Textbook reveals role of medieval Franglais

The ways in which French continued to be spoken in medieval England at least 300 years after the Norman conquest are set to be explored in a new study.

The research, by a team from the University of Exeter, will examine the linguistic legacy of the 1066 Norman invasion across the following centuries. It’s thought that, by 1300, as many as QPG KP fiXG RGQRlG sRQMG DQVJ 'PIlKsJ and Anglo-French, with the latter becoming the language of court. This meant that it was deemed invaluable for RTQHGssKQPCl sWEEGss KP fiGlFs Cs FKXGTsG as law, commerce and literature.

Key information about the use and spread of the language comes from the Tretiz, a 13th-century textbook created to help bilingual children brush up on their skills. Its rhyming couplets span topics from birth and childhood to household tasks and the names of plants and animals. It became popular with wealthy families, and 16 known manuscripts survive – allowing experts to compare how use of the language evolved geographically and across time.

“Each manuscript tells us about the experience of a community of language users,” said Thomas Hinton from the University of Exeter. “Some copies seem to have belonged to noble households, while others were owned by clergy either for teaching or for their interest in its sophisticated wordplay. The popularity of the work shows that getting one’s French right was considered important in a wide range of social sectors.”