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500
Old English Period
The Old English Period,also known as the Anglo Saxon Period took place from 450-1066. -
Period: 500 to
British Litersture Timeline
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May 1, 600
Christianity is Introduced
In 600, Christianity was introduced among Anglo Saxons by St. Augustine missionary from Rome. http://ai.stanford.edu/~csewell/cultur/britishlit.html -
Apr 1, 650
Old English Style and Genre
Old English consisted of many biblical references, many of which were translated latin works of the early Church fathers/ advisers. The literature throughout this time period chronicled narrative history works, laws, mills, and other legal works.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_English_literature -
Dec 1, 672
Saint Bede
Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede was an English monk at the monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth. He was a well known author and scholar; his most famous work was The Ecclesiastical History of the English People. http://people.umass.edu/eng2/per/oe_majauth.html -
Jun 1, 700
Beowulf
In the 700’s texts in English began to emerge and Beowulf was written down. http://ai.stanford.edu/~csewell/cultur/britishlit.html -
Apr 1, 1066
Middle English Style and Genre
The Middle English Period was the time in which literary works were taking a different approach. Instead of heavily relying on the biblical aspect, they introduced romantic works, along with fables, tragedy’s, and sermons. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_English_literature -
Jul 1, 1066
Middle English
The Middle English period took place from 1066 - 1485. -
Nov 1, 1332
William Langland
Another known author in the middle english time was William Langland (1332 – 1386).He is known as the author of Piers Plowman.
http://ai.stanford.edu/~csewell/culture/britishlit.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Langland -
Oct 1, 1343
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer (1343 – 25 October 1400), was known as the Father of English literature. During his lifetime he was known as an author, philosopher, alchemist and astronomer. Among his many works, he is best known today for The Canterbury Tales and Troilus and Criseyde. Chaucer was also an important figure in developing the vernacular, Middle English, when the dominant literary languages in England were French and Latin.
http://ai.stanford.edu/~csewell/culture/britishlit.htm -
Sep 1, 1362
English is Established, Canterbury Tales, and the Printing Press
In 1362, English becomes the official language of the law courts and thus this lead to more authors writing in English. In 1380, Geoffrey Chaucer writes the Canterbury Tales and the language used shows French influence, and in 1474, William Caxton brings the printing press to New England and publishes the first printed book in English. http://home.comcast.net/~stepehn.gottlieb/romantic/periods.html -
Feb 7, 1478
Sir Thomas More
Sir Thomas More ( 7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and a Renaissance humanist. He is best known for writing Utopia, the political system of an ideal and imaginary nation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_More -
Jan 1, 1485
The Renaissance
The Renaissance time period took place from 1485-1066. http://home.comcast.net/~stepehn.gottlieb/romantic/periods.html -
Jan 1, 1485
Renaissance Style and Genre
Renaissance literature is characterized as a humanist philosophy which recovered classical literature and developed new literary genres such as the essay, and new metrical forms. -
Jan 22, 1561
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, orator, essayist, and author. He is recognized for writing the Advancement of Learning and New Atlantis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon
http://ai.stanford.edu/~csewell/culture/britishlit.html -
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 (baptised) – 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor. His work consists of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses. His plays have been translated into every major language. He is best known for his tragedies including, Hamlet, Othello, and Macbeth. -
John Milton
John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet. He wrote at a time of religious instability and political upheaval. He is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton -
King James Bible and Shakespeare
In 1611,the King James Bible was published and it influenced speech and writing. In 1616 Shakespeare dies and is recognized as a genius of the English language. http://ai.stanford.edu/~csewell/culture/britishlit.html -
John Locke
John Locke (29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704), was an English philosopher and physician and was regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. His writings influenced Voltaire, Rousseau, Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, and the American revolutionaries. He is known for writing Treatises on Government. http://ai.stanford.edu/~csewell/culture/britishlit.html -
Neoclassical Style and Genre
Neo classical literature was characterized by its order and accuracy. In the neo classical time men weren't seen as good people, the neoclassical period portrayed many of the human flaws , emphasizing restraint, self control, and common sense. Around this time period is were one saw parodies, essays, and satire evolve.
http://study.com/academy/lesson/neoclassical-literature-definition-characteristics-movement.html -
Neoclassical Time Period
The Neo - Classical time period took place from 1660-1789. -
Science Develops and John Dryden
In 1660, science develops from astronomy, physics, to natural history. Throughout this time period people borrowed Latin and Greek words to make new words.
John Dryden (1631-1700) became the first poet Laureate, in which he was officially assigned and paid to write poems. -
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth (7 April 1770 – 23 April 1850) was a major English Romantic poet who helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature. He is known for writing, Intimations of Immortality and Lines Composed a Few Miles. -
Sir Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832) was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet. He is known for writing Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, and The Lady of the Lake. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Scott -
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( 21 October 1772 – 25 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic and philosopher who was a founder of the Romantic literary movement. He also helped to introduce German idealist philosophy to the English-speaking culture. He is known for writing the Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Taylor_Coleridge -
The Romantic Age
The Romantic Age took place from 1780-1837. -
Romantic Age Style and Genre
In the Romantic Age, literature was centered in the visual arts, music, and literature, but also impacted the natural sciences. The Romantic Age also placed emphasis on the sublimity and the beauty of nature. Along with that, the romantic Age was associated with liberalism and radicalism. -
Ann Yearsley and William Wordsworth
In 1785, Ann Yearsley publishes, Poems's on Several Occasion. In 1787 William Wordsworth's first published poem appears in the European Magazine. http://www.romanticismanthology.com/timeline/default.asp -
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens (7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer, a social critic, and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works were very popular throughout his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. He is known for writing "Great Expectations" and the "Bleak House".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens -
Emily Bronte
Emily Bronte (30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet. She is best known for her only novel, Wuthering Heights, a classic in English literature. Emily was the She wrote under the pen name Ellis Bell. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Bront%C3%AB -
Charles Dodgson
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), also known by his pen name, Lewis Carroll, was an English writer, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. He is famous for writing Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass, which includes the poem Jabberwocky, and the poem The Hunting of the Snark. -
Victorian Time Period
The Victorian Time Period took place from 1837-1901. -
Victorian Style and Genre
Victorian literature produced during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901) or the Victorian era transitions between the writers of the romantic period and the contrasting literature of the 20th century. The 19th century is often regarded as a high point in British literature as well as in other countries such as France, the United States, and Russia. Books and novels in particular, became ubiquitous and the “victorian novelist” created a legacy of works with short stories and poetry. -
The Great Exhibition/ First Air-Type Exhibition
In 1851, The Great Exhibition hosted in the magnificent Crystal Palace, was perhaps the world's first Fair-type exhibition, presenting new technology and exhibits from all over the world. This exhibit represented the advances and attitudes of the Victorian era. http://www.anglotopia.net/british-history/british-empire/brit-history-10-events-victorian-era-every-anglophile-know/ -
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad (3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Polish author who wrote in English after settling in England. He wrote stories and novels that depicted trials of the human spirit in an indifferent universe. He was a prose stylist who brought non-English sensibility into English literature. He is known for writing, ”An Outcast of the Islands” and “Heart of Darkness”. -
D. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Richards Lawrence, also kown as D.H. Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter. His work represented a reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation. He is known for writing “Aaron’s Rod” and “England my England”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._H._Lawrence -
T.S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 1888 – 4 January 1965), also known as T. S. Eliot, was an essayist, publisher, playwright, literary and social critic. Eliot was well known for his poem ,The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1915), which is seen as a masterpiece of the Modernist movement. It was followed by The Waste Land. -
Modern Time Period
The Modern Time period took place from 1900-1945. -
Modern Period Style and Genre
The literary period of modernism (1900-1945) followed the realist movement. This period was not the typical literary movement. Instead, the modernist movement existed of numerous small groups of writers. Historically, the most significant event during this literary period was that of world war one. In a sense, the literature of the period mirrored the conflict, division, and destruction of the war. Writers of this period tended to speak against conformity (acting as literary rebels). -
Vladimir Lenin and the Treaty of Versailles
On April 27 1917 Vladimir Lenin leads the Bolsheviks in the world’s first communist revolution.
On November 11, 1918 the Treaty of Versailles will officially put an end to World War one. -
Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac (March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969) was an American novelist and poet. Kerouac is recognized for his method of prose; his work covers topics about Catholic spirituality, jazz, promiscuity, Buddhism, drugs, poverty, and travel. He is known for writing “On the Road”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kerouac -
Harper Lee
Nelle Harper Lee (born April 28, 1926) is an American novelist widely known for writing, To Kill a Mockingbird, which deals with the racism she observed as a child in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harper_Lee -
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison (born February 18, 1931) is an American novelist, editor, and professor. She is known for her epic themes, vivid dialogue, and detailed characters. She is known for writing, The Bluest Eye, Sula, Song of Solomon and Beloved. -
Margaret Atwood
Margaret Eleanor Atwood, (born November 18, 1939), is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is known for writing Handmaid's Tail. -
Isabel Allende
Isabel Allende, born August 2nd 1942, is a Chilean-American writer. Allende,is famous for novels such as The House of the Spirits and City of the Beasts. -
Post Modern Period
The Post Modern Period took place from the late 20th century, 1950-1990. -
Contemporary Literature Style and Genre
Contemporary literature reflects current trends in life and culture and because these things change often, contemporary literature changes often as well. Contemporary literature most often reflects the author’s perspective and can come across as cynical. It questions facts, historical, perspectives and often presents two contradictory arguments side by side. -
Postmodern Period Style and Genre
Postmodernism is a literary movement of post-1950s, a time marked by the cold war and the excesses of consumption. It differs from Modernism by blurring the conventional boundary between "high" and "low" culture, by a completely loosened structure in both time and space, and by multiple openings rather than a closure. It rejects to conform to popular taste and combines heterogeneous elements, making it cater to a more sophisticated readership.
http://writershistory.com/index.php?option -
Contemporary Time Period
The Contemporary Time period took place from 1950-1990. -
Segregation is Unconstitutuional and JFK is Assassinated
On May 17 1954, the Supreme Court rules that public school segregation is unconstitutional. Around this time, segregation and racism were heavily debated topics.
On November 22 1963, John F. Kennedy is assassinated. His assassination produced mass disconsolation in the lives of many Americans. -
Vietnam and The Beatles
The Beatles Arrive in America in 1964 and produce their own form of post modern rock than what was experienced before in the United States. The Vietnam War was marked in the United States by vast public protest demonstrations in 1973 which showed major characteristics of postmodernism. -
King Alfred
King Alfred (849 – 26 October 899) was thought to have translated translated the first fifty Psalms as well as three prose works such as Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy.
http://people.umass.edu/eng2/per/oe_majauth.html
