LAWLzoR

So I made a post about how French and German greatly influenced the English language. If you haven't read it yet you should check it out. But this is about how French came into the English language. So let's not waste time, let's head back to 1066.

In 1066, the king of Britons was dead, and so the next person to the throne had to be decided. An Englishman, a Norman, and a Viking all claimed to the be next in line for the throne. As you can imagine this caused a bit of tension between the English, Normans, and Vikings. The Norman just so happened to be William not-yet-the Conqueror. So the Vikings went all out and started attacking the northern coast of the main British island, and the Normans started attacking the south. They weren't allies, they just attacked parts of the island that were closest to their own countries.

For ranger and other English/British people on the forum already know about the famous year of 1066, the end of the Saxon era in England, but as you can imagine, in the United States we're not exactly taught this as much as those in Britain. Foreign history isn't exactly our strong point, especially Asian and African history. But that's another time.

In 1066, the famous Battle of Hastings in (you'll never guess it) Hastings, England in the south was a battle between the English/Saxons and Normans. The Saxons managed to beat the Vikings back, but that focus left the south more vulnerable. Long story short, William won the battle. The battle managed to kill the Saxon King Harold II either by an arrow in the eye or being surrounded by Norman knights. There's no definite consensus, but he did definitely die from the battle, meaning William of Normandy was crowned the first (official) King of England.

With the Normans successfully controlling all of Britain, this meant the culture of Normandy (similar to French culture and language) was put there, meaning French language found its way into England. And no conquering people of another nation would be the poor now would they? The Normans lived the high life and were the nobles in England. But don't worry. England gets them back in Agincourt about Trafalgar

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