Old French
Pre-Renaissance Parisian tongue
Old French is the form of French spoken and written roughly from the 9th to the 14th century, before it evolved into Middle French.
It's the ancestor of modern French and the source of thousands of English words that entered the language after the Norman Conquest: Many legal terms—plaintiff, defendant, verdict—derive from Old French.
Latin-descended language group
- Gallo-RomancePost-Latin French precursor
- phonologyScience of language sounds
- morphologyStudy of structural forms
- syntaxRules for arranging words
lexicon · declension · conjugation · diachronic · dialectology · etymology · loanwords · Latin influence
Land-for-service social structure
- chivalryKnightly code of honor
- crusadesAggressive advocacy campaigns
- knighthoodHonorary title of nobility
- vassalageSubordination to a lord
fiefdom · manor · serfdom · heraldry · Carolingian · Normans · Plantagenet · troubadour
Of Camelot's mythology
- RolandMusic equipment brand
- TristanLegendary Celtic knight
- jongleurMedieval wandering entertainer
- allegorySymbolic tale with deeper meaning
Chrétien de Troyes · Lancelot · rhyme · verse · courtly love · chanson
Treated hide for manuscripts
- vellumPrepared calfskin for writing
- scriptoriumMonastery manuscript workshop
- illuminationProvision of light
- codexAncient bound manuscript
marginalia · colophon · quire · folio · minuscule · uncial · abbreviation · scribal
French duke's English takeover
- culinary termsFood preparation vocabulary
- literary influenceEffect of texts on writers
- ChanceryJudicial division for equity
- ecclesiasticalRelating to church matters
Romance
Latin-descended language group
- Gallo-RomancePost-Latin French precursor
- phonologyScience of language sounds
- morphologyStudy of structural forms
syntax · lexicon · declension · conjugation · diachronic · dialectology · etymology · loanwords · Latin influence · Anglo-Norman
feudalism
Land-for-service social structure
- chivalryKnightly code of honor
- crusadesAggressive advocacy campaigns
- knighthoodHonorary title of nobility
vassalage · fiefdom · manor · serfdom · heraldry · Carolingian · Normans · Plantagenet · troubadour · minstrel
Arthurian
Of Camelot's mythology
Chrétien de Troyes · Lancelot · allegory · rhyme · verse · courtly love · chanson
parchment
Treated hide for manuscripts
- vellumPrepared calfskin for writing
- scriptoriumMonastery manuscript workshop
- illuminationProvision of light
codex · marginalia · colophon · quire · folio · minuscule · uncial · abbreviation · scribal · transcription
Norman Conquest
French duke's English takeover
- culinary termsFood preparation vocabulary
- literary influenceEffect of texts on writers
- ChanceryJudicial division for equity
- chansons de gesteSong of Roland, Roland, Oliver, Charlemagne, paladins
- etymologyword origins, word history, word origin, etymon, root words
- Medieval Englandking, kings, castle, castles, knight
- French LanguagesPicard, Norman, Walloon, Bourguignon, Anglo-Norman
- medieval studiesmedieval studies, trivium, Middle English, medieval universities, Anglo-Saxon
- Medieval LanguageMiddle English, Latin, Anglo-Saxon, Norman, vernacular
Old FrenchOld English
Germanic language of early Britain
Old Norse · Middle English · Anglo-Saxon · Old Church Slavonic
old, France, French, Francophone, Franciscan, francophone, Anglo-French