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530
Sermon
Gildas (c. 500–570), De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Excidio_et_Conquestu_Britanniae]
(Latin for "On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain") is a sermon in three parts condemning the acts of Gildas' contemporaries, both secular and religious. One of the most important sources for the history of Britain in the 5th and 6th centuries, and the only significant source for the period written by a near contemporary of the people and events described. -
Period: 600 to 1100
Anglo-Latin literature
Anglo-Latin literature [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Latin_literature] is literature from Britain originally written in Latin. It is used to refer to literature written in Latin from parts of Britain which were not in England or English-speaking. It is mostly ecclesiastical, written at the beginning of the fifth-century, including Chronicles by Bede (672/3–735), Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, and Gildas (c. 500–570), De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae. -
Period: 601 to 1100
Old English literature or Anglo-Saxon literature
Old English literature or Anglo-Saxon literature, encompasses literature written in Old English, in Anglo-Saxon England from the 7th century to the decades after the Norman Conquest of 1066. "Cædmon's Hymn", composed in the 7th century, is often considered the oldest extant poem in English, whereas the later poem, The Grave is one of the final poems written in Old English. The Peterborough Chronicle can also be considered a late-period text, continuing into the 12th century. -
640
Hagiography
Adomnán's (627/8–704) most important work is the Vita Columbae,[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columba] a hagiography of Columba, and the most important surviving work written in early medieval Scotland. It is a vital source for knowledge of the Picts, as well as an insight into the life of Iona Abbey and the early medieval Gaelic monk. The vita of Columba contains a story that has been interpreted as the first reference to the Loch Ness Monster. -
699
English Latin hagiography
Vita Sancti Cuthberti (c. 699–705) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vita_Sancti_Cuthberti] is the first piece of Northumbrian Latin writing and the earliest piece of English Latin hagiography. -
700
Epic Poetry
An epic poem, is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral tradition was very strong in early English culture and most literary works were written to be performed. They were very popular, and some, including Beowulf, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf] have survived to the present day. Beowulf, is the most famous work in Old English achieving national epic status in England. -
731
Ecclesiastical Latin literature
Bede (672/3–735), with his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum,[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecclesiastical_History_of_the_English_People] and Gildas (c. 500–570), with his De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, were figures who contributed in the development of indigenous Latin literature, mostly ecclesiastical, in the centuries following the withdrawal of the Roman Empire around the year 410. -
828
English Latin literature
The Historia Brittonum [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historia_Brittonum] composed in the 9th century is traditionally ascribed to Nennius. It is the earliest source which presents King Arthur [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Arthur] as a historical figure, and is the source of several stories which were repeated and amplified by later authors. -
850
Old English Poetry
Cynewulf [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynewulf] has proven to be a difficult figure to identify, but recent research suggests he was an Anglian poet from the early part of the 9th century. Four poems are attributed to him, signed with a runic acrostic at the end of each poem; these are The Fates of the Apostles [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fates_of_the_Apostles] and Elene (both found in the Vercelli Book), and Christ II and Juliana (both found in the Exeter Book) -
Period: 850 to 1100
Old English prose
Of the surviving prose, the majority consists of the homilies, saints' lives and biblical translations from Latin. Literacy in Anglo-Saxon England was largely the province of monks, nuns, and ecclesiastics. Old English prose first appears in the 9th century, and continues to be recorded through the 12th century as the last generation of scribes, trained as boys in the standardised West Saxon before the Conquest, died as old men -
860
Secular prose
The most widely known secular author of Old English was King Alfred the Great (849–899), who translated several books, many of them religious, from Latin into Old English. Alfred's cultural program produced the following translations: Gregory the Great's The Pastoral Care, a manual for priests on how to conduct their duties; The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius; and The Soliloquies of Saint Augustine. -
870
Chronicles
A chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the chronicler. This is in contrast to a narrative or history, which sets selected events in a meaningful interpretive context and excludes those the author does not see as important. -
871
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_Chronicle] contains various heroic poems inserted throughout. The earliest from 937 is called The Battle of Brunanburh, which celebrates the victory of King Athelstan over the Scots and Norse. There are five shorter poems: capture of the Five Boroughs (942); coronation of King Edgar (973); death of King Edgar (975); death of Alfred the son of King Æthelred (1036); and death of King Edward the Confessor (1065) -
875
Classical and Latin poetry
Several Old English poems are adaptations of late classical philosophical texts. The longest is a 10th-century translation of Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy contained in the Cotton manuscript Otho A.vi.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Consolation_of_Philosophy]. Another is The Phoenix in the Exeter Book, an allegorisation of the De ave phoenice by Lactantius. Other short poems derive from the Latin bestiary tradition. Some examples include The Panther, The Whale and The Partridge -
990
Anglo-Saxon riddles
Part of Anglo-Saxon literature, the most famous Anglo-Saxon riddles are found in the Exeter Book [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exeter_Book]. This book contains secular and religious poems and other writings, along with a collection of 94 riddles. It is more likely that many scribes worked on this collection of riddles. Although the Exeter Book has a unique and extensive collection of Anglo-Saxon riddles, riddles were not uncommon during this era. Riddles were both comical and obscene. -
1000
Biblical paraphrases
There are a number of partial Old English Bible translations and paraphrases surviving. The Junius manuscript contains three paraphrases of Old Testament texts. The first and longest is of Genesis, the second is of Exodus and the third is Daniel. Contained in Daniel are two lyrics, Song of the Three Children and Song of Azarias, the latter also appearing in the Exeter Book after Guthlac. The fourth and last poem, Christ and Satan, retells a number of episodes from both the Old and New Testament -
1125
Transition from Old english language to Middle English - William of Malmesbury
He was the foremost English historian of the 12th century [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_of_Malmesbury]. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede.During the course of his studies, he amassed a collection of medieval histories Gesta Regum Anglorum, which inspired in him the idea for a popular account of English history modelled on the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People) of Bede.
