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Period: 450 to 1066
Old English
The first anglo-saxon written literature, oral tradition, poetry, strong believe in faith, moral instruction through lierature, and admiration to heroic warriors. -
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 and Saxons -
950
The material of the Eddas
Ttaking shape in Iceland, derives from earlier sources in Norway, Britain and Burgundy -
Period: 1066 to 1500
Middle English
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1300
Duns Scotus
known as the Subtle Doctor in medieval times, later provides humanists with the name Dunsman or dunce -
1340
William of Ockham
Advocates paring down arguments to their essentials, an approach later known as Ockham's Razor -
1367
The epic poem of Piers Plowman
A narrator who calls himself Will, and whose name may be Langland, begins the epic poem of Piers Plowman -
1375
The courtly poem
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight tells of a mysterious visitor to the round table of King Arthur -
1385
Chaucer completes Troilus and Criseyde
his long poem about a legendary love affair in ancient Troy -
1387
Chaucer begins an ambitious scheme for 100 Canterbury Tales
of which he completes only 24 by the time of his death -
1469
Thomas Malory, compiles Morte d'Arthur
in gaol somewhere in England compiles Morte d'Arthur – an English account of the French tales of King Arthur -
Period: 1500 to
English Renaissance
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1510
Erasmus and Thomas More, lead the Renaissance
They take the northern Renaissance in the direction of Christian humanism -
1524
William Tyndale studies in the university at Wittenberg, the Bible into English
and plans to translate the Bible into English -
1549
Thomas Cranmer, publishes the English prayer book
The first version of the English prayer book, or Book of Common Prayer, is published with text by Thomas Cranmer -
1564
Marlowe and Shakespeare are born
in the same year with Marlowe the older by two months -
1567
The Book of Common Prayer and the New Testament are published
The Book of Common Prayer and the New Testament are published in Welsh, to be followed by the complete Bible in 1588 -
1582
William Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway
The 18-year-old William Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway in Stratford-upon-Avon -
Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great
Marlowe's first play, Tamburlaine the Great, introduces the swaggering blank verse of Elizabethan and Jacobean drama -
Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene
English poet Edmund Spenser celebrates the Protestant Elizabeth I as The Faerie Queene -
Shakespeare, Richard III
After tentative beginnings in the three parts of Henry VI, Shakespeare achieves his first masterpiece on stage with Richard III -
Shakespeare, Hamlet
Shakespeare's central character in Hamlet expresses both the ideals of the Renaissance and the disillusion of a less confident ag -
James I commissions the Authorized version of the Bible
James I commissions the Authorized version of the Bible, which is completed by forty-seven scholars in seven years -
Ben Jonson writes The Masque of Blackness
the first of his many masques for the court of James I -
John Smith publishes A Description of New England
an account of his exploration of the region in 1614 -
William Shakespeare dies at New Place
his home in Stratford-upon-Avon, and is buried in Holy Trinity Church -
Period: to
Puritan
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Period: to
Restoration Age
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John Milton, Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is published, earning its author John Milton just £10 -
John Locke, Essay concerning Human Understanding
John Locke publishes his Essay concerning Human Understanding, arguing that all knowledge is based on experience -
Period: to
18th Century
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The Augustan Age begins in English literature
claiming comparison with the equivalent flowering under Augustus Caesar -
Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, with its detailed realism, can be seen as the first English novel -
Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels
Jonathan Swift sends his hero on a series of bitterly satirical travels in Gulliver's Travels -
David Hume publishes his Treatise of Human Nature
in which he applies to the human mind the principles of experimental scienc -
Thomas Gray, Country Church Yard
English poet Thomas Gray publishes his Elegy written in a Country Church Yard -
Samuel Johnson publishes his magisterial Dictionary of the English Language
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Publication of the Encyclopaedia Britannica
A Society of Gentlemen in Scotland begins publication of the immensely successful Encyclopaedia Britannica -
Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
English historian Edward Gibbon publishes the first volume of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire -
Thomas Paine publishes the first part of The Rights of Man
his reply to Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France -
Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
English author Mary Wollstonecraft publishes a passionately feminist work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman -
Wordsworth and Coleridge jointly publish Lyrical Ballads
English poets Wordsworth and Coleridge jointly publish Lyrical Ballads, a milestone in the Romantic movement -
Period: to
Romanticism
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Walter Scott publishes The Lay of the Last Minstrel
the long romantic poem that first brings him fame -
Jane Austen publishes Sense and Sensibility
English author Jane Austen publishes her first work in print, Sense and Sensibility, at her own expense -
Byron, Don Juan
Byron begins publication in parts of his longest poem, Don Juan an epic satirical comment on contemporary life -
English poet John Keats publishes Ode to a Nightingale
inspired by the bird's song in his Hampstead garden -
William Hazlitt publishes Table Talk
English author William Hazlitt publishes Table Talk, a two-volume collection that includes most of his best-known essays -
Charles Dickens' first novel, Oliver Twist
begins monthly publication (in book form, 1838) -
Period: to
Victorian
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Friedrich Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England
Friedrich Engels, after running a textile factory in Manchester, publishes The Condition of the Working Class in England -
Brontë sisters publish Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre
Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights follows just two months after her sister Charlotte's Jane Eyre -
Charles Dickens, David Copperfield
Charles Dickens begins the publication in monthly numbers of David Copperfield, his own favourite among his novels -
Peter Mark Roget, dictionary of synonyms, the Thesaurus
London physician Peter Mark Roget publishes his dictionary of synonyms, the Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases -
Charles Darwin, the theory of evolution in On the Origin of Species
Charles Darwin puts forward the theory of evolution in On the Origin of Species, the result of 20 years' research -
Edward FitzGerald publishes The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
romantic translations of the work of the Persian poet -
Charles Dickens, "Great Expectations"
Charles Dickens begins serial publication of his novel "Great Expectations" (in book form 1861 -
Mrs Henry Wood, East Lynne
Mrs Henry Wood publishes her first novel, East Lynne, which becomes the basis of the most popular of all Victorian melodramas -
Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll publishes Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, a development of the story he had told Alice Liddell three years earlie -
Marx, Das Kapital
The first volume of Das Kapital is completed by Marx in London and is published in Hamburg -
Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd
English author Thomas Hardy has his first success with his novel Far from the Madding Crowd -
William Gladstone's pamphlet Bulgarian Horrors
protesting at massacre by the Turks, sells 200,000 copies within a month -
Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
Robert Louis Stevenson's adventure story, Treasure Island, features Long John Silver and Ben Gunn -
Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Robert Louis Stevenson introduces a dual personality in his novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde -
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gra
Oscar Wilde publishes his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray in which the ever-youthful hero's portrait grows old and ugly -
Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book
Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book surrounds the child Mowgli with a collection of vivid animal guardians -
Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest
Oscar Wilde's most brilliant comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest is performed in London's St. James Theatre -
Bram Stoker, Dracula
English author Bram Stoker publishes Dracula, his gothic tale of vampirism in Transylvania -
Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Beatrix Potter publishes at her own expense The Tale of Peter Rabbit -
Period: to
Modern Literature
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Erskine Childers, The Riddle of the Sands
Erskine Childers has a best-seller in The Riddle of the Sands, a thriller about a planned German invasion of Britain -
Bernard Shaw, Major Barbara and Man and Superman
Bernard Shaw has two new plays opening in London in the same year, Major Barbara and Man and Superman -
James Joyce, Dubliners
After years of delay James Joyce's Dubliners, a collection of short stories, is published -
Virginia Woolf, The Voyage Out
The English writer Virginia Woolf publishes her first novel, The Voyage Out -
Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles
The Belgian detective Hercule Poirot features in Agatha Christie's first book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles -
Period: to
Post Moderns
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C.S. Lewis, Narnia in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
C.S. Lewis gives the first glimpse of Narnia in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe -
Ian Fleming, James Bond, agent 007
James Bond, agent 007, has a licence to kill in Ian Fleming's first novel, Casino Royale -
Winston Churchill, The Second World War
Politician and author Winston Churchill completes his six-volume history The Second World War -
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
British philologist J.R.R. Tolkien publishes the third and final volume of his epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings -
Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Roald Dahl publishes a fantasy treat for a starving child, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory -
Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time: from the Big Bang to Black Holes
British physicist Stephen Hawking explains the cosmos for the general reader in A Brief History of Time: from the Big Bang to Black Holes -
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
A schoolboy wizard performs his first tricks in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone -
Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials
The Amber Spyglass completes Philip Pullman's trilogy, His Dark Materials
