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

This is episode 84, Law, Order, and Murder.

In this episode, we're going to explore how French became the language of law and order

in England.

We know that the Norman Conquerors had to impose law and order on their English subjects,

so it isn't really surprising that Latin and French words would be so prominent in English

law.

But the Conquerors didn't simply administer English law in French.

They actually restructured the entire legal system.

The system they established became known as the English Common Law, and it's still the

foundation of most legal systems throughout the English-speaking world.

That system really has its origins in the reign of Henry II, and it developed in response

to the large number of murders and other violent crimes that plagued England during the

anarchy.

So this time, we'll look at law and order and murder, and we'll see how Henry's reforms

shaped the English language.

But before we begin, let me remind you that the website for the podcast is History of

EnglishPodcast.com.

You can sign up to support the podcast at patreon.com.

Just go to historyofenglishpodcast.com and link from there.

So let's turn to this episode and the development of the English Common Law.

Before I begin, I should note that I originally intended to do a more thorough discussion of

...