CHAPTER I

THE FRENCH LANGUAGE AT COURT AND AMONG THE NOBILITY 61

French at the Court of the Tudors--English neglected by foreigners--Latin a spoken language--Defective pronunciation of the English--Interest in modern languages awakened--French holds the first place--Its use in correspondence and in official documents--The French of Henry VIII., his courtiers, and the ladies--Of Anne Boleyn and the other Queens--Of the royal family, Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth--French tutors--Bernard André--French Grammars--Alexander Barclay's _Introductory_--Practice and Theory--Pierre Valence, tutor to the Earl of Lincoln--His _Introductions in French_--Fragment of a Grammar at Lambeth--French Humanists as Language masters--Bourbon and Denisot--England and the _Pléiade_.