Robert was regarded by accounts then as a modest man of noble character, unlike his two siblings. Additionally, Robert and Odo had two other full brothers, Jean (John) and Raoul (Ralph).

I think this person has Odo confused with Robert in terms of personality.

[Poteez]

Wow! My line of descent is from Muriel de Conteville (married Guilluame de la Ferte Mace). Our line became Barons in Cheshire but lost it all in 14thC. Hope your line faired better! Incredible being related to William 1st though!

[Islandretreat]

Do you have any background information on Nicholas Breakspear?