The history of English

By chloecuniffe
  • Sep 29, 1066

    Battle of Hastings

    William duke of Normandy invaded England and brought Norman French into the country. For then next 3 centuries the upper class spoke French it was the language of power and wealth of education and the law.
  • Period: Sep 29, 1350 to

    The great vowel shift

    Words began to change for example Lond- land, Kirk- church, doth- has/does
    sound changes were having an effect on pronunciation
    printing was fixing in the late middle English
  • Oct 19, 1384

    John Wycliffe

    First translation to English from latin (verbatum)
    Opposed to power and wealth of the church
    Condemned for heracy
    Died before so they burnt his bones
  • Oct 19, 1388

    Chaucer

    first great writer in English
    different dialects
    'Canterbury tales' 1388 24 stories
    language helped to standardise London dialect.
  • Sep 29, 1422

    The paston letters

    Bulk of letters written by the paston family sold by William paston in the early 18th century. The paston family takes its name from Norfolk and they lived there in the early 15th century
  • Oct 20, 1450

    Renaissance

    Rebirth 15- 17 century
    First signs of this period 1450
    Science started to show in disciplines, medicine, astronomy, natural science and physics
    Printing press most important invention of Renaissance period
    Astronomy discovered
    Microscope and telescope invented
  • Sep 29, 1476

    Standardisation

    The printing press was made by William Caxton in 1476. The first book he printed in English was 'the recuyell of the historyes of troye'.
  • Sep 29, 1500

    Letter writing in the 16th century

    Letters were written to deal with political matters rather than to exchange personal information. They were delivered by servants called call boys.
  • Oct 19, 1526

    William Tyndale

    original Hebrew/ Greek
    added new ideoms/ phrases
    translated for the common man
    main influence of King James Bible 1611
    believed that the church was lazy and nobody understood the bible.
  • Oct 19, 1531

    Richard Mulcaster

    regarded as the founder of English Language lexis orthography
    theories not accepted until at least 250 years till after death

  • Elizabethan Poor law

    In 1601 the poor law was passed. The poor law allowed people to work and they got food/money.

  • First dictionary

    Robert caudry
    For people who did not understand scriptures
    2500 hard words

  • King James Bible

    1611 King James bible published. Was written to be spoken out loud for all to hear and to spread. Was in English. William Tyndall was the translator of the bible, started making it in 1584.

  • Workhouses

    The dean house workhouse was built in 1861 and opened a year later. Was open from 1862- 20th century. Majority of inmates were from Yorkshire.