English language and culture in the Middle Ages

Study note

After the Norman Conquest, the king and noblemen spoke Norman French while the peasants spoke Anglo-Saxon. Gradually these combined into one English language, and by 1400 English had become the preferred language of the royal court and Parliament. Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales in English, one of the first books printed by William Caxton, the first person to print books in England using a printing press.

Memory tip: By 1400 English is the court language; Chaucer wrote Canterbury Tales; Caxton brought printing.

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By around which year had English become the preferred language of the court and Parliament?

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