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410
ANGLOSAJÓN OR ANCIENT ENGLISH PERIOD
It covers literature written in Anglo-Saxon, genres, epic poetry, sermons, translations of the bibles, chronicles, spells, riddles. 731 The Venerable Bede, in his monastery at Jarrow, completes his history of the English church and people 800 Beowulf, the first great work of Germanic literature, mingles the legends of Scandinavia with the experience in England of Angles. 950 The material of the Eddas, taking shape in Iceland, derives from earlier sources in Norway, Britain and Burgundy. -
Period: 1066 to 1500
Middle English or Geoffrey Chaucer language
One of four new yeomen of the chamber in Edward III's household is Geoffrey Chaucer 1300 Duns Scotus, known as the Subtle Doctor in medieval times, later provides humanists with the name Dunsman or dunce 1375 The courtly poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight tells of a mysterious visitor to the round table of King Arthur 1469 Thomas Malory, in gaol somewhere in England, compiles Morte d'Arthur – an English account of the French tales of King Arthur -
Period: 1500 to 1560
English Renaissance
It is based on the artistic and cultural movement that existed in England 1510 Erasmus and Thomas More take the northern Renaissance in the direction of Christian humanism 1524 William Tyndale studies in the university at Wittenberg and plans to translate the Bible into English 1549 The first version of the English prayer book, or Book of Common Prayer, is published with text by Thomas Cranmer -
Period: to
puritan
An important sector of the Catholic Church in England felt that the definitive rupture of the Church had not been finished, since much of the liturgy and beliefs remained very similar. Anglicanism was too close to the real English power, obedient to its decisions and, therefore, arbitrary according to the current circumstances. 1660 On the first day of the new year Samuel Pepys gets up late, eats the remains of the turkey and begins his diary -
Period: to
Restoration Age
The theaters were opened and satirical works were depicted about the bourgeois nobility 1678 Part I of The Pilgrim's Progress, written during John Bunyan's two spells in Bedford Gaol, is published and is immediately popular 1688 Aphra Behn's novel Oroonoko makes an early protest against the inhumanity of the African slave trade 1690 John Locke publishes his Essay concerning Human Understanding, arguing that all knowledge is based on experience -
Period: to
18th century
This is the critical study of literary and cultural discourses and the analysis of specific literary texts at that time 1702 The Augustan Age begins in English literature, claiming comparison with the equivalent flowering under Augustus Caesar 1712 Alexander Pope's Rape of the Lock introduces a delicate vein of mock-heroic in English poetry 1755 Samuel Johnson publishes his magisterial Dictionary of the English Language -
Period: to
Romanticism
Poets explore nature through romantic poets that led English literature to a new degree of sentimentality and introspection 1804 William Blake includes his poem 'Jerusalem' in the Preface to his book Milton 1818 Two of Jane Austen's novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, are published in the year after her death 1836 24-year-old Charles Dickens begins monthly publication of his first work of fiction, Pickwick Papers (published in book form in 1837 -
Period: to
Victorian
The most important literary novel of Victorian literature, the authors were attentive to meet the tastes of the middle class 1895 Oscar Wilde is sent to Reading Gaol to serve a two-year sentence with hard labour after being convicted of homosexuality 1899 E. Nesbit publishes The Story of the Treasure Seekers, introducing the Bastable family who feature in several of her books for children -
Period: to
modern literature
After the wars the literary and artistic movements were very strong 1906 E. Nesbit publishes The Railway Children, the most successful of her books featuring the Bastable family 1924 E.M. Forster's novel A Passage to India builds on cultural misconceptions between the British and Indian communities 1940 Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman is rejected by numerous publishers before becoming, decades later, his best-known novel -
Period: to
Post Moderns
It is characterized by the great influence of French literature on forms and themes It is characterized by the great influence of French literature on forms and themes 1945 Evelyn Waugh publishes Brideshead Revisited, a novel about a rich Catholic family in England between the wars 1954 Politician and author Winston Churchill completes his six-volume history The Second World War 1998 Michael Frayn's play Copenhagen dramatizes the visit of Werner Heisenberg to Niels Bohr in wartime Denmark
