English and Galician in the Middle Ages - Publicaciones ...

English and Galician in the Middle Ages:
A Sociohistorical Survey
Begoña Crespo García
survival of English in the post-conquest period: absence of
linguistic resentment between the two groups and evidence
of an extant body of vernacular literature under Norman dominance.
After the Norman invasion, the English and French peoples
did not intermingle immediately. It was a gradual process, from
initial aversion and hatred to peaceful cooperation and tolerance
without any real fusion (Iglesias Rábade, 1992). On the
one hand, although intermarriages and mercantile dealings
were common activities for both communities, the Normans
were always aware of their different social roles in society
until long after the invasion. The absence of linguistic consciousness
on the rulers’ part and the lack of full integration
favoured the non-imposition of the dominant language and
hence, the coexistence of English and French (Berndt, 1969).
On the other hand, resentment was always present but it was
a social rather than a linguistic matter.
Englishmen were never despised for their language but for
being English. This may explain why the Normans did not
show a feeling of contempt towards the English people on
account of their speaking a language different from their own
(Norman-French), but because they constituted a socially
inferior group. The relationships between the native popula-
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