<P> It was spoken in the law courts, schools, and universities and, in due course, in at least some sections of the gentry and the growing bourgeoisie . Private and commercial correspondence was carried out in Anglo - Norman or Anglo - French from the 13th to the 15th century though its spelling forms were often displaced by continental spellings . Social classes other than the nobility became keen to learn French: manuscripts containing materials for instructing non-native speakers still exist, dating mostly from the late 14th century onwards . </P> <P> Although Anglo - Norman and Anglo - French were eventually eclipsed by modern English, they had been used widely enough to influence English vocabulary permanently . Thus, many original Germanic words, cognates of which can still be found in Nordic, German, and Dutch, have been lost or, as more often occurs, exist alongside synonyms of Anglo - Norman French origin . Grammatically, Anglo - Norman had little lasting impact on English although it is still evident in official and legal terms where the ordinary sequence of noun and adjective is reversed, for example attorney general: the spelling is English but the word order (noun then adjective) is French . Other such examples are heir apparent, court martial, and body politic . </P> <P> The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom still features in French the mottos of both the British Monarch, Dieu et mon droit ("God and my right") and the Order of the Garter, Honi soit qui mal y pense ("Shamed be he who thinks evil of it"). </P> <P> Dieu et mon droit was first used by Richard I in 1198 and adopted as the royal motto of England in the time of Henry VI . The motto appears below the shield of the Royal Coat of Arms . </P>

French was the court language in england for the period