Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/706

* NORMAN FRENCH. 606 NORMAN LAW. NORMAN FRENCH. A Trench dialect which originated iu Normandy after the Scandi- navian invaders, under Hollo, had settled there about Ull. (See Normandy and Normans.) At a very early d.ntc these Scandinavians adopted the French lanj;uage, together with French re- ligion and culture. The Normans in adopting French as a medium of communication and for ])urposes of literary expression retained many Scanilinavian words, which are still, though in a greatly changed form, characteristic of this French dialect. It is not always possible, how- ever, to distinguish these elements, because the Norman French has been intluenced, though undoubtedly to a much less extent, by another Germanic tongue, the Saxon. The largest class of Scandinavian derivatives in Norman French is that of proper names of persons and places. Among the first of these, occurring in early woi'ks, may be mentioned Boudrc, from liuldr ; Ueniult, from Haraldr ; Tiirijuctil, from Thor- l.clill; ^iijiiird, from tUgicarth. In place names suggestions of a Danish origin are numerous, as in Oanneval, La Dennerie. Daiiemarche, Dan- court. Many Northern suHixes occur in Norman place names, as dalle in lirecquedalle, bcc in Cuudebcc. Iloulhtc, etc., torp. familiar in English words of Northern origin, in Tortiistorp, and stein, iu Crcstein and (louestnin. Among other words of possible Scandinavian origin the fol- lowing may be noted: bniman, a ueuly married man; rin Intel, white wine; rnr/ner, to shave or rake; lang, seaweed. Old Icelandic Ihang. Sev- eral nautical terms in use in Norman French seem to be of Norse origin, as hrunt, the bow of a ship, Old Norse hrandr, esctiif, a ship ; hiine, top of a nutst. Old Icelandic hunn. A few of these words have passed into standard French, but most of them are used only dialcctically. Nor- man French is also distinguished by its sounds, ])romincnt among which is the pronunciation of initial h, which in the other French dialects is silent. During the early period Norman French plaj'cd an important part in French literature, some of the most important monuments being written in this dialect. Of greater interest to English readers than the peculiarities of Norman French at home is its development in England after the Conquest. In order to distinguish between the French used on the Continent and that used in England, the latter is often called Anglo-Norman or Anglo- French, of which terms the seccmd is now the moie generally used. One of the most obvious of these inllucnees in the ca.se of Anglo-French was the introduction of English words, especially those that expressed specilically English ideas, for which no French word existed. The pro- nunciation, too, was influenced by the English, especially in connection with the accent. The inlUience of French had begun before the Con- quest, as a result of the strong French sym- pathies of Edward the Confessor, and for several centuries after the Conquest French continued to be the Court language. A considerable French literature wa.s produced in England, both in poetry and prose, and many works of a non- literary character, such ns law codes, wills, etc., have been preserved. JIany French words were borrowed, forming the first period of the French element. The best popular account of the Anglo-French is found in Skent, Principles of English Ety- mology, second series (Oxford, 1891). The best technical treatment is by D. Behrens, ia Paul's (rrundriss dcr germanisclien I'liiloloyie (2d ed. 1897). There is no complete dictionary of Anglo-French, though a number of texts have been edited. L'seful lists of English words found iu Anglo-French have been ]niblished by Skeat { 1882-89). The question of the intluencc of Scan- dinavian culture on the Normans has been dis- cussed from opposite sides by Le llericher. Lea tictindinaies en yormandie (Paris, 1877), and A. Fabricius, Danske Minder i Xormandiet (Copen- hagen, 1897). NORMAN LAW. When, about 911. Charles the Sinqilc ceded to the Scandinavian pirate Hrolf, or KoUo, that portion of Neustria which was thenceforth known as the Duchy of Normandy, the institutions and customs of the country were Frankish. These institutions and customs the conciuerors apparentl,v accepted, for there is little trace in the later Norman law of Scanilinavian iuUuences. Some at least of the Frankish im- perial institutions were more fully preserved under the Norman dukes tlian in other parts of France. Our knowledge, however, of Norman law in the tenth and eleventh centuries is very im])erfect; it is based largely on inferences from earlier Frankish and later Anglo-Norman scnirces. For the period from the Norman conquest of England in IO(i(i to the French conquest of Nor- mandy in 1202-(I4 we have considerable material; we have twelfth century documents (printed by Bigelow as an appendix to his History of Proce- dure in England, 1880) and more or less com- plete Exchequer Kolls of various dates from 1180 to 1203 (published by Stapleton, with valuable observations, 1840, 1844). That the organization of the exchequer was originally Norman and not English is shown bv its existence in tlie Norman Kingdom of Sicily in the first half of the twelfth century. .s later in England. ex(he(|uer was a judicial as well as an administrative authority, and from the time of Henry I. it included trained lawyers. Like the Frankish emperors, the Nor- man dukes sent out mi.isi. or itinerant justices, who held court in various parts of the duchy. In the ducal court an<l in the circuit courts proce- dure was initiated by ducal writ (brere), and proof by wager of battle was supplanted by an inquest of the vicinage. This was a further de- velopment of the Frankish im/nixilio ; and the Norman 'jury of proof,' as Brunner calls it, was transferred to England and l)ecame the jury of judgment. That in other respects the in- fluence of Nornian law upon English law was very great is universall.v admitted: but there is as yet no agreement as to the extent to which it superseded the older Saxon law. When Philip .Augustus conquered Normandy he promised that tjie duchy should preserve its privileges. Shortly befori'. about 1200. a private compilation had been made, known as the Slaluta et Cdnsnehidines Xormannia-. To this was added, about 1218, a Trnetntus de lirrribu.i el Rerngni- tinnibus. Later in the same century apjieared compilations of judgments rendi'red in the ex- chequer an<l of judgments rendered in assize. The most complete statement of Norman law, how- ever, is the Grand Coutumirr dr rinandir, de- scribed in the oldest Latin texts as tbi- Siininia de Ijei/ibiis .Vo/xuiiuiiir or Jura el Consueludinet Stinnannia: See Gband CoutumIEB OF NOB* MA NOV.