The most important documents of the Middle English

Period (1150-1500)

In terms of external history, Middle English is framed at its beginning by the after-
effects of the Norman Conquest of 1066, and at its end by the arrival in Britain of printing (in
1476) and by the important social and cultural impacts of the English Reformation (from the
1530s onwards) and of the ideas of the continental Renaissance.

Our earliest surviving documents in English date from about 700; thus Old English is
reckoned from that date. After the Norman Conquest (1066) writing in English declined rapidly,
most official documents being written in French or Latin. Until about 1150, documents in
English were still in the official Anglo-Saxon court dialect that had been developed before the
Norman Conquest. In around 1150, the documents shift to colloquial dialects and the Anglo-
Saxon court dialect disappears. 1500 is chosen as the end of the Middle English period because
printing had been introduced into England in 1476, so that the conditions of survival of literary
texts become very different from about 1500 on. From about 1700, documents in English are
recognizable as fully modern in grammar.

The documents from the early Old English period show a wide variety of colloquial
dialects. Toward the end of the Old English period, the Anglo-Saxon court dialect (a literary
language) was developed and became predominant. Then came the Norman invasion, and less
and less English was written. Because so little English was being written, the court dialect
tradition became weaker and weaker until it was finally abandoned. Then we begin to see
documents written in colloquial dialects again for the next two centuries or more. This is the
period called Middle English.

The history of the Middle English is quite rich in sources but I will mention the most
important of them:

By the late 11th century the English higher clergy and nobility had been replaced by
French. In the Domesday Book (1086), a detailed record of land property in England,
proposed by William and carried out in his name, there are virtually no English landlords
mentioned the higher echelons of English society had been rid of the English.

A consequence of this is that writing in English only very slowly regains its position in
society. There are some remnants of Old English, such as the Peterborough Chronicle, with
its final entry in 1154, but these represent the dying throes of a written tradition now virtually
extinct. Wiliam of Malmesburys Gesta Regum (presenting events of the period 449-1127) was
followed by the more popular Historia Regum Britanniae by Geoffrey of Monmouth. After
this Latin and French are the languages of literacy. It is not until the late 12th century that works
in English slowly begin to appear again in a very different guise from the last works in Old
English. This time dialectal diversity, and not the koin of a central region, characterises the
scene. For this reason it is appropriate to deal with the literary monuments of Middle English
according to geographical provenance.

The Orrmulum, a verse work of some 10,000 double lines, written ca. 1200, consists
of a recounting of the story of the gospels and homilies. Its author is Orrm, a monk who termed
his work a little book of Orrm. This is of linguistic significance because Orrm consistently used
double consonants after short vowels.

The Magna Carta Liberatum is a document that King John of England (1166 - 1216)
was forced into signing. King John was forced into signing the charter because it greatly reduced
the power he held as the King of England and allowed for the formation of a powerful
parliament. The Magna Carta became the basis for English citizen's rights and played a
significant role in the American Constitution. (Lords and Ladies)

1362- Parliament opened in English, as official language.

This is the area which includes London, the new capital of England after the Norman
invasion. It is the region from which the later standard of Britain emerged. The Canterbury
Tales is a collection of 24 stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by
Geoffrey Chaucer between 13871400. In 1386, Chaucer became Controller of Customs and
Justice of Peace and, three years later, Clerk of the King's work in 1389. It was during these
years that Chaucer began working on his most famous text, The Canterbury Tales.

William Caxton was the first Englishman to learn to use a printing press. The Recuyell
of the Historyes of Troye was his first printed book, and the first book printed anywhere in
English. It was produced in 1474 at Bruges. In 1476, first printing press established by William
Caxton at Westminster.

In conclusion, I choose this topic because literature has expanded into the minds of many
as the gateway for comprehension and curiosity of the human mind and the world around them.
Literature is the foundation of life since the earliest centuries and therefore, words are alive
more than ever before.

Sources:

https://www.uni-due.de/SHE/HE_ME_Writings.htm

http://www.lordsandladies.org/magna-carta.htm