++EngLiSh DePaRtMeN++

ME is, of course, descended from OE, but it differs from it in a number of ways. Contact with other languages from the end of the OE period onwards, notably with Old Norse (the language of Viking invaders) and with varieties of French, affected the status and appearance of English in a very profound way. At the end of the ME period, the status of the English language changed again, and this change led in turn to changes in linguistic transmission and structure which are sufficient for scholars to distinguish a new language-state, that is ModE.

Of course, it is important to remember that the transitions from OE to ME, and from ME to ModE, were gradual ones. People did not shift from one language-state to another overnight. But it is generally accepted by scholars that there are certain common characteristics of the varieties of ME which distinguish them from earlier and later states of the language.

The Norman Conquest

On the eve of the Norman Conquest, written and spoken English – that is, OE – was widely used throughout the Anglo-Saxon kingdom. In some parts of the East and North this variety was much influenced by varieties of Norse (the language of the Viking invaders), and in one or two western areas of what is present-day England, such as Cornwall and parts of Herefordshire, some people continued to use varieties of Celtic. But otherwise English was used in both speech and writing throughout what is now present-day England. The Anglo-Saxon nobility spoke English habitually, and the Anglo-Saxon state used written English extensively to record transactions and legal decisions. The written English most generally in use was Classical Late West Saxon, based on the usage of Wessex, the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms,
which was centered on the city of Winchester, in southern England.

The invasion was led by William of Normandy. Only by force could William hope to obtain the crown to which he believed himself entitled. Perhaps the difficulty involved in an armed invasion of England would have discouraged a less determined claimant. But William was an exceptionally able man. From infancy he had surmounted difficulties. Handicapped by the taint of illegitimacy, the son of his father by a tanner’s daughter of Falaise, he had succeeded to the dukedom of Normandy at the age of six. He was the object of repeated attempts upon his life, and only the devoted care of his regents enabled him to reach maturity. In early manhood he had had to face a number of crucial contests with rebellious barons, powerful neighbors, and even his overlord, the French king. But he had emerged triumphantly from them all, greatly strengthened in position and admirably schooled for the final test of his fortune. William the Great, as the chroniclers called him, was not the man to relinquish a kingdom without a struggle.(giriums.blogspot.com)