Dialogues in French and English

In Short

Printed by William Caxton around 1483 and adapted from a fourteenth-century French-Flemish manual, this collection of practical dialogues provides a snapshot of late medieval daily life. Designed for merchants, travelers, and household managers, the text moves systematically through social greetings, commercial transactions, listings of goods, and workplace profiles. It has survived as a historical document because it captures the vernacular speech, trade practices, currency systems, and social structure of the fifteenth century. By recording how ordinary people spoke when buying cloth, identifying trades, or asking for directions, it serves as a bridge between medieval commerce and early English printing.

The Story

The volume opens with basic etiquette, demonstrating how gentlemen, ladies, and acquaintances should greet one another in public. It provides precise phrasing for asking after a friend's health, offering hospitality, and taking leave with appropriate blessings.

From greetings, the narrative turns to domestic life and dining. It outlines the preparation of meals, cataloging meats, wild game, poultry, and various bird species suitable for a table. The text lists beasts that are improper for consumption, such as horses, dogs, and predatory animals, alongside a collection of common fish.

The focus then shifts into the busy realm of medieval commerce. The dialogues guide the reader through buying and selling textiles, wool, and household goods. These exchanges depict the exact mechanics of trade: measuring cloth, bargaining over prices, checking for defects, and settling debts using the varied coinage of late medieval Europe, including English groats, Flemish placks, and gold nobles.

Following these commercial transactions, the text systematically surveys the visual and social landscape of medieval society. It catalogs ecclesiastical and civil authorities, running from the pope, cardinals, and kings down to parish priests, monks, nuns, and town officials.

The narrative broadens into a community directory, profiling dozens of individual tradespeople and workers by name. It outlines the specific crafts of bowmakers, scriveners, tailors, millers, innkeepers, and silk-workers, detailing how each earns a living and how some occasionally cheat their customers.

Finally, the book provides guidance for the traveler. It offers prayers for safe journeys, instructions on how to ask for directions on the road, and phrases for securing lodging, food, and care for horses at an inn. The text concludes with a solemn reminder of spiritual duties, urging the reader to keep vows, attend mass, and live uprightly before God.

How It Unfolds

Greetings and leave-taking Travelers and neighbors meet in the street to exchange courteous salutations and inquire about each other's welfare. They offer mutual assistance, exchange blessings, and take their leave with formal commendations to God.

`` "Sire, dieu vous garde!" "Syre, god you kepe!" Cest le plus bryef That is the shortest Que on puise dyre That one may saye Aux gens en saluant. To the peple in salewyng. ``

Provisioning the household A master sends a servant to the market to purchase wild boar, venison, and various birds while avoiding livestock and scavengers unfit for digestion. The exchange catalogs the creatures of the air, land, and sea that feed the city.

Trading at the market A buyer inspects cloth, demands accurate measurements, and negotiates the final cost with a female merchant. They negotiate payments using a mix of English, Flemish, and continental coins.

`` "Dame, puis que ie me tieng "Dame, syth that I me holde Plainement content, Playnly content, Et puis que bien me souffist, And sith it well me suffyseth, Il nest besoin de le remesurer. It is no nede to mete it agayn. Tien, valton, si le porte, Holde thou, boye, and bere it; Tu auras vng mayll. Thou shalt haue an halfpeny. ``

Cataloging the social order The dialogue lists the ranks of power in Church and State, moving from royal families and cardinals down to local monastic orders. It establishes every individual's place within the broader Christian world.

Profiles of town craftspeople The text introduces local workers by name, detailing their daily tasks, wares, and moral characters. Scriveners write legal contracts, millers take small portions of grain from every sack, and silk-workers construct purses.

Journeying and lodging A traveler requests directions along the road and secures lodging for horse and man at an inn. The book concludes with instructions on religious obligations, confession, and living a righteous life.

The People

The Buyer and the Merchant The buyer seeks good value and proper measurements when purchasing cloth and household goods, while the merchant wants fair payment in reliable currency. Their interactions balance polite social convention with sharp commercial bargaining, ensuring that neither party is deceived by bad measurements or counterfeit coins.

Philipote the Scallyd A servant who steals a small chest containing gold trim, silk ribbons, and fustian fabric from her master. She is caught, imprisoned, and punished by having her ear cut off, after which she threatens her master with violence.

Gervase the Scrivener A skilled clerk who writes legal charters, wills, land records, and financial accounts. He keeps his clients' secrets confidential and manages complex financial records for life-annuities and property rents.

Gerard the Miller A local craftsman responsible for grinding grain into flour. He is known throughout the community for taking a small handful of corn or meal from every sack brought to his mill.

Oberol the Hosteler An innkeeper whose establishment caters to foreign visitors, merchants, and travelers from across Europe, including English, French, Flemish, and German guests.

In Its Own Voice

When taking leave of a companion, the text advises traditional formulas of courtesy and protection:

"Goo ye to god."

In the market, a buyer settles accounts with a merchant after purchasing imported goods:

"Thise ben grotes of englond; suche ther be of flaundres; plackes and half plackes."

Addressing the work of the town scrivener, the text highlights the value of professional discretion:

"That whiche he writeth abydeth secrete."

What It's Really About

At its core, the text is about navigation—both linguistic and social. It serves as a practical tool for surviving the daily encounters of fifteenth-century urban life. Beneath the parallel columns of foreign vocabulary lies an instruction manual for conducting business across cultural and linguistic boundaries.

The book reflects a world governed by strict social hierarchy and practical economic realities. It illustrates how language functions as currency; knowing the correct terms for fish, fabrics, or ecclesiastical titles allows a person to trade fairly and avoid social blunders. It presents a society where daily work, religious obligation, and commercial exchange are thoroughly intertwined.

Why Read It Today

This volume appeals to readers interested in historical linguistics, Middle English, and the history of daily life in medieval Europe. Rather than offering a traditional narrative, it provides an immediate, unvarnished look at how ordinary people spoke, traded, and interacted over five hundred years ago.

Reading the parallel columns requires some patience. The Middle English spellings, archaic vocabulary, and literal translations from French demand slow, deliberate reading. Moreover, the text contains period-specific attitudes, matter-of-fact descriptions of harsh judicial punishments, and long inventories that read more like directories than literature.

What stays with you is the vivid humanity preserved in these routine exchanges. The petty thefts, the bargaining over a yard of cloth, and the warm greetings exchanged on dusty roads bridge the gap between the modern reader and the medieval world. It offers a clear, direct connection to the voices of the past.