French At Court

[FredPuli43]

By the time of Henry VI and the Wars of the Roses, what language was spoken in the King's court ?

[Buenchico]

Henry V encouraged the use of English at Court, and for legal and administrative purposes, so Henry VI's household would largely have abandoned the use of Norman French (but would probably have still been familiar with it).

[jno]

pretty sure it was English by then. English was supposed to have become more popular when the Hundred Years' War started. Chaucer was writing in English in the late 1300s, the best part of a century earlier, and he was connected with the court; he probably wouldn't have written in a language his lords wouldn't have spoken.

[jno]

good to see this post has attracted a Related Question about French baby rapists. You've got to watch your words around here.

[boxtops]

Oh dear, the sorter-outer machine just looked at "French"... :-(

[Peter Pedant]

whole article here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Norman_language

for us commoners, French was definitely on its way out by 1400.
Chaucer 1375 did write in French as well - but I cant remember what

debates in House of commons - in English in 1360, I thought