The History of the English Language, Part Two
dead and the escapees, feudal lords found themselves with an incredible labor shortage. The serfs who had remained on the estates found themselves for the first time with bargaining power. They demanded and received higher pay and more freedom to travel to the towns. The bargaining prowess shown by the Anglo-Saxons increased the Normans respect for them, and this respect began to translate into a respect for the language.
This respect grew with the final historical event, The Hundred Years War (1337-1453) between England and France. Recall that at this point, the children of the English nobility were learning English first, and French only later, in schools in France. King John's loss of Normandy in 1204 had not been taken lightly; in fact the English spent the next two hundred fifty years trying to get Normandy and more back. This culminated in the Hundred Years War. While the English did manage to gain territory in Normandy and elsewhere, they were ultimately defeated. Galvanized by Joan of Arc, the French forced the English out. Devastated by a century of war, with a population unwilling to fund more conquest attempts, and left without any French holdings, the English found they had little remaining use for the French language.
Given the state of the English language in the years following the Norman Conquest, it is remarkable that English made the comeback it did. Most importantly, the lesson taught by this period in history is that language is merely a tool of a people, whose successes or failures dictate its success or failure. English didn't survive because English is inherently better or nobler than French. It survived because the English, both Anglo-Saxon and Norman French, needed it. As we see the global dominance of English today, it is important to remind ourselves that dominance does not mean superiority. It simply means useful at a given time.
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