This thesis tries to account for the word order change from OV to VO in the history of English. It is a well known fact that Old English mainly exhibited (embedded) clauses with OV word order but that Middle English texts 'suddenly' exhibit (embedded) clauses with VO order. The best known evidence for this change is the Peterborough Chronicle (1070-1154) where both patterns can be found. The question then is how this change took place, i.e., what factors caused the change from OV to VO. I claim here that the change is due to the external factor language contact, i.e., that the English language changed due to Scandinavian influence during the times of the great Scandinavian invasions in England.
