2 English Goes Underground

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BRAGG:
In 1 07 7, William the Conqueror,
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00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:24,008
ruler of Normandy and England,
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00:00:24,109 --> 00:00:27,442
ordered the construction
of a special building.
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00:00:28,013 --> 00:00:30,982
It was to be part palace,
part treasury,
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00:00:31,083 --> 00:00:34,075
part prison, and part fortress.
6
00:00:34,186 --> 00:00:37,747
It was the White Tower on the
banks of the Thames in London,
7
00:00:37,856 --> 00:00:40,757
and it was a powerful symbol
of the way that the Normans
8
00:00:40,859 --> 00:00:44,920
were imposing themselves
on this conquered country.
9
00:00:46,231 --> 00:00:48,699
They hadn't just brought armies
and architecture
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00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:49,994
to mark their authority.
11
00:00:50,102 --> 00:00:51,626
They'd also brought
their language.
12
00:00:51,737 --> 00:00:53,671
The French vocabulary of power
13
00:00:53,772 --> 00:00:56,263
forced its way
into the English language.
14
00:00:56,375 --> 00:00:58,673
"Crown" and "court"
were both French words.
15
00:00:58,777 --> 00:01:02,235
So were "castle" and "tower",
and the barons who built them.
16
00:01:02,347 --> 00:01:04,144
And so were
"obedience" and "justice,
17
00:01:04,249 --> 00:01:06,046
"treason", and "prison".
18
00:01:06,151 --> 00:01:07,982
The Anglo-Saxon kings
had governed
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00:01:08,086 --> 00:01:10,316
using the Old English language.
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00:01:10,422 --> 00:01:12,947
Now the Normans used French
and Latin.
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00:01:13,058 --> 00:01:16,994
English had become the third
language in its own country.
22
00:01:17,095 --> 00:01:20,724
It would take over 300 years
to emerge from the shadows.
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00:01:44,790 --> 00:01:47,759
Subtitling made possible by
Acorn Media
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00:01:54,933 --> 00:01:56,867
In the years following
the arrival of William's army
25
00:01:56,969 --> 00:01:57,867
at Pevensey,
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00:01:57,970 --> 00:02:00,131
the Normans tightened their grip
on England,
27
00:02:00,238 --> 00:02:04,436
now part of a kingdom that
extended across the channel.
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00:02:06,745 --> 00:02:07,871
Across the land,
29
00:02:07,980 --> 00:02:10,175
William's men took over
every position of power
30
00:02:10,282 --> 00:02:12,716
in the state and in the church.
31
00:02:12,818 --> 00:02:17,050
Within 60 years, the monk and
historian William of Malmesbury
32
00:02:17,155 --> 00:02:18,520
could write...
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00:02:18,624 --> 00:02:22,287
MAN: "No Englishman today
is an earl or bishop or abbot.
34
00:02:22,394 --> 00:02:26,296
The newcomers gnaw at the wealth
and guts of England,
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00:02:26,398 --> 00:02:30,129
nor is there any hope
of ending the misery."
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00:02:30,235 --> 00:02:31,634
BRAGG:
He wrote in Latin.
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00:02:31,737 --> 00:02:32,761
Written English,
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00:02:32,871 --> 00:02:35,271
which had managed to establish
itself so boldly
39
00:02:35,374 --> 00:02:36,466
before the conquest,
40
00:02:36,575 --> 00:02:39,100
was now dying.
41
00:02:45,484 --> 00:02:48,214
It breathed its last here.
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00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:51,187
Now Peterborough Cathedral,
43
00:02:51,289 --> 00:02:54,486
in the mid 1 2th century,
part of Peterborough Abbey.
44
00:02:54,593 --> 00:02:57,460
[Man speaking Old English]
45
00:03:00,432 --> 00:03:03,026
Around the country,
monks had been recording
46
00:03:03,135 --> 00:03:05,626
the great events
of the last 650 years
47
00:03:05,737 --> 00:03:08,171
in books known
as "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles".
48
00:03:08,273 --> 00:03:11,765
They were written in the
language of the people, English,
49
00:03:11,877 --> 00:03:16,610
and there was nothing like them
anywhere in mainland Europe.
50
00:03:16,715 --> 00:03:19,775
[Man speaking Old English]
51
00:03:21,353 --> 00:03:24,117
Since the Norman Conquest
of 1 066,
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00:03:24,222 --> 00:03:27,453
these unique accounts
had been abandoned one by one.
53
00:03:27,559 --> 00:03:30,357
The "Peterborough Chronicle"
was the last survivor.
54
00:03:30,462 --> 00:03:35,593
In 1 1 54, a monk recorded
that the abbey had a new abbot,
55
00:03:35,701 --> 00:03:39,603
a man with the very French name
of William de Waterville.
56
00:03:39,705 --> 00:03:42,469
[Man speaking Old English]
57
00:03:49,948 --> 00:03:52,007
"He has made a good beginning,"
the monk writes.
58
00:03:52,117 --> 00:03:54,950
[Man speaking Old English]
59
00:03:55,053 --> 00:03:59,251
"Christ grant
that he may end as well."
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00:04:00,792 --> 00:04:02,157
With this last entry,
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00:04:02,260 --> 00:04:05,923
6 1 /2 centuries of
written history came to an end.
62
00:04:06,031 --> 00:04:10,934
Old English had ceased to be the
language of record in the land.
63
00:04:11,036 --> 00:04:14,301
But that didn't mean
that it was going to go away.
64
00:04:19,578 --> 00:04:22,411
Since the conquest,
English in varying dialects
65
00:04:22,514 --> 00:04:25,779
had remained the language spoken
by 90% of the population,
66
00:04:25,884 --> 00:04:28,682
from the south coast to the
uplands of southern Scotland,
67
00:04:28,787 --> 00:04:30,482
just a few miles north of here.
68
00:04:30,589 --> 00:04:33,319
Even further north in Scotland
and west in Wales,
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00:04:33,425 --> 00:04:36,087
the culture and language
were still Celtic.
70
00:04:36,194 --> 00:04:38,992
Old English had continued
to develop and change,
71
00:04:39,097 --> 00:04:42,157
partly as a result of contact
with the language of the Danes,
72
00:04:42,267 --> 00:04:43,859
particularly here in the north.
73
00:04:43,969 --> 00:04:45,766
The grammar
was becoming simpler.
74
00:04:45,871 --> 00:04:48,772
More plurals were being formed
by adding an "s".
75
00:04:48,874 --> 00:04:51,968
"Naman", for example, the
Old English plural of "name",
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00:04:52,077 --> 00:04:55,205
became "names",
which would become our "names".
77
00:04:55,313 --> 00:04:57,474
Prepositions were performing
more of the functions
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00:04:57,582 --> 00:04:58,810
of the old word endings,
79
00:04:58,917 --> 00:05:01,545
and word order
was becoming more fixed.
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00:05:01,653 --> 00:05:04,747
Despite being the officially
ignored language,
81
00:05:04,856 --> 00:05:07,051
English would continue to evolve
and change,
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00:05:07,159 --> 00:05:08,251
and it would endure,
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00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:11,090
resisting and absorbing
the invaders' language
84
00:05:11,196 --> 00:05:13,994
until the time came
for it to resume centre stage
85
00:05:14,099 --> 00:05:15,430
as a nation's language.
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00:05:18,804 --> 00:05:21,170
The "Peterborough Chronicle"
of 1 1 54
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00:05:21,273 --> 00:05:22,797
also recorded that,
in that year,
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00:05:22,908 --> 00:05:24,773
the people of England
acquired a new king...
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00:05:24,876 --> 00:05:28,107
Count Henry of Anjou,
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00:05:28,213 --> 00:05:30,147
grandson
of William the Conqueror
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00:05:30,248 --> 00:05:32,808
and the first
of the Plantagenet kings.
92
00:05:32,918 --> 00:05:34,476
A lover of learning,
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00:05:34,586 --> 00:05:36,952
he spoke fluent Latin
as well as French,
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00:05:37,055 --> 00:05:38,613
but no English.
95
00:05:38,723 --> 00:05:40,884
And the English acquired
a new queen.
96
00:05:40,992 --> 00:05:42,550
Eleanor of Aquitaine,
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00:05:42,661 --> 00:05:46,097
the daughter
of William X of Aquitaine.
98
00:05:49,434 --> 00:05:52,232
Henry II was crowned
here in Westminster Abbey
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00:05:52,337 --> 00:05:53,964
in a lavish ceremony.
100
00:05:54,072 --> 00:05:56,666
The clergy wore silk vestments
that were more costly
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00:05:56,775 --> 00:05:58,868
than anything ever seen before
in England.
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--> 00:06:00,569
The king and queen
and the great barons
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00:06:00,679 --> 00:06:02,579
wore silk and brocade robes.
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00:06:02,681 --> 00:06:04,342
The luxury was fitting,
it was thought,
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00:06:04,449 --> 00:06:07,145
for an occasion that solemnised
the bringing together
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00:06:07,252 --> 00:06:09,311
of so much land and wealth.
107
00:06:16,528 --> 00:06:19,497
Henry brought his inheritance
of William the Conqueror's land
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00:06:19,598 --> 00:06:21,293
in England and Northern France.
109
00:06:21,399 --> 00:06:24,163
Eleanor, the greatest heiress
in the Western world,
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00:06:24,269 --> 00:06:27,432
brought with her a great swathe
of what is now France,
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00:06:27,539 --> 00:06:31,100
from the Loire to the Pyrenees,
from the Rhone to the Atlantic.
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00:06:31,209 --> 00:06:34,110
This was a huge kingdom,
the greater part of it
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00:06:34,212 --> 00:06:36,612
made up of French-speaking lands
across the channel.
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00:06:36,715 --> 00:06:37,943
As it grew,
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00:06:38,049 --> 00:06:40,040
the English lands
and the English language
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00:06:40,151 --> 00:06:42,745
became an ever less
significant part of it.
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00:06:42,854 --> 00:06:45,880
French and Latin were even
more firmly entrenched
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00:06:45,991 --> 00:06:48,858
as the languages of the court
and government of the country.
119
00:06:51,963 --> 00:06:53,692
Yet after their coronation,
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00:06:53,798 --> 00:06:57,029
Henry and Eleanor rode
in procession along the Strand,
121
00:06:57,135 --> 00:06:59,467
and it's reported
that the people shouted,
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00:06:59,571 --> 00:07:01,630
"WaesHael" and "Vivat rex,"
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00:07:01,740 --> 00:07:04,675
wishing them long life
in English and in Latin.
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00:07:04,776 --> 00:07:08,212
English was still alive
in the streets.
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00:07:22,260 --> 00:07:24,785
In the court and royal palaces,
126
00:07:24,896 --> 00:07:27,387
new ideas from across
the channel were in the air
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00:07:27,499 --> 00:07:29,228
and new words to express them,
128
00:07:29,334 --> 00:07:32,633
words which sang
of courtesy and honour,
129
00:07:32,737 --> 00:07:34,568
questing and damsels,
130
00:07:34,673 --> 00:07:36,732
jousting and tournaments.
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00:07:36,841 --> 00:07:39,503
French words, every one.
132
00:07:39,611 --> 00:07:44,071
The vocabulary of romance and
chivalry was heard in England.
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[Singing in French]
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00:08:19,718 --> 00:08:21,583
BRAGG:
Eleanor, England's new queen,
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00:08:21,686 --> 00:08:24,985
was considered the most
cultured woman in Europe.
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00:08:25,590 --> 00:08:27,524
It was she, more than any other,
137
00:08:27,625 --> 00:08:29,820
who patronised the poets
and troubadours
138
00:08:29,928 --> 00:08:32,123
whose verses and songs created
the romantic image
139
00:08:32,230 --> 00:08:35,097
of the Middle Ages
as the age of chivalry,
140
00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:37,327
a glorious vision
that was never realised
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00:08:37,435 --> 00:08:41,565
outside the pages
of medieval literature.
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00:08:44,009 --> 00:08:45,408
1 00 years before,
143
00:08:45,510 --> 00:08:46,704
the word "chevalerie",
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00:08:46,811 --> 00:08:48,608
formed round the word
for "horse",
145
00:08:48,713 --> 00:08:50,544
had simply meant "cavalry".
146
00:08:50,648 --> 00:08:53,640
It was the fierceness
of the mounted warriors
147
00:08:53,752 --> 00:08:56,220
that had carried the day
for the Normans at Hastings,
148
00:08:56,321 --> 00:08:58,448
and, since then,
many English peasants
149
00:08:58,556 --> 00:09:00,490
had come to know
the mounted Norman soldiers
150
00:09:00,592 --> 00:09:02,150
as little more than thugs
and bullies
151
00:09:02,260 --> 00:09:04,990
who ran the country by force.
152
00:09:15,473 --> 00:09:18,271
But now mounted warriors
had become knights
153
00:09:18,376 --> 00:09:20,037
and the word "chivalry"
came to mean
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00:09:20,145 --> 00:09:23,308
a whole model
of ideals and behaviour,
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00:09:23,415 --> 00:09:27,112
infused
with honour and altruism;
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00:09:27,218 --> 00:09:30,415
one that prescribed how to act
towards one's leige lord,
157
00:09:30,522 --> 00:09:31,853
one's friends and enemies,
158
00:09:31,956 --> 00:09:35,790
and, of course,
fair, cruel ladies.
159
00:09:35,894 --> 00:09:39,421
Ideas had shifted
and words with them.
160
00:09:47,072 --> 00:09:48,630
It was in Eleanor's reign
161
00:09:48,740 --> 00:09:50,537
that French writers
brought the stories
162
00:09:50,642 --> 00:09:51,904
of Arthur and his knights
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00:09:52,010 --> 00:09:53,841
out of the history books
and into poetry,
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00:09:53,945 --> 00:09:57,073
cultivating a language
far richer and subtler
165
00:09:57,182 --> 00:09:59,082
than the one
that the first Norman settlers
166
00:09:59,184 --> 00:10:00,446
had spoken and written.
167
00:10:00,552 --> 00:10:02,543
The poets rhapsodised
about Eleanor,
168
00:10:02,654 --> 00:10:05,452
celebrating her as the most
beautiful woman in the world,
169
00:10:05,557 --> 00:10:08,424
pouring out the impossible
longing for the perfect woman
170
00:10:08,526 --> 00:10:11,461
that was at the heart
of the cult of courtly love.
171
00:10:13,531 --> 00:10:16,523
The poetry of affairs of
the heart had come to England,
172
00:10:16,634 --> 00:10:18,499
singing of pain and joy,
173
00:10:18,603 --> 00:10:20,400
and beginning a line
in literature
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00:10:20,505 --> 00:10:22,132
that runs
through Shakespeare's sonnets
175
00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:23,707
and the great Romantic poets
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00:10:23,808 --> 00:10:26,333
to today's
three-minute pop lyrics.
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00:10:26,444 --> 00:10:33,373
# Oh, my love #
178
00:10:33,485 --> 00:10:37,080
# My darling #
179
00:10:37,188 --> 00:10:39,122
# I've hungered #
180
00:10:39,224 --> 00:10:44,355
# Hungered for your touch #
181
00:10:44,462 --> 00:10:52,426
# A long, lonely time #
182
00:10:53,738 --> 00:10:55,763
BRAGG:
Shit!
183
00:10:57,175 --> 00:11:00,110
[Oinking]
184
00:11:02,947 --> 00:11:05,211
Meanwhile,
England's native inhabitants
185
00:11:05,316 --> 00:11:06,647
were singing their own songs
186
00:11:06,751 --> 00:11:08,844
about things in their
less exalted condition,
187
00:11:08,953 --> 00:11:10,921
things that concerned them
every day.
188
00:11:11,022 --> 00:11:15,049
They sang in their own language,
English.
189
00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:18,527
[Man singing in Old English]
190
00:11:42,854 --> 00:11:47,188
# Sumer is icumin in
lhude sing, cuccu #
191
00:11:47,292 --> 00:11:51,626
# Groweth sed and bloweth med
and springth the wude nu #
192
00:11:51,729 --> 00:11:53,822
# Sing, cuccu #
193
00:11:53,932 --> 00:11:58,426
# Awe bleteth after lomb,
lhowth after calve cu #
194
00:11:58,536 --> 00:12:00,766
BRAGG: That song
was first recorded in 1 225,
195
00:12:00,872 --> 00:12:03,033
making it one of
the earliest pieces of English
196
00:12:03,141 --> 00:12:04,938
that's still recognisable today.
197
00:12:05,043 --> 00:12:07,341
There's not a single French word
in it.
198
00:12:07,445 --> 00:12:11,506
Words like "summer", "come",
"sow", "seed", and "new"
199
00:12:11,616 --> 00:12:13,846
can be traced right back
to the flat lands of Frisia.
200
00:12:13,952 --> 00:12:15,715
"Spring" and "wood" can be found
201
00:12:15,820 --> 00:12:17,549
in the Anglo-Saxon poem
"Beowulf".
202
00:12:17,655 --> 00:12:19,680
And "mary", "sing", and "loud"
203
00:12:19,791 --> 00:12:22,453
in the works authorised
by Alfred the Great.
204
00:12:22,560 --> 00:12:25,324
There's a pure line
of Old English vocabulary here
205
00:12:25,430 --> 00:12:28,160
in a song that comes from
the peasants and the land,
206
00:12:28,266 --> 00:12:30,029
at the opposite end
of the social scale
207
00:12:30,134 --> 00:12:31,931
from the troubadours' songs.
208
00:12:32,036 --> 00:12:33,833
The French language
of the grand lords
209
00:12:33,938 --> 00:12:36,498
hasn't penetrated
down to the common people.
210
00:12:41,045 --> 00:12:43,275
Certainly, the native English
and the French overlords
211
00:12:43,381 --> 00:12:44,905
lived very different lives.
212
00:12:45,016 --> 00:12:46,745
William the Conqueror
213
00:12:46,851 --> 00:12:49,149
had introduced the system
of feudalism into England
214
00:12:49,254 --> 00:12:50,414
and, though evolving,
215
00:12:50,521 --> 00:12:53,820
it still defined all economic
and social relations,
216
00:12:53,925 --> 00:12:57,588
expressed in French words
like "villein" and "vassal",
217
00:12:57,695 --> 00:13:00,926
"labourer", "bailiff",
and "factor".
218
00:13:02,967 --> 00:13:06,300
In the country, where 95%
of the population lived,
219
00:13:06,404 --> 00:13:11,205
the English were essentially
serfs, another French word.
220
00:13:11,776 --> 00:13:16,543
Not technically slaves but tied
for life to their lord's estate,
221
00:13:16,648 --> 00:13:17,910
which they worked for him
222
00:13:18,016 --> 00:13:21,816
and, at a subsistence level,
for themselves.
223
00:13:23,821 --> 00:13:25,448
While
the English-speaking peasants
224
00:13:25,556 --> 00:13:27,490
lived in small cottages or huts,
225
00:13:27,592 --> 00:13:28,923
their French-speaking masters
226
00:13:29,027 --> 00:13:32,155
lived privileged lives
in their castles.
227
00:13:32,263 --> 00:13:35,255
Our modern vocabulary
still reflects the distinction
228
00:13:35,366 --> 00:13:37,596
between them.
229
00:13:37,702 --> 00:13:39,863
English speakers tended
the living cattle
230
00:13:39,971 --> 00:13:43,372
which we still call by the Old
English words of ox or cow.
231
00:13:43,474 --> 00:13:45,499
French speakers
ate the prepared meat
232
00:13:45,610 --> 00:13:46,975
which came to the table,
233
00:13:47,078 --> 00:13:49,171
which we call
by the French word, beef.
234
00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:51,908
In the same way, the English
sheep became the French mutton,
235
00:13:52,016 --> 00:13:56,248
calf became veal,
deer, venison, and pig, pork.
236
00:13:57,288 --> 00:14:00,815
English animal,
French meat in every case.
237
00:14:03,194 --> 00:14:07,255
The English laboured.
The French feasted.
238
00:14:13,037 --> 00:14:15,096
Where English underlings
and French masters
239
00:14:15,206 --> 00:14:16,503
lived and worked together,
240
00:14:16,607 --> 00:14:19,906
the boundaries between their
languages inevitably wore away
241
00:14:20,011 --> 00:14:23,003
and the vocabularies of court
and countryside mingled.
242
00:14:25,216 --> 00:14:27,548
For example, local men
would have been involved
243
00:14:27,652 --> 00:14:31,110
in the training and flying
of a nobleman's hawks.
244
00:14:32,290 --> 00:14:36,454
And some now common words
have come to us from falconry.
245
00:14:38,396 --> 00:14:41,797
The word "falcon" itself comes
from French,
246
00:14:41,899 --> 00:14:43,059
as does "leash",
247
00:14:43,167 --> 00:14:44,794
which referred
to the strip of material
248
00:14:44,902 --> 00:14:47,063
used to secure the bird,
249
00:14:47,171 --> 00:14:49,662
and "block",
on which the bird stood.
250
00:14:49,774 --> 00:14:53,301
Our word "codger" comes
from the often elderly man
251
00:14:53,411 --> 00:14:54,503
who assisted the falconer
252
00:14:54,612 --> 00:14:57,137
by carrying the hawks on a cadge
or cage.
253
00:14:57,248 --> 00:14:58,977
"Bate" described the bird
254
00:14:59,083 --> 00:15:01,813
beating its wings
and trying to fly away.
255
00:15:01,919 --> 00:15:06,049
"Check" meant at first refusing
to come to the fist.
256
00:15:19,704 --> 00:15:21,899
Our word "lure" comes
from the leather device
257
00:15:22,006 --> 00:15:24,998
still used in training
and recalling the hawk.
258
00:15:33,117 --> 00:15:37,577
"Quarry" was the reward given
to the falcon for making a kill.
259
00:15:40,992 --> 00:15:43,324
When a bird moulted,
she was said to mew,
260
00:15:43,428 --> 00:15:45,487
and from that,
came the name of the buildings
261
00:15:45,596 --> 00:15:47,359
where hawks were kept, mews.
262
00:15:49,634 --> 00:15:52,831
Today, that name can still be
seen attached to streets
263
00:15:52,937 --> 00:15:56,703
where estate agents rather
than hawks hunt their quarry.
264
00:15:59,410 --> 00:16:01,435
We've just heard
nine French words
265
00:16:01,546 --> 00:16:04,913
that came into English
from one activity alone.
266
00:16:05,016 --> 00:16:08,611
Steadily, French vocabulary
was pouring over English.
267
00:16:08,719 --> 00:16:11,210
The French influence on the
English language as a whole
268
00:16:11,322 --> 00:16:14,223
is enormous
in terms of vocabulary,
269
00:16:14,325 --> 00:16:16,054
not in terms of grammar,
270
00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:19,357
but in terms of vocabulary, it's
unmatched by any other language.
271
00:16:19,464 --> 00:16:23,628
For example, "fruit" replaces
the Old English "waestm".
272
00:16:23,734 --> 00:16:26,931
Pretty quickly, within the space
of about 40 or 50 years,
273
00:16:27,038 --> 00:16:29,131
"waestm" simply isn't used.
274
00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:32,004
But the majority of words
don't replace Old English.
275
00:16:32,109 --> 00:16:34,441
They stand side by side
with them.
276
00:16:34,545 --> 00:16:37,605
So we have a word like "apple"
in Old English,
277
00:16:37,715 --> 00:16:39,740
meant any kind of fruit,
278
00:16:39,851 --> 00:16:41,250
whereas what happens is,
279
00:16:41,352 --> 00:16:44,685
because "fruit" comes in
and basically expresses that,
280
00:16:44,789 --> 00:16:49,123
"apple" starts to mean
a very specific sort of a fruit.
281
00:16:49,994 --> 00:16:53,395
I think it's not true to say
that, generally speaking,
282
00:16:53,498 --> 00:16:55,363
French words came
into the language
283
00:16:55,466 --> 00:16:57,798
and ousted the Old English words
out of it.
284
00:16:57,902 --> 00:16:59,164
Generally, what seems to happen
285
00:16:59,270 --> 00:17:02,433
is that the Old English word
simply narrows in meaning.
286
00:17:15,219 --> 00:17:18,848
BRAGG: It was now almost 1 50
years since the Norman Conquest.
287
00:17:18,956 --> 00:17:21,220
Though the people at the top
had changed,
288
00:17:21,325 --> 00:17:24,988
the ascendancy of French
was still absolute.
289
00:17:25,096 --> 00:17:27,394
Written English,
that triumphant achievement
290
00:17:27,498 --> 00:17:30,365
of Alfred and English scholars,
was dead,
291
00:17:30,468 --> 00:17:33,266
and spoken English was being
progressively colonised
292
00:17:33,371 --> 00:17:35,965
throughout society
by French words.
293
00:17:36,073 --> 00:17:39,065
But the balance of power
and of languages
294
00:17:39,176 --> 00:17:41,770
was about to shift.
295
00:18:02,199 --> 00:18:05,032
Of course, early 1 3th century
English society
296
00:18:05,136 --> 00:18:07,832
consisted of more than English
peasants grubbing the land
297
00:18:07,939 --> 00:18:11,773
and French-speaking nobility
lording it in their castles.
298
00:18:11,876 --> 00:18:14,071
Trade was on the increase.
299
00:18:14,178 --> 00:18:18,274
The wool trade in particular
made parts of England rich.
300
00:18:19,684 --> 00:18:22,244
On the proceeds,
grand churches were built
301
00:18:22,353 --> 00:18:24,947
even in modest villages
like this
one at Northleach
302
00:18:25,056 --> 00:18:26,956
in the Cotswolds.
303
00:18:27,058 --> 00:18:31,427
Services would, of course,
be conducted in Latin.
304
00:18:31,529 --> 00:18:34,089
[Choir singing in Latin]
305
00:18:47,378 --> 00:18:48,675
Towns were growing,
306
00:18:48,779 --> 00:18:51,270
sometimes French and English
towns together
307
00:18:51,382 --> 00:18:53,680
as at Norwich and Nottingham.
308
00:18:53,784 --> 00:18:56,412
Then, as now,
London was the magnet.
309
00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:57,885
Its population would double
310
00:18:57,989 --> 00:18:59,718
in the course
of the 1 3th century.
311
00:18:59,824 --> 00:19:01,951
As feudalism loosened its grip,
312
00:19:02,059 --> 00:19:04,857
English speakers would flood in
from the country
313
00:19:04,962 --> 00:19:08,864
Iooking for opportunities,
a better life.
314
00:19:14,438 --> 00:19:16,167
Already established
315
00:19:16,273 --> 00:19:18,764
were the French-speaking
court officials, administrators,
316
00:19:18,876 --> 00:19:20,138
lawyers, and merchants,
317
00:19:20,244 --> 00:19:22,804
but also craftsmen
who gave us the French names
318
00:19:22,913 --> 00:19:25,279
for some tools of the trade.
319
00:19:25,383 --> 00:19:29,012
Measure, mallet, chisel,
320
00:19:29,120 --> 00:19:33,147
pulley, bucket, trowel.
321
00:19:42,366 --> 00:19:44,095
This is Petty France in London.
322
00:19:44,201 --> 00:19:46,635
Its name shows
that it originally housed
323
00:19:46,737 --> 00:19:48,500
a community
of French immigrants.
324
00:19:48,606 --> 00:19:49,698
In the early Middle Ages,
325
00:19:49,807 --> 00:19:51,866
there were areas like this
in many English towns,
326
00:19:51,976 --> 00:19:55,070
home to craftsmen and merchants
who had come here from Normandy.
327
00:19:55,179 --> 00:19:58,171
English and French speakers
met and mingled in these places,
328
00:19:58,282 --> 00:19:59,772
and the English middle classes
329
00:19:59,884 --> 00:20:02,910
picked up French words
by the thousand.
330
00:20:03,020 --> 00:20:06,046
Merchant, money,
331
00:20:06,157 --> 00:20:08,455
price, discount,
332
00:20:08,559 --> 00:20:10,584
bargain, contract,
333
00:20:10,695 --> 00:20:13,357
partner, embezzle.
334
00:20:13,464 --> 00:20:17,059
The English didn't just borrow
French vocabulary.
335
00:20:17,168 --> 00:20:18,692
They took their names.
336
00:20:18,803 --> 00:20:21,033
Then, as now,
names were a matter of fashion
337
00:20:21,138 --> 00:20:24,505
and the fashion in the early
1 3th century was for French.
338
00:20:24,608 --> 00:20:26,439
So out went the good Old English
339
00:20:26,544 --> 00:20:29,069
Ethelberts,
Aelfrics and Athelstanes,
340
00:20:29,180 --> 00:20:31,375
Dunstans, Wulfstanes,
and Wulfrics,
341
00:20:31,482 --> 00:20:33,780
and in came the new-fangled
Richards and Roberts,
342
00:20:33,884 --> 00:20:36,546
Simons and Stephens,
Johns, Jeffreys,
343
00:20:36,654 --> 00:20:39,122
and, most popular of all,
Williams.
344
00:20:39,223 --> 00:20:43,717
It seemed that everywhere
French was the name of the game.
345
00:20:44,695 --> 00:20:46,253
If this process had continued
346
00:20:46,363 --> 00:20:48,490
whereby French percolated
and penetrated
347
00:20:48,599 --> 00:20:50,692
into every area
of English society,
348
00:20:50,801 --> 00:20:53,964
then French could eventually
have engulfed English.
349
00:20:54,071 --> 00:20:55,470
That didn't happen.
350
00:20:55,573 --> 00:20:57,040
Why not?
351
00:20:57,141 --> 00:20:58,802
One critical reason was that,
352
00:20:58,909 --> 00:21:01,070
because of particular
historical events,
353
00:21:01,178 --> 00:21:02,338
French speakers in England
354
00:21:02,446 --> 00:21:05,745
became cut off from their
cultural and linguistic roots.
355
00:21:08,652 --> 00:21:11,018
In 1 204,
the reigning monarch, John,
356
00:21:11,122 --> 00:21:13,283
king of Normandy, Aquitaine,
and England,
357
00:21:13,390 --> 00:21:14,948
Iost his Norman lands
358
00:21:15,059 --> 00:21:17,755
in a war with the much
smaller kingdom of France.
359
00:21:17,862 --> 00:21:19,591
The Norman dukedoms,
360
00:21:19,697 --> 00:21:21,494
ancestral lands
of William the Conqueror
361
00:21:21,599 --> 00:21:22,930
and cultural homelands,
362
00:21:23,033 --> 00:21:26,127
were part of another empire now.
363
00:21:27,304 --> 00:21:28,794
As long as the French nobility
364
00:21:28,906 --> 00:21:30,498
and middle classes
who lived in England
365
00:21:30,608 --> 00:21:33,270
kept contact with their
homelands in Normandy,
366
00:21:33,377 --> 00:21:35,277
as long as they thought
of themselves as French
367
00:21:35,379 --> 00:21:37,347
and married
within French families,
368
00:21:37,448 --> 00:21:39,973
their identity and language
were secure.
369
00:21:40,084 --> 00:21:42,644
When they lost their connections
across the channel,
370
00:21:42,753 --> 00:21:46,052
their language began to lose
its grip on English.
371
00:21:50,861 --> 00:21:53,728
One thing that happened
was that French speakers,
372
00:21:53,831 --> 00:21:55,594
even within
the noblest families,
373
00:21:55,699 --> 00:21:58,497
began to look for wives
not from across the channel
374
00:21:58,602 --> 00:22:00,160
but in England.
375
00:22:00,271 --> 00:22:02,330
They married English speakers,
376
00:22:02,439 --> 00:22:05,067
and in doing so,
they married, as it were,
377
00:22:05,176 --> 00:22:08,111
into the English language
as well.
378
00:22:14,485 --> 00:22:16,646
It's said that the hand
that rocks the cradle
379
00:22:16,754 --> 00:22:18,813
rules the world.
380
00:22:19,390 --> 00:22:22,359
It's likely that by
the middle of the 1 3th century,
381
00:22:22,459 --> 00:22:24,051
many children in families
382
00:22:24,161 --> 00:22:26,288
which would previously
have been French-speaking
383
00:22:26,397 --> 00:22:30,891
were learning English
from their mothers or nurses.
384
00:22:31,001 --> 00:22:34,232
[Singing in Old English]
385
00:23:09,006 --> 00:23:10,371
BRAGG:
No doubt many of the children
386
00:23:10,474 --> 00:23:12,840
of Anglo-French marriages
grew up bilingual,
387
00:23:12,943 --> 00:23:14,740
perhaps speaking one language
to the servants
388
00:23:14,845 --> 00:23:15,869
in the castle kitchen
389
00:23:15,980 --> 00:23:19,416
and another at dinner
in the great hall.
390
00:23:22,353 --> 00:23:24,184
By 1 250,
there's even some evidence
391
00:23:24,288 --> 00:23:25,585
that children of the nobility
392
00:23:25,689 --> 00:23:28,556
were having to learn French
from a written primer,
393
00:23:28,659 --> 00:23:30,092
grappling with the vocabulary
394
00:23:30,194 --> 00:23:34,756
of what was becoming effectively
a foreign language.
395
00:23:34,865 --> 00:23:36,526
By the middle
of the 1 3th century,
396
00:23:36,634 --> 00:23:39,034
more and more French speakers
throughout society
397
00:23:39,136 --> 00:23:41,263
were themselves beginning
to speak English,
398
00:23:41,372 --> 00:23:42,896
becoming bilingual.
399
00:23:43,007 --> 00:23:44,304
The result was that,
400
00:23:44,408 --> 00:23:47,138
while French itself became
more of a foreign language,
401
00:23:47,244 --> 00:23:49,542
French vocabulary, French words,
402
00:23:49,647 --> 00:23:51,774
continued to stream
into English.
403
00:23:51,882 --> 00:23:55,682
Many more words are recorded
after 1 250 than before.
404
00:23:55,786 --> 00:23:59,017
Abbey, attire, censer, defend,
405
00:23:59,123 --> 00:24:02,456
figure, malady, music, parson,
406
00:24:02,559 --> 00:24:05,892
plead, sacrifice, scarlet,
spy,
407
00:24:05,996 --> 00:24:09,193
stable, virtue, marshal, park,
408
00:24:09,300 --> 00:24:12,269
reign, beauty, clergy, cloak,
409
00:24:12,369 --> 00:24:16,305
country, fool, heir, pillory.
410
00:24:17,041 --> 00:24:20,067
And because French was the
international language of trade,
411
00:24:20,177 --> 00:24:23,772
it acted as a conduit for words
from the markets of the East,
412
00:24:23,881 --> 00:24:26,748
Arabic words
that gave to the English
413
00:24:26,850 --> 00:24:29,910
saffron, mattress,
414
00:24:30,020 --> 00:24:33,080
hazard, camphor,
415
00:24:33,190 --> 00:24:35,715
alchemy, lute,
416
00:24:35,826 --> 00:24:39,318
amber, and syrup.
417
00:24:40,230 --> 00:24:42,858
Our phrase "checkmate" comes,
through French,
418
00:24:42,967 --> 00:24:47,301
from the Arab "shah mat",
"The king is dead."
419
00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:51,237
As we've heard, very often,
420
00:24:51,342 --> 00:24:53,833
the imports didn't replace
existing English words,
421
00:24:53,944 --> 00:24:55,343
but settled down with them,
422
00:24:55,446 --> 00:24:58,210
each word adopting
a slightly different meaning.
423
00:24:58,315 --> 00:25:01,045
The same thing had happened
with English and Old Norse,
424
00:25:01,151 --> 00:25:02,641
this layering effect.
425
00:25:02,753 --> 00:25:04,653
So, a young English hare
426
00:25:04,755 --> 00:25:07,315
came to be named
by the French word "leveret".
427
00:25:07,424 --> 00:25:10,120
English, swan.
French, cygnet.
428
00:25:10,227 --> 00:25:13,162
A small English axe
is a French hatchet.
429
00:25:13,263 --> 00:25:16,061
"Ask", English,
and "demand", from French,
430
00:25:16,166 --> 00:25:17,827
have slightly
different meanings,
431
00:25:17,935 --> 00:25:21,427
as do "bit" and "morsel",
"wish" and "desire",
432
00:25:21,538 --> 00:25:25,099
"might" and "power",
"room" and "chamber".
433
00:25:25,209 --> 00:25:27,302
On the surface,
some of these words
434
00:25:27,411 --> 00:25:28,673
appear to be interchangeable,
435
00:25:28,779 --> 00:25:29,803
and sometimes they are.
436
00:25:29,913 --> 00:25:32,780
But more interestingly,
there are fine differences.
437
00:25:32,883 --> 00:25:34,043
That's the beauty of it.
438
00:25:34,151 --> 00:25:36,585
"Answer" is not quite "respond".
439
00:25:36,687 --> 00:25:39,087
"Begin" isn't always "commence".
440
00:25:39,189 --> 00:25:41,453
"Liberty"
isn't always "freedom".
441
00:25:41,558 --> 00:25:44,891
Shades of meaning, representing
new shades of thought,
442
00:25:44,995 --> 00:25:48,487
were massively absorbed
into our language at that time.
443
00:25:48,599 --> 00:25:51,363
The range of what I would call
"almost synonyms"
444
00:25:51,468 --> 00:25:53,436
became one of the glories
of English,
445
00:25:53,537 --> 00:25:56,563
contributing to the language's
precision and flexibility,
446
00:25:56,673 --> 00:25:59,073
allowing its speakers
and writers over the centuries
447
00:25:59,176 --> 00:26:02,373
to select, very precisely,
the right word.
448
00:26:02,479 --> 00:26:04,470
Rather than replace English,
449
00:26:04,581 --> 00:26:07,243
French was helping equip
and enrich the language
450
00:26:07,351 --> 00:26:11,219
for the central role that it was
on its way to reassuming.
451
00:26:19,463 --> 00:26:21,397
Towards the end
of the 1 3th century,
452
00:26:21,498 --> 00:26:24,695
a new idea of the English people
was being born.
453
00:26:24,802 --> 00:26:26,702
The Norman lands
across the channel
454
00:26:26,804 --> 00:26:28,362
were a foreign country now.
455
00:26:28,472 --> 00:26:30,235
Even the families
who traced their roots
456
00:26:30,340 --> 00:26:32,240
back to William the Conqueror's
Norman followers,
457
00:26:32,342 --> 00:26:34,503
men with French names
and French blood,
458
00:26:34,611 --> 00:26:37,910
started calling themselves
true-born Englishmen.
459
00:26:38,015 --> 00:26:42,452
Behind me is the tomb
of Edward I.
460
00:26:42,553 --> 00:26:45,579
"The Hammer of the Scots,"
it says there in Latin.
461
00:26:45,689 --> 00:26:48,920
Latin was the language
of official business,
462
00:26:49,026 --> 00:26:50,493
but when the French king Philip
463
00:26:50,594 --> 00:26:53,028
threatened invasion of England
in 1 295,
464
00:26:53,130 --> 00:26:55,189
Edward used the English language
465
00:26:55,299 --> 00:26:59,167
as a symbol of nationhood
to galvanise support.
466
00:26:59,269 --> 00:27:02,102
"If Philip is able to do
all the evil he means to,
467
00:27:02,206 --> 00:27:03,503
from which God protect us,
468
00:27:03,607 --> 00:27:06,075
he plans to wipe out
our English language
469
00:27:06,176 --> 00:27:08,440
entirely from the Earth,"
he said.
470
00:27:08,545 --> 00:27:10,410
The old language, reborn,
471
00:27:10,514 --> 00:27:14,314
could now be a rallying point
for a new mongrel people.
472
00:27:14,418 --> 00:27:16,477
The invasion never came.
473
00:27:16,587 --> 00:27:18,612
And though Edward made
the English language
474
00:27:18,722 --> 00:27:19,882
a symbol for the country,
475
00:27:19,990 --> 00:27:22,424
he didn't elevate it
to official use.
476
00:27:22,526 --> 00:27:25,962
Latin and French were still
the languages of state affairs.
477
00:27:29,066 --> 00:27:32,058
It was Edward's direct ancestor,
William the Conqueror,
478
00:27:32,169 --> 00:27:33,864
who, more than
two centuries before,
479
00:27:33,971 --> 00:27:35,768
had enshrined Latin and French
480
00:27:35,873 --> 00:27:37,534
as the written languages
of state,
481
00:27:37,641 --> 00:27:40,610
banishing English.
482
00:27:44,148 --> 00:27:46,912
But as the 1 3th century gave way
to the 1 4th,
483
00:27:47,017 --> 00:27:49,747
English was becoming the one
language out of the three
484
00:27:49,853 --> 00:27:53,152
that everyone in the country
could be counted on to know.
485
00:27:53,257 --> 00:27:55,282
In 1 325, for instance,
486
00:27:55,392 --> 00:27:59,351
the chronicler William
of Nassyngton could write...
487
00:27:59,463 --> 00:28:01,897
MAN: Latin can no-one speak,
I trow
488
00:28:01,999 --> 00:28:04,263
But those who it from school
do know
489
00:28:04,368 --> 00:28:06,928
And some know French,
but not Latin
490
00:28:07,037 --> 00:28:09,597
Who're used to court
and dwell therein
491
00:28:09,706 --> 00:28:12,641
And some know Latin,
though just in part
492
00:28:12,743 --> 00:28:15,234
Whose use of French
is less than art
493
00:28:15,345 --> 00:28:17,711
And some can understand English
494
00:28:17,814 --> 00:28:20,408
Who neither Latin know,
nor French
495
00:28:20,517 --> 00:28:24,453
But unlettered or learned,
old or young
496
00:28:24,555 --> 00:28:28,321
All understand
the English tongue.
497
00:28:28,425 --> 00:28:31,394
[Man singing in Old English]
498
00:28:38,702 --> 00:28:39,896
BRAGG:
And around the country,
499
00:28:40,003 --> 00:28:43,439
written English was emerging
from the shadows.
500
00:28:44,208 --> 00:28:46,836
Songs in the French troubadour
style but with English words
501
00:28:46,944 --> 00:28:48,104
appeared,
502
00:28:48,212 --> 00:28:51,181
as did a few vernacular poems.
503
00:28:52,783 --> 00:28:55,718
In some places, the Old English
religious homilies
504
00:28:55,819 --> 00:28:59,311
had continued to be copied
and circulated.
505
00:29:01,858 --> 00:29:05,055
The bestiary, in which birds
and animals were portrayed
506
00:29:05,162 --> 00:29:06,561
and their behaviour
made the basis
507
00:29:06,663 --> 00:29:08,358
for lessons
in Christian morality,
508
00:29:08,465 --> 00:29:11,593
was a particular medieval
form.
509
00:29:11,702 --> 00:29:15,001
They were usually written,
as here, in Latin,
510
00:29:15,105 --> 00:29:18,165
but in a late 1 3th century
example,
511
00:29:18,275 --> 00:29:21,836
the text is not in Latin
but in English.
512
00:29:21,945 --> 00:29:24,971
MAN: The wild deer
has two properties.
513
00:29:25,082 --> 00:29:28,518
He draws out the viper
from the stone with his nose
514
00:29:28,619 --> 00:29:29,916
and swallows it.
515
00:29:30,020 --> 00:29:32,818
The venom causes the deer
to burn.
516
00:29:32,923 --> 00:29:35,289
Then he rushes to the water
and drinks...
517
00:29:35,392 --> 00:29:37,758
The devil is like the whale.
518
00:29:37,861 --> 00:29:41,160
He tempts men to follow
their sinful lusts,
519
00:29:41,265 --> 00:29:44,098
and, in return, they find ruin.
520
00:29:44,201 --> 00:29:45,828
It is the weak in faith,
521
00:29:45,936 --> 00:29:48,632
the little ones
that he thus beguiles.
522
00:29:48,739 --> 00:29:50,138
BRAGG:
And it was an animal which,
523
00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:52,936
in just a few years' time,
would, by a cruel twist of fate,
524
00:29:53,043 --> 00:29:55,477
give English
its greatest boost yet.
525
00:29:55,579 --> 00:29:59,208
A small, black rodent
with a Latin name.
526
00:30:02,953 --> 00:30:06,286
Rattus rattus.
The black rat.
527
00:30:09,459 --> 00:30:13,725
In 1 348, ancestors of these
black rats deserted a ship
528
00:30:13,830 --> 00:30:17,664
that, coming from the Continent,
had docked near Weymouth.
529
00:30:19,202 --> 00:30:21,033
They carried a deadly cargo,
530
00:30:21,138 --> 00:30:24,835
a germ that modern science calls
pasteurella pestis,
531
00:30:24,941 --> 00:30:27,967
that the 1 4th century named
the Great Pestilence,
532
00:30:28,078 --> 00:30:30,512
and that we know
as the Black Death.
533
00:30:31,515 --> 00:30:34,382
Plague had come to Britain.
534
00:30:35,352 --> 00:30:39,618
Infected rats carried the deadly
germ east, then north.
535
00:30:39,723 --> 00:30:41,850
They sought out
human habitations,
536
00:30:41,958 --> 00:30:43,425
building nests in the floors,
537
00:30:43,527 --> 00:30:45,586
climbing
the wattle-and-daub walls,
538
00:30:45,696 --> 00:30:48,130
shedding the infected fleas
that fed on their blood,
539
00:30:48,231 --> 00:30:51,166
and transmitted bubonic plague.
540
00:30:58,141 --> 00:31:00,769
It's been estimated that
between a quarter and a third
541
00:31:00,877 --> 00:31:04,472
of England's population
of 4 million died.
542
00:31:10,153 --> 00:31:14,214
In some places, whole
communities were wiped out.
543
00:31:26,670 --> 00:31:28,968
This is Ashwell
in Hertfordshire.
544
00:31:29,072 --> 00:31:32,235
In the bell tower of the church,
some desperate soul,
545
00:31:32,342 --> 00:31:33,832
perhaps the parish priest,
546
00:31:33,944 --> 00:31:37,880
scratched a poignant record
on the wall in bad Latin.
547
00:31:40,650 --> 00:31:44,984
MAN: The first pestilence
was in 1 350, minus one.
548
00:31:45,088 --> 00:31:49,320
1 350.
Pitiless, wild, violent.
549
00:31:49,426 --> 00:31:54,329
Only the dregs of the people
live to tell the tale.
550
00:31:55,565 --> 00:31:58,796
"The dregs" were those of
the English-speaking peasantry
551
00:31:58,902 --> 00:32:00,062
who had survived.
552
00:32:00,170 --> 00:32:02,900
Though the Black Death
was a human catastrophe,
553
00:32:03,006 --> 00:32:05,304
it set in train a series
of social upheavals
554
00:32:05,409 --> 00:32:07,377
which would speed
the English language
555
00:32:07,477 --> 00:32:08,967
along the road
to full restoration
556
00:32:09,079 --> 00:32:12,139
as the real and recognised
language of the nation.
557
00:32:12,249 --> 00:32:16,015
[Choir singing]
558
00:32:20,657 --> 00:32:22,955
For one thing,
the Black Death dealt Latin,
559
00:32:23,059 --> 00:32:25,823
the language of the church,
a body blow.
560
00:32:27,597 --> 00:32:29,258
Where people lived communally,
561
00:32:29,366 --> 00:32:32,335
as the clergy did in monasteries
and other religious orders,
562
00:32:32,436 --> 00:32:33,926
the incidence of infection
and death
563
00:32:34,037 --> 00:32:35,902
was disproportionately high.
564
00:32:36,006 --> 00:32:38,600
At a local level,
565
00:32:38,708 --> 00:32:40,608
many parish priests
either caught the plague
566
00:32:40,710 --> 00:32:42,007
from tending their parishioners
567
00:32:42,112 --> 00:32:44,080
or simply ran away.
568
00:32:46,583 --> 00:32:47,982
As a result of the plague,
569
00:32:48,084 --> 00:32:50,575
the Latin-speaking clergy
in some parts of England
570
00:32:50,687 --> 00:32:53,656
were reduced by almost a half.
571
00:32:55,559 --> 00:32:58,460
Many of their replacements
were barely literate laymen
572
00:32:58,562 --> 00:33:01,588
whose only language was English.
573
00:33:26,756 --> 00:33:30,624
England after the Black Death
was a very different place.
574
00:33:30,727 --> 00:33:32,285
In many parts of the country,
575
00:33:32,395 --> 00:33:34,454
there was hardly anyone left
to work the land
576
00:33:34,564 --> 00:33:35,997
or tend the livestock.
577
00:33:36,099 --> 00:33:38,192
The acute shortage of labour
578
00:33:38,301 --> 00:33:40,064
meant that those
who did the work
579
00:33:40,170 --> 00:33:42,365
had the power to break
from their feudal past
580
00:33:42,472 --> 00:33:45,703
and demand better conditions,
higher wages.
581
00:33:47,944 --> 00:33:49,707
Times were changing.
582
00:34:01,057 --> 00:34:02,354
Wages rose.
583
00:34:02,459 --> 00:34:04,427
The price of property fell.
584
00:34:04,528 --> 00:34:06,689
Working people
seized the opportunities
585
00:34:06,796 --> 00:34:09,026
they'd never had before.
586
00:34:09,566 --> 00:34:12,330
The fortunes of the common
people were changing.
587
00:34:12,435 --> 00:34:14,596
They were rising
through society,
588
00:34:14,704 --> 00:34:17,502
and they took their English
with them.
589
00:34:19,442 --> 00:34:23,003
By 1 385, English had replaced
French in the schoolroom,
590
00:34:23,113 --> 00:34:25,013
and as education and literacy
spread,
591
00:34:25,115 --> 00:34:27,379
so did the demand for books
in English.
592
00:34:27,484 --> 00:34:29,645
And English
was already finding a place
593
00:34:29,753 --> 00:34:31,744
in the state and in the law.
594
00:34:34,124 --> 00:34:37,116
In 1 362, for the first time
in three centuries,
595
00:34:37,227 --> 00:34:40,253
English was acknowledged as
a language of official business.
596
00:34:40,363 --> 00:34:44,891
Since the conquest, court cases
had been heard in French.
597
00:34:45,001 --> 00:34:46,525
Now the law recognised
598
00:34:46,636 --> 00:34:48,627
that too few people understood
that language,
599
00:34:48,738 --> 00:34:50,831
probably because many
of the educated lawyers
600
00:34:50,941 --> 00:34:52,374
had died in the plague.
601
00:34:52,475 --> 00:34:53,965
From now on, it was declared,
602
00:34:54,077 --> 00:34:56,511
cases could be pleaded,
showed, defended,
603
00:34:56,613 --> 00:34:58,979
debated, and judged in English.
604
00:34:59,082 --> 00:35:01,243
In the same year, 1 362,
605
00:35:01,351 --> 00:35:03,876
Parliament was opened
here at Westminster.
606
00:35:03,987 --> 00:35:05,386
For the first time ever,
607
00:35:05,488 --> 00:35:08,048
the chancellor addressed
the assembly not in French,
608
00:35:08,158 --> 00:35:09,420
but in English.
609
00:35:09,526 --> 00:35:12,620
MAN: For the worship
and honour of God,
610
00:35:12,729 --> 00:35:17,098
King Edward had summoned his
prolates, dukes, earls, barons,
611
00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:19,191
and other lords of his realm
612
00:35:19,302 --> 00:35:20,633
to his Parliament,
613
00:35:20,737 --> 00:35:23,865
holden at Westminster
the year of the King...
614
00:35:23,974 --> 00:35:28,809
And soon, English would once
again be the language of kings.
615
00:35:28,912 --> 00:35:31,073
The country hadn't had
an English-speaking monarch
616
00:35:31,181 --> 00:35:34,810
since Harold had been hacked
to death at Hastings in 1 066.
617
00:35:34,918 --> 00:35:37,887
In 1 399, King Richard II
was deposed
618
00:35:37,988 --> 00:35:39,580
by Henry, Duke of Lancaster.
619
00:35:39,689 --> 00:35:43,250
Parliament was summoned here, to
the Great Hall at Westminster.
620
00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:45,328
The dukes and lords,
spiritual and temporal,
621
00:35:45,428 --> 00:35:46,360
were assembled.
622
00:35:46,463 --> 00:35:49,899
The royal throne, draped
in cloth of gold, stood empty.
623
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:51,365
Then Henry stepped forward,
624
00:35:51,468 --> 00:35:54,266
crossed himself,
and claimed the crown.
625
00:35:54,371 --> 00:35:56,305
And in a great symbolic moment,
626
00:35:56,406 --> 00:35:59,534
he made his speech not in the
Latin language of state business
627
00:35:59,643 --> 00:36:02,043
or the French language
of the royal household
628
00:36:02,145 --> 00:36:05,979
but in what the official history
calls his mother tongue,
629
00:36:06,082 --> 00:36:07,014
English.
630
00:36:07,117 --> 00:36:11,679
In the name of the Fadir,
Son, and Holy Gost,
631
00:36:11,788 --> 00:36:14,416
l, Henry of Lancaster,
632
00:36:14,524 --> 00:36:17,721
chalenge this rewme of Yngland
633
00:36:17,827 --> 00:36:18,953
and the corone
634
00:36:19,062 --> 00:36:22,498
with all the membres
and the appurtenances,
635
00:36:22,599 --> 00:36:27,866
als I that am disendit
be right lyne of the blode
636
00:36:27,971 --> 00:36:31,907
comyng fro the gude lorde
Kyng Henry Therde,
637
00:36:32,008 --> 00:36:37,378
and thorghe that ryght that God
of his grace hath sent me,
638
00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:42,850
with the helpe of my kyn and
of my frendes, to recover it...
639
00:36:42,952 --> 00:36:47,719
the whiche rewme
was in poynt to be undone
640
00:36:47,824 --> 00:36:53,990
for defaut of governance
and undoyng of the gode lawes.
641
00:37:07,343 --> 00:37:09,243
BRAGG: And so Henry,
Duke of Lancaster,
642
00:37:09,345 --> 00:37:10,778
became King Henry IV,
643
00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:13,610
and English was once again
a royal language.
644
00:37:13,717 --> 00:37:16,550
The tide seemed to be turning
in its favour.
645
00:37:16,653 --> 00:37:18,553
By the end of the 1 4th century,
646
00:37:18,655 --> 00:37:20,589
it was on course
to regain its status
647
00:37:20,690 --> 00:37:22,817
as the first language
of the country.
648
00:37:22,926 --> 00:37:24,689
And now it also had
a literary champion
649
00:37:24,794 --> 00:37:26,819
who could harness
its full capabilities
650
00:37:26,930 --> 00:37:28,363
to produce great writing,
651
00:37:28,465 --> 00:37:31,161
Geoffrey Chaucer.
652
00:37:40,076 --> 00:37:42,977
MAN: Whan that Aprill
with his shoures soote
653
00:37:43,079 --> 00:37:45,877
The droghte of March
hath perced to the roote
654
00:37:45,982 --> 00:37:49,179
And bathed every veyne
in swich licour
655
00:37:49,285 --> 00:37:51,776
Of which vertu engendred
is the flour;
656
00:37:51,888 --> 00:37:55,949
Whan Zephirus eek
with his sweete breeth
657
00:37:56,059 --> 00:37:58,755
Inspired hath in every holt
and heeth
658
00:37:58,862 --> 00:38:01,922
The tendre croppes,
and the yonge sonne
659
00:38:02,031 --> 00:38:05,091
Hath in the Ram
his halve cours yronne,
660
00:38:05,201 --> 00:38:07,931
And smale foweles maken melodye
661
00:38:08,037 --> 00:38:10,665
that slepen al the night
with open ye
662
00:38:10,774 --> 00:38:13,538
so priketh hem Nature
in hir corages;
663
00:38:13,643 --> 00:38:18,876
Thanne longen folk
to goon on pilgrimages.
664
00:38:20,350 --> 00:38:22,545
Chaucer wrote those opening,
showery lines
665
00:38:22,652 --> 00:38:23,710
to "The Canterbury Tales"
666
00:38:23,820 --> 00:38:26,311
more than six centuries ago
in 1 38 7.
667
00:38:26,422 --> 00:38:28,617
For millions of people since,
"The Canterbury Tales"
668
00:38:28,725 --> 00:38:31,319
have been the flowering
of the medieval English language
669
00:38:31,427 --> 00:38:34,954
and also a great staging post
for English literature.
670
00:38:40,503 --> 00:38:43,336
Chaucer, pictured here
as one of his own pilgrims,
671
00:38:43,439 --> 00:38:45,066
wasn't the only writer
of his time
672
00:38:45,175 --> 00:38:47,666
and he didn't invent the
language he was working with.
673
00:38:47,777 --> 00:38:51,008
But he, more than any other,
recognised its richness,
674
00:38:51,114 --> 00:38:52,775
the potential
in having at his disposal
675
00:38:52,882 --> 00:38:55,248
vocabularies from high
and low society,
676
00:38:55,351 --> 00:38:56,978
drawn from French
and Old English,
677
00:38:57,086 --> 00:38:59,714
and he worked it to the full.
678
00:39:02,826 --> 00:39:05,226
Chaucer was a Londoner
and an important man,
679
00:39:05,328 --> 00:39:06,955
with connections
to the royal family
680
00:39:07,063 --> 00:39:09,759
and a high position
in the civil service.
681
00:39:10,667 --> 00:39:13,261
He'd travelled widely,
perhaps even been a spy,
682
00:39:13,369 --> 00:39:15,769
and he knew Latin and French.
683
00:39:16,639 --> 00:39:17,867
He might have been expected,
684
00:39:17,974 --> 00:39:19,737
like many other English poets
of the time,
685
00:39:19,843 --> 00:39:21,310
to write
in either of those languages
686
00:39:21,411 --> 00:39:23,311
for an exclusive audience,
687
00:39:23,413 --> 00:39:24,471
but he didn't.
688
00:39:24,581 --> 00:39:26,071
He chose to write in English,
689
00:39:26,182 --> 00:39:29,913
the English
that was spoken in London.
690
00:39:30,019 --> 00:39:33,420
LOWE: Language of London
would have been a huge mixture.
691
00:39:33,523 --> 00:39:36,617
You've got people coming in
from the Central Midlands,
692
00:39:36,726 --> 00:39:37,954
from the Northern Midlands.
693
00:39:38,061 --> 00:39:39,050
From the Northern Midlands,
694
00:39:39,162 --> 00:39:40,993
they'd have been bringing
more Scandinavian terms
695
00:39:41,097 --> 00:39:44,032
because it's an area of strong
Scandinavian settlement,
696
00:39:44,133 --> 00:39:46,658
but we'd have also have heard
French loan words,
697
00:39:46,769 --> 00:39:49,761
which people would have heard
in literature as well.
698
00:39:49,873 --> 00:39:53,775
So it's a vibrant variety
of English.
699
00:39:53,877 --> 00:39:56,141
[Folk music plays]
700
00:40:09,759 --> 00:40:12,660
MAN: Bifil that in that seson
on a day,
701
00:40:12,762 --> 00:40:15,492
In Southwark at the Tabard
as I lay
702
00:40:15,598 --> 00:40:17,293
Redy to wenden on my pilgrymage
703
00:40:17,400 --> 00:40:19,766
To Caunterbury
with ful devout corage,
704
00:40:19,869 --> 00:40:23,327
At nyght was come
into that hostelrye
705
00:40:23,439 --> 00:40:27,375
Wel nyne and twenty
in a compaignye...
706
00:40:28,311 --> 00:40:30,745
This is where the Tabard Inn
used to stand.
707
00:40:30,847 --> 00:40:33,338
Now it's the rather dismal
backyard of Guy's Hospital.
708
00:40:33,449 --> 00:40:35,610
This is where Chaucer's pilgrims
gather
709
00:40:35,718 --> 00:40:38,152
before setting out on
their pilgrimage to Canterbury.
710
00:40:38,254 --> 00:40:39,585
The buildings may have gone,
711
00:40:39,689 --> 00:40:40,986
but
Chaucer's characters,
712
00:40:41,090 --> 00:40:42,887
a cannily constructed
cross-section
713
00:40:42,992 --> 00:40:43,981
of medieval society,
714
00:40:44,093 --> 00:40:46,459
live on in his writing.
715
00:40:50,466 --> 00:40:53,799
MAN: A knyght ther was
and that a worthy man,
716
00:40:53,903 --> 00:40:56,667
that fro the tyme
that he first bigan
717
00:40:56,773 --> 00:40:59,173
To riden out,
he loved chivalrie,
718
00:40:59,275 --> 00:41:00,333
Trouthe and honour...
719
00:41:00,443 --> 00:41:03,378
Ther was also a Nonne,
a Prioresse,
720
00:41:03,479 --> 00:41:06,846
That of hir smylyng
was ful symple and coy;
721
00:41:06,950 --> 00:41:09,817
A Marchant was ther
with a forked berd,
722
00:41:09,919 --> 00:41:12,479
In mottelee,
and hye on horse he sat;
723
00:41:12,588 --> 00:41:16,115
A good Wif was ther
of biside Bathe,
724
00:41:16,225 --> 00:41:20,662
But she was somdel deef,
and that was scathe.
725
00:41:20,763 --> 00:41:26,099
The Millere was a stout carl
for the nones;
726
00:41:26,202 --> 00:41:29,660
Ful byg he was of brawn
and eek of bones.
727
00:41:29,772 --> 00:41:32,297
BRAGG: The pilgrims set off
for Canterbury,
728
00:41:32,408 --> 00:41:34,171
a journey of about three days
then,
729
00:41:34,277 --> 00:41:36,871
and, to pass the time,
they told each other stories.
730
00:41:36,980 --> 00:41:38,470
The stories have a range
of styles,
731
00:41:38,581 --> 00:41:41,311
from serious moral fables
to bawdy farces
732
00:41:41,417 --> 00:41:43,214
with episodes that wouldn't be
out of place
733
00:41:43,319 --> 00:41:44,547
in a "Carry On" film.
734
00:41:44,654 --> 00:41:46,679
What Chaucer did
most brilliantly
735
00:41:46,789 --> 00:41:49,087
was to choose and tailor
his language
736
00:41:49,192 --> 00:41:51,456
to suit every tale
and its teller.
737
00:41:51,561 --> 00:41:53,222
The creation of mood and tone
738
00:41:53,329 --> 00:41:55,763
and the realisation of
characters through the language
739
00:41:55,865 --> 00:41:58,527
is something we expect
of writers today,
740
00:41:58,634 --> 00:41:59,726
so it's difficult to realise
741
00:41:59,836 --> 00:42:01,929
how extraordinary it was
when Chaucer did it.
742
00:42:02,038 --> 00:42:03,300
He showed, he proved,
743
00:42:03,406 --> 00:42:06,637
that reformed English
was fit for great literature,
744
00:42:06,743 --> 00:42:08,506
which gives him a key part
in our story.
745
00:42:08,611 --> 00:42:13,173
This gentil cok hadde
in his governaunce
746
00:42:13,282 --> 00:42:17,719
Sevene hennes, for to doon
al his plesaunce
747
00:42:17,820 --> 00:42:21,722
Whiche were his sustres
and his paramours,
748
00:42:21,824 --> 00:42:24,292
And wonder lyk to him,
as of colours;
749
00:42:24,394 --> 00:42:28,353
Of whiche the faireste hewed
on hir throte
750
00:42:28,464 --> 00:42:31,763
Was cleped fayre damoysele
751
00:42:31,868 --> 00:42:34,462
Pertelote.
752
00:42:34,570 --> 00:42:38,438
Can you tell us
what language is predominating
753
00:42:38,541 --> 00:42:39,940
in this particular passage?
754
00:42:40,043 --> 00:42:42,341
Well, you've got so many
French words, haven't you?
755
00:42:42,445 --> 00:42:43,639
They really hit you
between the eyes.
756
00:42:43,746 --> 00:42:45,611
Even today, I think,
you'd notice them.
757
00:42:45,715 --> 00:42:49,481
"Gouvernance", "plaisance",
"paramour".
758
00:42:49,585 --> 00:42:53,180
In fact, Chaucer
is thought to be the person
759
00:42:53,289 --> 00:42:54,415
who introduced "paramour"
760
00:42:54,524 --> 00:42:56,424
into the English language
himself.
761
00:42:56,526 --> 00:42:59,222
And those words, "plaisance",
"gouvernance",
762
00:42:59,328 --> 00:43:01,455
all appear from about the 1 350s,
763
00:43:01,564 --> 00:43:03,964
so they're quite new at a time
764
00:43:04,067 --> 00:43:06,001
when Chaucer used them
in the "Nun's Priest Tale".
765
00:43:06,102 --> 00:43:08,434
Question is, of course,
"Why is he doing this?"
766
00:43:08,538 --> 00:43:10,301
Well, it's odd really, isn't it,
767
00:43:10,406 --> 00:43:12,374
because this is a story
about chickens.
768
00:43:12,475 --> 00:43:15,239
It's a story about a cock
and his hens,
769
00:43:15,344 --> 00:43:18,006
and you'd have thought that
perhaps a less refined language
770
00:43:18,114 --> 00:43:19,081
might be in order.
771
00:43:19,182 --> 00:43:23,915
But Chaucer is playing with the
whole idea of an exulted style,
772
00:43:24,020 --> 00:43:28,286
and so he's investing
these hens and cocks
773
00:43:28,391 --> 00:43:34,227
with a feeling
of great literary quality.
774
00:43:34,330 --> 00:43:36,855
You know,
it becomes almost a mock epic.
775
00:43:39,435 --> 00:43:41,926
BRAGG: Chaucer not only used
existing French words
776
00:43:42,038 --> 00:43:43,266
for poetic effect,
777
00:43:43,372 --> 00:43:46,637
he also introduced
his own elevated synonyms,
778
00:43:46,742 --> 00:43:48,710
sometimes bypassing
an English word
779
00:43:48,811 --> 00:43:52,440
in favour of a more stylish
French borrowing.
780
00:43:53,916 --> 00:43:58,182
So, English had the perfectly
good "hard" as a noun.
781
00:43:58,287 --> 00:44:01,279
Chaucer borrowed
the French word "difficulte".
782
00:44:01,390 --> 00:44:05,622
In place of "unhap",
he gave us "disadventure".
783
00:44:05,728 --> 00:44:08,060
For "shendship", "dishoneste".
784
00:44:08,164 --> 00:44:09,961
For "building", "edifice".
785
00:44:10,066 --> 00:44:11,931
For "unconning", "ignoraunt".
786
00:44:12,034 --> 00:44:15,003
And for "meaning",
"signifiaunce".
787
00:44:17,640 --> 00:44:21,337
But Chaucer wasn't just ensnared
with the elegance of French.
788
00:44:21,444 --> 00:44:24,436
He also cherished the directness
and earthiness of English
789
00:44:24,547 --> 00:44:26,276
and used it, for example,
in "The Miller's Tale",
790
00:44:26,382 --> 00:44:29,442
where the student Absolon's
midnight assignation
791
00:44:29,552 --> 00:44:30,780
with a neighbour's wife
792
00:44:30,887 --> 00:44:34,288
doesn't go quite according
to plan.
793
00:44:34,390 --> 00:44:37,655
This Absolon gan wype his mouth
ful drie.
794
00:44:37,760 --> 00:44:41,856
Derk was the nyght as pich,
or as the cole,
795
00:44:41,964 --> 00:44:46,094
And at the wyndow
out she putte hir hole,
796
00:44:46,202 --> 00:44:48,170
And Absolon,
hym fil ne bet ne wers,
797
00:44:48,271 --> 00:44:53,709
But with his mouthe
he kiste hir naked ers.
798
00:44:53,809 --> 00:44:56,073
The language, of course,
is predominantly Old English,
799
00:44:56,179 --> 00:44:58,044
and, again, Chaucer is aware
800
00:44:58,147 --> 00:45:00,081
of what linguists would call
register.
801
00:45:00,183 --> 00:45:02,242
He knows that you have to have
a particular style
802
00:45:02,351 --> 00:45:03,909
for a particular purpose.
803
00:45:04,020 --> 00:45:07,581
With "The Miller's Tale",
we have both the miller himself,
804
00:45:07,690 --> 00:45:09,954
who is a man
of extraordinary qualities,
805
00:45:10,059 --> 00:45:12,254
so he opens doors simply by
running at them with his head,
806
00:45:12,361 --> 00:45:13,919
which was a clever trick.
807
00:45:14,030 --> 00:45:16,260
And the story itself is,
as you know,
808
00:45:16,365 --> 00:45:18,663
about bottoms out of windows
and other such things,
809
00:45:18,768 --> 00:45:19,962
and, of course, in that case,
810
00:45:20,069 --> 00:45:24,438
it's appropriate to have
a simple, earthy style.
811
00:45:24,540 --> 00:45:27,566
He knows that if he's talking
about basic earthy stuff,
812
00:45:27,677 --> 00:45:31,443
he might
as well use
good Old English words.
813
00:45:31,547 --> 00:45:33,174
And I think it's actually
marked that use
814
00:45:33,282 --> 00:45:34,749
by not using many French words.
815
00:45:34,850 --> 00:45:36,647
I think people
would have picked up on that.
816
00:45:36,752 --> 00:45:37,878
We certainly do.
817
00:45:37,987 --> 00:45:40,979
The style seems very direct,
almost colloquial.
818
00:45:41,090 --> 00:45:42,717
Of course,
that's literally artifice,
819
00:45:42,825 --> 00:45:45,953
but it does seem direct
and colloquial,
820
00:45:46,062 --> 00:45:47,586
and that's as a complete result
821
00:45:47,697 --> 00:45:50,131
of the way in which
he's using the language,
822
00:45:50,233 --> 00:45:51,860
the language he'd have heard
on the streets.
823
00:45:51,968 --> 00:45:55,028
Words like "ers" meaning "arse",
I'm afraid,
824
00:45:55,137 --> 00:45:57,128
and other such rude words.
825
00:45:59,308 --> 00:46:01,208
BRAGG: Scholars dispute
how much vocabulary
826
00:46:01,310 --> 00:46:03,744
Chaucer actually
introduced into English.
827
00:46:03,846 --> 00:46:06,815
With Old English,
he certainly reintroduced words
828
00:46:06,916 --> 00:46:09,510
which hadn't been written down
since before 1 1 00,
829
00:46:09,619 --> 00:46:11,484
probably because they weren't
considered important
830
00:46:11,587 --> 00:46:13,145
or seemly enough.
831
00:46:13,256 --> 00:46:17,022
Words like "cherlish",
"ferting", "frendli",
832
00:46:17,126 --> 00:46:18,525
"lerninge", "lovinge",
833
00:46:18,628 --> 00:46:20,255
"restless", "swiven",
834
00:46:20,363 --> 00:46:23,821
"wasp", "wifli",
and "willingli".
835
00:46:24,767 --> 00:46:26,928
[Choir singing]
836
00:46:40,416 --> 00:46:43,385
This is where the pilgrims
who had beguiled the miles
837
00:46:43,486 --> 00:46:45,954
with their various tales
would have been making for,
838
00:46:46,055 --> 00:46:50,355
the shrine of Thomas a Becket
in Canterbury Cathedral.
839
00:46:57,266 --> 00:47:00,793
The brilliant archbishop,
son of a French merchant,
840
00:47:00,903 --> 00:47:02,666
had been brutally murdered
in 1 1 7 0
841
00:47:02,772 --> 00:47:05,263
by knights acting on the wishes,
if not instructions,
842
00:47:05,374 --> 00:47:06,534
of Henry Il,
843
00:47:06,642 --> 00:47:08,872
that first Plantagenet
whose wife, Eleanor,
844
00:47:08,978 --> 00:47:11,913
had done so much to promote
the courtly French language
845
00:47:12,014 --> 00:47:15,506
which Chaucer
was now mining so expertly.
846
00:47:17,453 --> 00:47:19,978
[Bells chiming]
847
00:47:24,293 --> 00:47:26,625
In Chaucer's day,
this area around the Cathedral
848
00:47:26,729 --> 00:47:29,323
and the nearby streets would
have been thronged with pilgrims
849
00:47:29,432 --> 00:47:30,399
from all over the country.
850
00:47:30,499 --> 00:47:32,899
Well, the thronging
hasn't changed.
851
00:47:33,002 --> 00:47:34,128
But they would have
been speaking
852
00:47:34,236 --> 00:47:35,794
in the dialect of their homes.
853
00:47:35,905 --> 00:47:39,432
English wasn't uniform
in the way it was spoken,
854
00:47:39,542 --> 00:47:41,237
and Chaucer himself,
in "The Reeve's Tale",
855
00:47:41,344 --> 00:47:43,904
gives us literature's first
"funny Northerner"
856
00:47:44,013 --> 00:47:45,913
who speaks with flat vowels.
857
00:47:46,015 --> 00:47:49,109
He says "heem" for "home",
"knau" for "know",
858
00:47:49,218 --> 00:47:51,482
"gang" for "gone"
and "nan" for "none".
859
00:47:51,587 --> 00:47:54,112
All pronunciations that would be
quite understandable
860
00:47:54,223 --> 00:47:56,418
in the northeast of England
today.
861
00:47:56,525 --> 00:47:59,289
Chaucer himself worried
about whether his work
862
00:47:59,395 --> 00:48:01,329
would be mispronounced
or wrongly copied
863
00:48:01,430 --> 00:48:04,365
or just misunderstood
in other parts of the country.
864
00:48:04,467 --> 00:48:07,368
He bids one of his poems,
"Troilus and Cressida",
865
00:48:07,470 --> 00:48:09,097
a rather worried farewell,
866
00:48:09,205 --> 00:48:11,332
voicing a concern
he must also have felt
867
00:48:11,440 --> 00:48:13,101
for "The Canterbury Tales".
868
00:48:13,209 --> 00:48:15,677
Go, litel bok.
869
00:48:15,778 --> 00:48:18,144
And for ther is
so gret diversite
870
00:48:18,247 --> 00:48:20,545
In Englissh
and in writyng of oure tonge,
871
00:48:20,649 --> 00:48:23,675
So prey God
that noon myswrite the,
872
00:48:23,786 --> 00:48:26,584
Ne the mysmetre
for defaute of tonge.
873
00:48:26,689 --> 00:48:29,385
And red wherso thow be,
or elles songe,
874
00:48:29,492 --> 00:48:32,393
That thow be understonde
875
00:48:32,495 --> 00:48:34,827
I God beseche!
876
00:48:34,930 --> 00:48:37,797
BRAGG:
Of course, Chaucer's books,
877
00:48:37,900 --> 00:48:39,162
particularly
"The Canterbury Tales",
878
00:48:39,268 --> 00:48:40,565
were understood.
879
00:48:40,669 --> 00:48:44,264
His language, the language
of late 1 4th century London,
880
00:48:44,373 --> 00:48:46,841
would become,
with some later modifications,
881
00:48:46,942 --> 00:48:48,842
the standard form of English.
882
00:48:48,944 --> 00:48:51,378
And his genius in harnessing
that language
883
00:48:51,480 --> 00:48:53,004
to serve his vision as a writer
884
00:48:53,115 --> 00:48:55,481
would guarantee
that it lived on.
885
00:48:57,420 --> 00:48:59,183
A century and a half
after his death,
886
00:48:59,288 --> 00:49:00,915
Geoffrey Chaucer
was famous enough
887
00:49:01,023 --> 00:49:03,856
for this tomb to be put
in Westminster Abbey.
888
00:49:03,959 --> 00:49:05,358
In the intervening years,
889
00:49:05,461 --> 00:49:07,361
his tales had spread
round the country
890
00:49:07,463 --> 00:49:08,896
and delighted listeners
and readers
891
00:49:08,998 --> 00:49:12,627
ranging from London merchants
to the future Richard III.
892
00:49:12,735 --> 00:49:14,532
Before the 1 5th century was out,
893
00:49:14,637 --> 00:49:17,231
"The Canterbury Tales" had been
printed by William Caxton,
894
00:49:17,339 --> 00:49:19,534
ensuring the future
of Chaucer's work
895
00:49:19,642 --> 00:49:22,304
and furthering the process
by which southern English,
896
00:49:22,411 --> 00:49:23,309
Chaucer's English,
897
00:49:23,412 --> 00:49:25,004
would become the standard.
898
00:49:25,114 --> 00:49:28,049
Chaucer was the first poet
to be buried here
899
00:49:28,150 --> 00:49:30,380
in what's become Poet's Corner.
900
00:49:30,486 --> 00:49:32,977
It's appropriate for the man
who not only entertained
901
00:49:33,088 --> 00:49:34,350
and delighted in his own work,
902
00:49:34,457 --> 00:49:36,584
but who, through expanding
the capabilities
903
00:49:36,692 --> 00:49:37,750
of the English language,
904
00:49:37,860 --> 00:49:39,851
created a standard
and a platform
905
00:49:39,962 --> 00:49:42,487
for those who followed.
906
00:49:46,001 --> 00:49:48,970
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