History of English

100 Years’ War

a series of separate conflicts waged from 1337 to 1453 between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of France and their various allies for control of the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings. The victories of England in Crecy, Poitiers, and later at Agincourt strengthened patriotism and nationalism in the British people. The importance of these events leading to a growing animosity towards everything French, cannot be underestim

Aelfred

- king of Wessex (under his rule Wessex became politically and culturally the leading kingdom of England, paving the way for the future political unification of the country) - signed a treaty with Guthurum (king of Danish Vikings) at Wedmore, creating a Danelaw - Alfred was a learned man who encouraged education and improved his kingdom's legal system and military structure.

Aelfric

- lived in 10th century - a prolific writer in OE -author of many homilies and other works - contributed to the development of prose -studied in AEthelwold's school at the Old Minister in Winchester

Black Death

one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. The Black Death is estimated to have killed 30–60 percent of Europe's population. The Black Death has also influenced the position of the English language in Britain. Since the lack of teachers capable of teaching French increased drastically (they died), many schools had to switch to English. That is why English became the medium of instruction in schools all over the country after 1349 (reintroduct

Caedmon

Caedmon – The first English poet, whose name is known to us. He was a lay brother from the monastery at Whitby, who inspired a number of followers writing on the subject of Exodus, Genesis etc. The Old English poetry represented Christian tradition and was preoccupied with Christian themes. This poetry originated in Mercia and Northumbria in the 7th and 8th century. Cædmon's only known surviving work is Cædmon's Hymn, the nine-line alliterative vernacular praise poem in honour of God which he su

Chancery

It is a standard written English based on the language of the Central Midlands. Evolved from conventions established by clerks in the Chancery before 1430 and was later spread through England. Modern English is not Chancery English but Chancery Standard of the early 15th century is the starting point for the revolution. This written standard is a predecessor of Modern English Standard.

Cynewulf

Cynewulf is one of twelve Anglo-Saxon poets known by name today, and one of four whose work survives today. He is famous for his religious compositions, and is regarded as one of the pre-eminent figures of Old English Christian poetry. Posterity knows of his name by means of runic signatures that are interwoven into the four poems which comprise his scholastically recognized corpus. These poems are: The Fates of the Apostles, Juliana, Elene, and Christ II (also referred to as The Ascension). An

The Battle of Hastings

occurred on 14 October 1066 during the Norman conquest of England, between the Norman-French army of Duke William II of Normandy and the English army under King Harold II. It took place close to the present-day East Sussex, and was a decisive Norman victory. because William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy defeated poor king Harold and made the French the official language of england. Ironic, isn't? That is why the english language received an important contribution of words from French origin. S

Declaration of Independence

"The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America" was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire, thus giving a start to what we know today as the USA. The fact that, legally, it was British citizens overthrowing the British rule, along with other factors, contributed to the status of th

Geoffrey Chaucer

-known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages. While he achieved fame during his lifetime as an author, philosopher, alchemist and astronomer, composing a scientific treatise on the astrolabe for his ten year-old son Lewis, Chaucer also maintained an active career in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Among his many works, which include The Book of the Duchess, the House of Fame, the Legend of Good Women and T

Guthrum

King of the Danes; attacked Wessex with the Danes and was defeated by Alfred 879 Alfred and Guthrum signed a treaty at Wedmore It constituted a territory called Danelaw

Hengest&Horsa

Uogólnienie od Wiki- figures of Anglo-Saxon, and subsequently British, legend, which records the two as the Germanic brothers who led the Angle, Saxon, and Jutish armies that conquered the first territories of Britain in the 5th century. *Hengest and Horsa, two Saxon exiles/ Germanic leaders, were given land in Thanet in exchange for fighting Vortigern's (the ruler of Britons) enemies. *After some time they sent for more of their compatriots. *While part of the Saxon force went to fight in the n

Herbert Coleridge

He was a member of the committee, which was supposed to collect the words which did not appear in any dictionary in order to publish a supplement to them. However, a supplement was not satisfactory and a resolution was passed to create a new dictionary. Herbert Coleridge was the first editor but not for long as he died prematurely. Later on this dictionary became the Oxford English Dictionary.

Jamestown

In 1607 the English Language was brought to America by English colonists who came with Christopher Newport ab 120 board three ships (approximately 120 people) and established the settlement of Jamestown in today’s Virginia. The inhabitants were of mixed social and geographical background. From here the colonists moved to south to North Carolina and further on to South Carolina and Georgia.

John Hart

one of the most important sixteenth century pioneers who analyzed orthography with reference to pronunciation. He wrote three works propagating spelling reform. According to him the spoken language is primary and the writing system should be viewed as the rendering of a certain number of 'voices' (i.e., speech -sounds) by graphic symbols. The only proper way to do it is "to use as many letters in our writing, as we doe voices or breathes in speaking, and no more: and never to abuse one letter fo

Jonathan Swift

one of the staunchest supporters of the English Academy. In 1712 he addressed a letter to the Earl of Oxford, Lord Treasurer of England, presenting an extensive proposal concerning the necessity of founding such an academy. The letter was published under the title "A Proposal for Correcting, Improving, and Ascertaining the English Tongue". Swift assumed that the language attained its highest standard during the Elizabethan period. He opposed the idea of innovation of in language as a sign of cor

Lindisfarne

At some point in the early 700s the famous illuminated manuscript known as the Lindisfarne Gospels, an illustrated Latin copy of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, was made probably at Lindisfarne and the artist was possibly Eadfrith, who later became Bishop of Lindisfarne. Sometime in the second half of the tenth century a monk named Aldred added an Anglo-Saxon (Old English) gloss to the Latin text, producing the earliest surviving Old English copies of the Gospels. The Gospels were i

Loss of Normandy

Eight hundred years ago, in 1204, the political map of Western Europe was redrawn in the space of a few months when John, king of England and ruler of territories covering roughly two-thirds of modern France, was expelled from most of these continental lands by the French king, Philip II Augustus. Only Gascony was retained. For the first time since the Norman Conquest (1066), the Channel became England's first line of defence. Today, the Channel still separates the continental territory of Franc

21. The Peterborough Chronicle (also called the Laud manuscript and the E manuscript), one of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles,

contains unique information about the history of England after the Norman Conquest. According to philologistJ.A.W. Bennett, it is the only prose history in English between the Conquest and the later 14th century. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles were composed and maintained between the various monasteries of Anglo-Saxon England and were an attempt to record the history of Britain throughout the years AD. Typically the chronicles began with the birth of Christ, went through Biblical and Roman history,

Reformation

The Protestant Reformation coincided with a new period in history of England, when the throne went to the Tudors, and with a new period in history of English language, called Modern English stage. The reformation took place during the reign of Henry VIII. • Severing relations with Rome • Closing of monasteries • Reduction of the importance of Latin in churches and schools • Growth of patriotism -> raising the value of everyday English • Latin remained however to be used in education and as a mat

Robert Cawdrey

(ca. 1538 - after 1604) produced one of the first dictionaries of the English language, the Table Alphabeticall, in 1604. As many new words were entering the English language in the 16th century, Cawdrey became concerned that people would become confused. Cawdrey worried that the wealthy were adopting foreign words and phrases, and wrote that "they forget altogether their mothers language, so that if some of their mothers were alive, they were not able to tell or understand what they say." Rober

Robert Lowth

(27 November 1710 - 3 November 1787) was a Bishop of the Church of England, Oxford Professor of Poetry and the author of one of the most influential textbooks of English grammar. Lowth is also remembered for his publication in 1762 of A Short Introduction to English Grammar. Prompted by the absence of simple and pedagogical grammar textbooks in his day, Lowth set out to remedy the situation. Lowth has been regarded as the first imagery critic of Shakespeare's plays and highlighted the importance

Samuel Johnson

The author of the first English dictionary, worked on standardization and regularization of the language according to the idea of ascertainment – “correcting the language”. He collected examples of words and phrases, studied them together with other authorities and finally published a complete collection as a two-volume Dictionary of the EnglishLanguage in 1755.

St. Augustine

St. Augustine was a Benedictine monk sent (together with 40 other monks) to convert the heathen Germanic inhabitants of Britain by Pope Gregory in 597. He started the Christianization of the Anglo-Saxons from one of two directions, that is from Rome (they were Christianized by Irish-Scottish monastery, as well). St Augustine landed in Kent where he was well received by Queen Bertha, who was a Christian Frank. Three months after his arrival her husband King Ethelbert was baptized himself. In 601

Statue of Pleading

in 1362 the parliament enacted the Statue of pleading whereby as of January 1363 all law court proceedings and trials should be conducted in English since "French is much unknown in the said realm"

Wedmore

In 879 Alfred and Guthurum signed a treaty at Wedmore. The danes left Wessex. The treaty determined that the line running from London to the Lea near Luton and further to Bedford would be the boundary between Guthurum's and Alfred's kingdoms.

William Bullokar

Among the early grammarians who were also advocating spelling reform, an outstanding place is occupied by William Bullokar who presented his recommendations for the change of English orthography in "Book at Large for the Amendment of Orthographie for English Speech" (1581). His system of spelling was complicated and far from being consistently phonetic. Despite his introducing a large number of diacritics he was unable to render some of the vowel values. Apart from adding diacritics Bullokar als

William Caxton

- printer - translator - first printing press - first English book - first English retailer of printed books - standardized English - regulated inflection and syntax Caxton was an English merchant, diplomat, writer and printer. He is thought to be the first English person to work as a printer and the first to introduce a printing press into England. He was also the first English retailer of printed books (his London contemporaries in the same trade were all Dutch, German or French). Caxton print

Wulfstan

- bishop of York - writer - law- writer - homilist - after Danish invasion tried to enhance learning and literature - interested in problems of government and the arrangement of society - concerned with the reform of the church