What language was used during Thomas Becket's time?

Question: What language was used during Thomas Becket's time!?

What language were The Miracles of Thomas Becket written in or what writing was used during this time!? Was it French, Middle English, or Anglo Saxon or another!? Thanks!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Sorry, but although I'm a medievalist, I don't know of a specific work called The Miracles of Thomas Becket!. However, when Becket was killed (December 1170), the English language was barely being written!. Norman French had become the official and literary language of England after the Norman Conquest 104 years earlier, and English (Middle English) did not re-emerge as literary language until the early 1200s!. Anglo-Saxon (Old English), on the other hand, is last recorded in 1154, in an entry in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle noting the accession of Henry II!. So I think both medieval forms of English are out except as a medium of oral transmission!. It's possible that Becket's miracles were recorded in French, but since he was a saint particularly of the common people, that's not really very likely, either!. So we're left with your "another," which would be the language of most religious writing of the Middle Ages!. I'd guess that any records of the miracles worked by Becket (I assume that you mean at his tomb) were written in Latin!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

By the end of the 14th century, Middle English was used even at the highest levels!. The language evolved during the 15th century !.!.!. Shakespeare is considered to have written in Early Modern English (mid-16th century)!.Www@QuestionHome@Com