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The middle English Period

By Ana Montt
  • 1066

    Replace the native English nobility.

    The Normans conquered England, replacing the native English nobility with Anglo-Normans and introducing Norman French as the language of government in England.
  • 1066

    Battle of Hastings

    Under the leadership of William the Conqueror, they defeated
    the English and their hapless King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
  • 1204

    The loss of Normandy in 1204 by King John,

    The loss of Normandy in 1204 by King John,
    a descendant of the Conqueror, removed an important tie with France, and subse-
    quent events were to loosen the remaining ties.
  • 1204

    King John lost Normandy

    King John lost Normandy to the French, beginning the loosening of ties
    between England and the Continent.
  • 1258

    King Henry III

    King Henry III issued the first English-language royal proclamation since the Conquest,
  • 1337

    War

    The Hundred Years’ War began and lasted until 1453,
  • 1348

    The black death

    1348–50 The Black Death killed an estimated one-third of England’s population and continued to plague the country
  • 1362

    The statue of pleadings

    The Statute of Pleadings was enacted,
  • 1381

    Working class rebellion

    The Peasants’ Revolt led by Wat Tyler was the first rebellion of
    working-class people against their exploitation.
  • 1381

    The Peasants’ Revolt

    Led by Wat Tyler and sparked by a series of poll taxes (fixed taxes on each person), was largely unsuccessful, but
    it presaged social changes that were fulfilled centuries later.
  • 1384

    John Wycliffe

    John Wycliffe died, having promoted the first complete translation of
    scripture into the English language
  • 1400

    English poetry

    Geoffrey Chaucer died, having produced a highly influential body of
    English poetry.
  • 1430

    Began recording East Midland English

    The Chancery office began record-keeping in a form of East Midland English, which became the written standard of English.
  • 1476

    William Caxton

    William Caxton brought printing to England, thus promoting literacy
    throughout the population.
  • 1485

    Henry Tuddor

    Henry Tudor became king of England,called the War of the Roses, and introducing 118 years of the Tudor dynasty.
  • 1497

    English territorial expansion

    John Cabot sailed to Nova Scotia, foreshadowing English territorial
    expansion overseas.

  • English poetry that was a development

    Of the native tradition of versification stretching
    back to Anglo-Saxon times.
    Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur (printed by William Caxton
    in 1485),

  • English poetry

    through Alfred Lord Tennyson’s Idylls of the King (1859–88),

  • English poetry

    Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Leowe’s musical Camelot (1960, film 1967),