Does modern Britain owe much to the Normans?

Résumé du document

"Apparently as the result of one day's fighting (14 October 1066), England received a new royal dynasty, a new aristocracy, a virtually new Church, a new art, a new architecture and a new language."(DAVIES, 1976; 103). This sentence shows clearly the crucial influence of the Normans on the future of England. However, what happened in one day was just the beginning of longer and deeper changes on British culture. Actually, the conquest of England by William the Conqueror cannot be limited to the Battle of Hastings in 1066. After this battle, England became under control of Normandy for few centuries, which is clearly enough to transform an existing society into another one. This era can be seen as a pivotal phase for Britain: this invasion created a stronger bond towards continental Europe.

Extraits

[...] Most of the common words used are Anglo-Saxon, like ‘man', ‘child', ‘eat', ‘love' or ‘harvest'. In reality, the aristocratic class of modern Britain owes much to the Normans than the modern British society as a whole. In the end, the Norman's linguistic legacy is more about giving some richness to the Anglo-Saxon vocabulary than transforming it: structural form of the language has remained purely Germanic” (DIBELIUS; 17). The use of French language in politics and law is completely over, as for the administration in general. [...]

[...] Concerning the law, some formula were directly coming from the French: the twentieth century the King marks his acceptance of a new law with the formula roi le veult', and the entry of a high dignitary or judge is heralded with ‘oyez'”. (DIBELIUS; 16). Of course, nowadays the French is not commonly used in British society, but the use of French- rooted word to name food on the table is a direct heritage from the Normans. A sheep becomes mutton (‘mouton' in French) and an ox becomes beef (‘boeuf' in French). However, the same phenomenon can be seen in politics, where freedom has the exact same meaning that liberty, or wage and salary. [...]

[...] This is the proof of how crucial it was for Normans to be more than just temporary winners; they had to be the heart of the new English society they were about to create. Nevertheless, is it enough to say that the Norman influence is deeply rooted into modern British society? Even if the Normans stayed for centuries, it is not obvious that modern Britain owe everything to the Normans. To what extent can we consider that Norman heritage is crucial to understand modern Britain? We will see in a first part the direct influence of the Normans on the British society. [...]

[...] Moreover, it has been quite a unique case of conquerors not trying to destroy the culture of the country they invaded. Norman culture and Anglo-Saxon culture merged into one another in order to be the modern British culture. Shakespeare is the symbol: his literature can be considered as a melange of Norman and Anglo- Saxon culture, for the best. Nevertheless, the Norman influence should be seen as no more than an amelioration of the Anglo-Saxon British culture, which remain the real base and structure of modern British society. [...]

[...] That is how French (the way it was spoken by the Normans) didn't spread into the whole society. The first influence was that the Normans, from 1066, were part of the English culture. It could be thought that England would become a Norman province, but the reality is that the Normans tried to become English by changing some customs and bringing their own identity. That is the first legacy of Normans over modern Britain. They did not try to erase the English identity but tried to add some of their customs they thought could improve the system. [...]