Welcome to the History of English Podcast, a podcast about the history of the English language.

This is Episode 107, Parle v. Anglais.

In this episode, we're going to continue our look at the rebirth of English writing in

the early Middle English period.

This time, we'll explore the political events that led to the first major political document

issued in English since the Norman Conquest.

It's an important document not only for the English language, but also for the English

government because it laid the foundation for Parliament.

And interestingly, the term Parliament is based on a French word meaning to speak.

So from its very beginnings, Parliament was a place where people went to speak.

But speak what language?

English, French, Latin?

Well this time, we'll explore the complicated interaction of those three languages in the

English government during the 1200s.

But before we begin, let me remind you that the website for the podcast is historyofenglishpodcast.com.

And you can sign up to support the podcast at patreon.com slash historyofenglish.

And as always, you can reach me by email at kevinathistoryofenglishpodcast.com.

Now over the past few episodes, we've looked at several important developments that took

place in the late 1100s and early 1200s.

If there's one constant theme that's emerged through those episodes, it's the gradual

re-emergence of English after more than a century in the wilderness.

We saw it return in the form of epic poetry in layamansbrut, and in the debate poetry

...