Never have even as many as 5 percent of the people of England spoken French. After the Norman Conquest of 1066, French replaced Old English as the official language, and the ruling classes spoke it among themselves, but it was never the language of ordinary folk. More people understood some Latin, from hearing it in church, than understood French.

I'm sure that although for a time the official language may have been French, only the aristocracy spoke French daily, the commoners would have just spoken their own English dialect

I'm pretty sure that the main speakers of Norman French were the hierarchy, not the rest of us plums.

5:52 It was the ruling class that spoke French between those dates, not the ordinary English people.

The reason that the British Library is so big is that it automatically receives a copy of each newly published book and that has been going on since the early 17th century. The process is called 'legal deposit' and goes on all over the world but we have been doing it for longer than anyone else.

So many little mistakes. The British Library, not National is in London it’s not the library in this video. All English people didn’t speak French, it was the official language of the Court was French used by Royalty and Nobles. But peasants kept on speaking Old English. . All royal weddings aren’t holidays, only those declared as holidays. The King sends a letter on your 100th birthday, but if you get to 105 you can get another letter. Slavery was abolished in England by William the Conquerer in the 11th Century. In 2010 a law was passed to recognise Anti-Slavery Day, a day to recognise those still held in slavery around the world, human trafficking into the sex trade etc.

I don’t think I will bother watching this video because I looked at the comments first, the amount of errors pointed out is quite a lot.

Stonehenge isn’t in Salisbury. It’s ten miles from Salisbury, it’s in the county of Wiltshire.

5:24 The narrator was saying that the U.K. postage stamps do not bear the name of the country unlike every other country's stamps, not that there had to be a return address on a letter.

The Monarch sends you a card on your 100 birthday and every year after that.

You haven't been able to own slaves in England for almost a 1000 years, what happened in the 1800s was to do with the international slave trade. What happened in 2010 was a bit of legally tidying up, if I recall correctly because of modern day people trafficking making it necessary. I realise there are some holes in what I'm saying but I'm being brief.

The monarch's birthday is not a holiday, nor are royal weddings. Elizabeth Tower, not St. Stephen's Tower.

The library in Oxford is The Bodleian Library attached to the University and is the Second Biggest.

When did _"my dad's bigger than your dad"_ become _"my library is bigger than your library"_

The King/Queen sends you a birthday card on your 100th birthday and every year thereafter, not 105th. Couple of wrong facts in this. Knew that would be the case when I heard the narraters voice

The ruling class spoke French as William the Conqueror invaded in 1066 and deposed the Anglo-Saxons, the clue that we didn't all speak French is in the fact the Aristocrats eventually decided they'd rather speak the same language as the rest of us. It took them 300 years, goes to show some things never change, the French are stubborn and the English are useless at learning other languages.

Would have been a video worth reacting to if it got more of its facts right, and knew the difference between England and the UK

The British Library is in London.

I am English (British). Only 3 of the more obscure "facts" I didn't know. Most of these are well known to my generation anyway. The amount of languages spoken was higher than I would have thought and the slavery one is not strictly true in the sense most people would think. Didn't know the one about professors either but I can live with that. A couple of the "facts" are wrong. Great video. Mike.

I’ll have to go and watch the Greggs documentary now 😊 well done! England has a national day St George’s day.

'Big Ben' - the bell - atop the Elizabeth Tower - was cast in Whitechapel, East London, and the _same_ foundry also cast America's Liberty Bell - and both bells have cracks in them which affect the timbre of their "gongs"!!

Cards are sent to those celebrating their 100th and 105th birthday and every year thereafter. Their Majesties' congratulatory messages consist of a card containing a personalised message and are sent via Royal Mail.

Slavery was band in England since William the Bastard invaded and conquered it (they changed his name to William the Conquerer) In the proclamation book at that time I believe he ordered something like “let no slave step foot on English soil under financial penalty to the King! But was not put on the modern list of crimes until 200- and something but in the 17 or 1800s someone brought a slave into the country. He escaped and when he was recaptured and when his OWNER tried to take him back to the Caribbean, a lawyer took up his cause and the whole country seemingly sent money to fight his cause. The lawyer won the case and this win was documented and placed on the official records as a president to “no slaves allowed on British soil”.

The British people are not all enthusiastic about the Royal Family with a population of 68 million, with 27 million households with at least one TV only 12.8 million watched the Coronation. A crime drama called Happy Valley was watched by 11.9 million. The nobility actually spoke Anglo Norman after 1066 a verdon of French. However, most people spoke Anglo Saxon or a Celtic Language

The British library is in London, the one in Oxford is called the Bodleian library.

the Queen would have sent a postcard on your 100th year not 105th wtf

3. LONDON has the biggest library in the world. How did you miss that?!?

You both come over really well and are so pleasant to watch and listen to. I'm not surprised that you had a 'clip' on Netflix 😊. Heartfelt love and best wishes to you and your family ❤.

The thing about the stamp is not true. The reason you want it the right way up is automatic sorting won't work and it'll be slower.

The National Library is in several places.

The language spoken by William the Conqueror was a pre-French, pre-France existed, he was born in the Duchy of Normandy Viking/Norman, Richard II was the first to be styled duke of Normandy (the ducal title became established between 987-1006) so it was an English run Duchy.

The temple complex in Orkney is older than Stonehenge, and just the stone wall that surrounds it is heavier than all of Stonehenge.

I shall add one more error to the list... Hardly the most world-shaking of things but I had this particular fact squat in my brain many years ago so I may as well take advantage of the only time in my life so far that this has been in any way useful :p The tower at the north end was simply the Clock Tower before being renamed Elizabeth Tower, and St Stephen's tower is the one above the public entrance is on the west side of the palace (ie off Abingdon Street) which goes into St Stephens hall. It's too small to even be easily see in most pics which are taken typically of the east façade where the big 3 are the most obvious (Victoria at the south end, the Central Tower over the Lobby, and Elizabeth at the north end). There's the twin turrets of the Chancellors tower at the south end of the terrace (left side of those typical pics), and likewise the Speakers tower at the north end. There are others too but I don't know their names, if they even have any.

0:55 *Greggs: How Do They Really Do It?* (2021) and *Greggs: Secrets of Their Best Bakes* (2023) (aka *Greggs: What's Really in It?* on Netflix, and *Inside Greggs: 24/7* on Apple TV) have nothing to do with the *BBC.* They are both *Channel 5* shows.

The video you saw was not of the British Library, which is a very modern building. It has never been illegal to stick a stamp upside-down. When French was the official language, that only applied to documents and the language used at Court and in court. English peasants spoke English. William I outlawed slavery in England in the 11th century, and the UK outlawed the slave trade in 1807.

The British library was origionaly part of the British museum it is now in a modern designed building next to St Pancras Station!!

@Midwest Americans - There are some dubious points claimed in the video you watched. 1) Stonehenge is older than the Great Pyramids. Well bits of it are and there are older Neolithic sites than Stonehenge in the UK. 2) The Queen (and now the King) is the Queen of the UK, not the Queen of England. There hasn't been a King or Queen of just England since 1707, when Scottish King James VI took over the English throne and Unified the Kingdoms under one Crown. 3) The biggest library in the world is based in London but a large volume of it's books and other records are kept in massive climate controlled warehouses in other parts of the country. 4) Only Senior royal weddings (those directly in line to the Throne) get a public holiday and again that holiday os for the UK, not just the English bit. 5) The UK (again, not just England) does not have its name on it's postage stamps. The story about it being treason to put a stamp on upside down is just a Myth. 6) The video is talking about dialects, not languages and there are over 600 dialects in England alone. Most of the population still spoke old versions of English, following the Norman invasion. only the nobility and those that dealt directly with them spoke French, so it might have been 1% of the country that spoke French. 7) Given that we can see the shores of France without any visual aides, from the shores of England, means that we know how close France is. 8) Angela is correct. Big Ben is the largest bell in the clock tower and the tower has been called 'Elizabeth Tower' since the Queen's Diamond Jubilee (60 Years as Queen). I'm Scottish and I knew all of these, I'm sure that most people in England also know them too.

England does have a national day - 23 April. Many people have already mentioned that the info about the monarch sending you a birthday card is also erroneous. I thought champagne was invented by a French monk called Dom Perignon. Slavery in England was effectively abolished under common law in 1772 as a result of the Somerset case, meaning there was no need to legislate against it. So many assertions made by this video are at best questionable.

Glad to see you still enjoying learning about things in the UK. This video does not mention that Latin was used in the Middle Ages for official documents.

We do indeed have a written constitution just not all in one book

Interesting mix. I was born twenty miles from Stonehenge, which, incidentally, is only partly older than the pyramids - it was not all built at the same time. What is more remarkable is the much wider landscape which contains an extraordinary number of prehistoric sites. I am also, coincidentally, a member of the British Library and when I have taken visitors to see the place, they are seriously impressed by some of the displays there. Including documents dating back huge amounts of time (not all British!). The monarch sends birthday cards to people reaching their 100th birthday. Red Lion and many other similarly named public houses were named with political affiliations in mind - usually recognising an element of the coat of arms of the person they are acknowledging. It is an urban myth that putting a stamp upside down is treason - it is not a crime of any sort!

Just watched the Greggs documentary on Netflix, didnt expect to see you in it 😂

Interesting video - I feel like I knew all of those facts appart from the last one about slavery not been officially outlawed until 2010 as we were the first country to ban slavery so maybe we all just assumed that meant illegal haha We love a Royal wedding bank holiday :-)

I don't know where he got the figure of 105 from, the Royal messages begin when you reach 100. Royal weddings or anniiversaries of them are not public holidays, also, the reason you're not allowed to die in Parliament is because any one who does, has to have a state funeral, and it wouldn't apply to the Monarch because they're not allowed into Parliament with-out permission. That's why, when the Kings messenger, Black Rod, is sent to summon MPs to the State Opening of Parliament, the door is ceremonially slammed in his face.

We do have a written Constitution, but it is three documents, not one. They are Magna Carta, the Articles of Religion and the Declaration of Rights. It's also not illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament.

The library of Congress has the most shelf space, but the British library has the most books

A bit of a postal anecdote that night explain some of your own observations Before the stamp was invented the addressee had to pay the postie before they'd hand over their mail. So a crafty ruse developed for coding simple messages in the address. For example you could send a letter home to "Christopher" meaning you'd arrived somewhere, the recipient could then avoid paying by saying there was no Christopher at that address & refusing the delivery. There could well be a connection with providing a return address

Apparently, (quick Google search) there are more John Smiths in the US (48,571). Smith is still the most common last name in the US.

The Elisabeth Tower used to be called just The Clock Tower. Originally Parliament sat in St Stephen's Hall. Above a public entrance to Parliament is a small tower called St Stephen's Tower, hence the confusion

The reason why England is the originator of Champaign like wines is the monks hundreds of years ago before Henry VIII destroyed most of the Catholic Monastery’s and churches (didn’t check on the dates) made glass bottles strong enough to take the pressure build up of the gas produced by the “in-bottle” fermentation of the wine. So any sparkling wine has its roots in a monastery in England somewhere!! Cheers people, happy new year!

The British Library in London near St Pancras and Kings Cross stations is the library with over 170 million books.

Always like your posts. But when you showed clip of a library the was the library used for Harry Potter BUT it is in Trinity College in Dublin which is not UK or England or Oxford. That pic you showed is in the Republic of Ireland Éire.

Ordinary people spoke English or Cornish. And Wales, Scotland, and Ireland were separate countries.

When the movie industry approached JK Rowling for the rights for Harry potter she kept refusing, they kept upping the money and she kept refusing, it turned out she wanted to have control over her characters, thats why it was set in the UK closely following her books and not being Americanised.

Royalty can't die in the House of Commons because thy aren't allowed inside. However they are allowed in the House of Lords for the state opening of parliament

05:51 No no no, the aristocracy spoke French... since they were French (Well Norman French) but the peasantry still spoke English... If this had not been the case, we would ALL still be speaking French now!"

8:13 True, but what about the personalised letter (was a telegram until the Post Office stopped using telegrams) on one's 100th birthday, 101st, 102nd... etc.

One thing I already knew was that US narrators cannot pronounce Salisbury. It isn’t ’Sallsbury’ it’s ‘Saulsbury’. And Stonehenge is IN Salisbury? I really didn’t know that!

The upside down stamp being treason claim is nonsense. However, Royal Mail can refuse to deliver a letter if the way a stamp is used is considered abusive or deliberately disrespectful. It is not a crime to die in the British Parliament.

Did you know that the UK foundry that created Big Ben also created the Liberty Bell?

Here's another fact: Greater London is not a city. The tiny City of Lindon is a city, but our capital city is Westminster.

The creator of the original video is clearly not a native english speaker as they have loads of mistakes in the written script. Also they are using an AI voice. Seems like someone asked ChatGPT to give "facts that british people wont know about britain" Also the monarch isnt allowed to enter the house of commons. Hence why they have to go into the house of lords for the opening of parliament. The black rod is an interesting role.

The state of being a slave was not recognised in British law so that it was difficult to say that someone owned another

You were 12 miles away when in York from the British Library, Thorp Arch Trading Estate, Thorp Arch, Boston Spa where books are stored to save space in London.

As for the proximity of France -- I couldn't see it from the top of Dover Castle.

This is almost as factual as WatchMojo videos and that’s saying something, lol So not all English people spoke French between whatever dates he gave, an official language and a language that is actually spoken are two different things. French was the official language but most people would not have spoken French, it would only have been the elites, the Lords etc that would have spoken French. Also the tower in which Big Ben is situated, the clock tower, is not St Stephen’s Tower, it’s the Elizabeth Tower, previously just The Clock Tower, St Stephen’s Tower is another, smaller tower that is situated over the public entrance to parliament. England does have a national day, it’s St George’s Day According to the 2021 Census about 40% of Londoners were born outside of the UK The Queen (now King) first sends you a personalised birthday card on your 100th Birthday then on your 105th Birthday and subsequent birthdays after that The origin of Champagne is the Champagne region in France, hence the name and Champagne can only be called Champagne if it comes from the Champagne region in the same way that a pasty can only be called a Cornish Pasty if it is made in Cornwall as well as other examples of products that have protected status and can only be named that name if they are made in that region from which they are named. Royal weddings are not declared a public holiday, it’s at the discretion of those in charge, they can call a special one off public holiday for numerous reasons and has been done numerous times for a Royal Wedding. Many Royal Weddings have not been public holidays though, it’s not a given. There might be more errors those are just the ones I know are false

The UK does have a written constitution, it is just not on one document. It's a collection of laws created I've a thousand years. We have precident and statute law, where do you think you got yours from? *Constitution* _a body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is acknowledged to be governed_

British postage stamps are the only ones that don’t show the name of the country. That’s because when British postage stamps were first used, no other country had them. The concept was British.

The first King of England to speak English as a first language was Henry IV and he was born in 1367

Slavery in the UK was not illegal because it was never legal in the first place in the UK, it was only legal overseas. The anti-modern-slavery laws were introduced to sort out modern crimes.

It’s odd how perception of history works. In Dorchester near me there is a small earthen Roman Amphitheatre that you just drive past on the way in to town, but it is now known to have been adapted from a Neolithic henge the same sort of age as Stone Henge, so there before the pyramids, and it’s just there. No fuss, no nothing.

To clarify, the _stamp_ doesn't have the country name on it. All the other stamps in the world do. Though the franking marks do. Also slavery has never been legal certainly in England, Scots law might be complex on the matter - the crime thing is a technicality. You can't be a slave so how can the crime of slavery exist, it'd come under some other law like false imprisonment and other crimes.

Wrong about the monarch sending a commoner a bday card on 105th bday, it's actually 100th bday as 100=century.

As far as the laws about slavery, in the early 1700s court cases were freeing slaves on the basis that slavery was an unknown state of being in England. Slaves brought here going to court would be freed. You don't need laws to stop something that wasn't happening... That why slavery laws were so late in the UK. In 1088 William the Conqueror effectively ended English slavery by decree.

It is now The Elizabeth Tower.

Two bells were cast one for the Elizabeth tower the other is in the clock tower of my home town of Darlington in the north east of England

I doubt if there are any Brits that didn't know these things. Let me guess, this was put together by an American. The channel tunnel does not start in Dover (Folkestone with Coquelles).

The 'modern slavery act' (2015) was new legislation to cover new problems like sex trafficking. Slavery was outlawed in the colonies and territories by the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, though a court ruling deemed that slavery within England was prohibited since 1569.

Technically, the English court spoke a dialect of Old French. The Normans had adopted Old French as their court language but smatterings of Old Norse still subsisted, especially amongst the commoners and lower-ranked nobility. Old French is as unintelligible to Modern French speakers as Old English is to Modern English speakers.

Hello Ethan and Angela. Some of these were stretching things a bit. I am sure there is plenty said about where in comments. Good luck with a quiz from these potential answers.

Yes, I think it's true that the majority of us aren't aware of the connection between the year 2010 and slavery, however, slavery was abolished and declared to be illegall some two hundred years before 2010. Anti-Slavery Day was established by Parliamentary law in 2010 as a reminder that although slavery is illegal, modern-day slavery still exists around the world.

The monarch congratulates you on your 100th and 105th birthday and every year after...

Norman French is still an official language in Britain. It's used (sparingly) in Parliament; more so in Channel Island dialects.

Please can someone share the link or name of the Greggs documentary? I can't track it down on BBC iplayer or Netflix.

Stonehenge is in Wiltshire not Salisbury The British library is not the one shown and that one also was not in Harry Potter. The British Library was rehomed many years ago in a modern building in Euston London Royal Weddings are not necessarily Public Holidays We do not have to put return addresses on post The official language was French, the majority of the population did not! Big Ben is in Elizabeth Tower, it has not been called Stephen’s tower for a long time The English National day is St George’s day-Wales St David’s day, Scotland St Andrew( though Burn’s night, is more celebrated ) and Ireland St Patrick. This is what happens when people get their info off you tube rather than doing research!

I don't know where the person who compiled that video got the idea that English people didn't know these things (apart from the ones where he was incorrect). They are pretty much well known. A few points however : "Fact 1" Salisbury is pronounced "Sauls burry" or "Salsbree" depending on where you come from "Fact 4" No, most people really don't give a damn about royal weddings, but it's nice to have an extra day off work. "Fact 5" No, it's NOT treason. "Fact 6" No, the English did NOT all speak French. Only the Nobility in the wake of the Norman Conquest. "Fact 8" As you confirmed in the video, the clock tower was renamed in 2012. Subsequent mentions : England DOES have a 'National Day' - St. George's Day. It simply isn't recognised as a Public Holiday. You can receive a CARD from the monarch on your 100th birthday - also on your 60th wedding anniversary, but they have to be *requested* (as was the case for my parents).

The Queen sent you a letter on your 100th BIRTHDAY. The English people never spoke or was forced French as their first language, but some French words crept in over hundreds of years. William was famous when he took the crown in 1066 that he did'nt interfere with the English people's daily lives 👍✌

The slavery not been an official crime got me 😮

England does have a national day. It is St George's Day, 23rd April.

Let me tell you now, the only reason we love a royal wedding is because it's a day of work! We will all be too pissed to watch it. The Library this video is referring to is in London.

We don't have a holiday for every royal wedding and the stamp upside down thing is not true. Fun though

Some interesting facts about *Bradford* the... *6th biggest City in the UK by population* - *546,400* to be exact. *7th Biggest City in the UK by area* - *141.47 square miles* (366.41 square kilometres) to be exact. World's First *UNESCO City of Film.* UK's Fourth *City of Culture.* Seven time *Curry Capital of Britain* Winners. Birthplace and home of the *Bronte Sisters.* Former *Wool Capital of the World.* Unofficial *Tea Capital* - Birthplace of *Tetley Tea* founders, residence of *Betty's Tea* founder, location of 2nd ever *Betty's Tea Room,* and location of 2nd ever *Taylor's Tea Room.*

If you die in the houses of parliament you are entitled to a state funeral so they made it a crime punishable by a fine equal to the funeral costs so that your family can pay for it.

Hi Folks, I would always be aware of the facts of any video like this made by an American. My experience of watching them is that they are regularly inaccurate. Laws to ban slavery began in the 1000s. In 1102 it was reinforced by the church at Westminster. In 1762, before the USA war of independance, these laws were used at a trial to confirm that a slave is free the moment he sets foot on English soil, and the air of England is too rich for any slave to breathe. In 1807, we began to tell the world that slavery is wrong and began stopping slave ships taking slaves from Africa. The Royal Navy enforced this. The USA was the first country to assist the UK in these patrols, agreeing to do so at the treaty of Ghent on Xmas eve of 1814, so thanks for your support. (Sorry about burning down the white house but we were upset) The UK is always looked on as the bad guy when it comes to slavery as few people in the world are taught this history.

If you're a good swimmer, you can swim the channel from England to France.

There should be a special place in hell for those who add AI narration to videos.

The Anglo-Norman royals and aristocracy spoke their dialect of French until around 1400. The English peasantry assimilated a lot of French words into their vocabulary during this time - such as words for various meat products(pork, beef, venison...) that the gentry ate, but not the animals (pig, cow, deer..) that the peasants tended. About 29% of modern English words derive from French as a result. Another 29% come from church Latin and about 26% descend from Anglo-Saxon, Norse, Danish and other Germanic languages. Roughly 6% are Greek in origin and the remaining 10% stem from various other world languages. Only a handful of English words derive from Welsh, which might suggest that the cultural assimilation in what became England after the migration of the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians to these shores was mostly one way.

England DOES have a written constitution. Written in the1688. Slavery was made unlawful in England (and Wales) in 1066..

Calais was under British rule until 1559.

French wasn't the "official language", but it was the language of the nobility.