French Literature of the British Isles after the Norman Conquest: A Digital, Data-Driven Investigation
Kirsty Milne
According to the traditional model, use of French in Great Britain was fundamentally tied Norman Conquest 1066. The language conquerors rapidly replaced English within administrative and cultural domains, it maintained its foothold these domains until thirteenth century, when began regain prestige. Yet research past few decades has shown that this model is significantly flawed. This article aimed at supporting an ongoing revision through a quantitative approach centred around catalogue manuscripts containing literature copied British Isles. results presented here indicate clearly that, century following Conquest, being produced much greater quantities than literature. Indeed, peak literary production did not occur during but rather fourteenth centuries. Perhaps even more surprisingly, analysis reveals centuries works circulated most commonly with other languages — especially Latin. adopted thus sheds light on history while decentring canonical typically lie heart.
French Studies|Leiden Repository (Leiden University)