Why the Norman didnot change the name of the island after they
conqured it they defeated the Anglo-saxon what after that ? |
The Normans were French-Latin speakers, and used the Latin name
Britannia as the base for their name for the Island. The modern
name, Great Britian, is simply the Anglisation of the name the Normans
used -
Grand Bretagne (literaly Greater or Big Britannia) as
opposed to Britanny, or Bretagne (regular, or little Britannia, on
account of the Brythonic people living there presumably) as its called
in French.
So they didn't rename the island, but rather kept with the naming
tradition that goes back to pre-Roman times, but did introdice their
interpretation of the name, which was then re-interpreted into English
as Great Britain.