French colonize Britain

tom · Feb 17, 2004

Could the early French have colonized Britain instead of the Germanics? If they had, what else would change?

Norman · Feb 17, 2004

Tom,

Good question, but think about what was happening at the time the Aglo-saxons et al moved into Britain (450 - 600 I forget exactly when).

First, there were no early french, there were late romans (Already in Britain) and the Franks, who were german (they didn't adopt French until sometime after 800 a.d., long after England was settled by the Anglo Saxons.)

For the Franks to have moved in , they wuold have had to been a sea people, which they weren't & The Late Romans were having troubles of their own with groups like the Goths and the Franks.

Now if your asking what would have happened if the Late Romans of France decided to move into britain sometime between 500 - 600 a.d. we might have had the opposite effect, Germans moving further down into france proper, with a latinate Britain.

carlton_bach · Feb 17, 2004

Actually, there were considerable settlements of 'groups sharing the material culture of northern Gaul' (Franks for everyone who hasn't followed the PC shift in archeology) in Kent and Sussex. If you find a reason for the Angles and Saxons not to cross the Channel (maybe a more tempting target in the south? or a major epidemic?) you could posit settlement by Franks and Frisians instead. They still wouldn't exactly be 'French', but they're at least from the right region.

If you want Britain to stay more 'French', simply don't have the Saxons come. A Latinate, Romano-British realm will keep closer contact with the southern areas - Aquitaine, Vasconia, and the Visigothic kingdoms - and may well retain a mixed Celtic-Romance tongue. Barla-vos Prythanic?

fhaessig · Feb 18, 2004

tom said:
Could the early French have colonized Britain instead of the Germanics? If they had, what else would change?

We did. In 1066.

tom · Feb 18, 2004

But 1066 was too late to totally change the culture.

fhaessig · Feb 18, 2004

tom said:
But 1066 was too late to totally change the culture.

Very true. However, there seems to have been some slight influance.

tom · Feb 18, 2004

Not enough for what I want.

fhaessig · Feb 18, 2004

tom said:
Not enough for what I want.

Then the only possibility I can plausibly think of would be to have Charlemagne to invade England instead of Spain. ( to convert the heretics and pagans? ).

That would make 'La chanson de Roland' quite different.

tom · Feb 18, 2004

Is there any way the 1066 cultural impact could be significantly magnified?

Gedca · Feb 18, 2004

tom said:
Is there any way the 1066 cultural impact could be significantly magnified?

More people in France, fewer people in Britain. Lot's of French come over to the relatively unoccupied island. Much the same the America's now have a European culture. Just a thought

Duncan · Feb 19, 2004

tom said:
Is there any way the 1066 cultural impact could be significantly magnified?

To the point of replacing the Germanic language with a Romance dialect, and so on? You need a mass migration from France, I think. Perhaps have the Murabits complete their conquest of Spain and push up into Aquitaine in the late 11th/early 12th century. Hordes of French (and Spanish) refugees are given land in England, swamping the native population.