The document provides an overview of the Middle English period in England from 1150-1450 CE. It discusses several key aspects including the establishment of the Norman and Angevin dynasties, the rise of religious orders, immense development in literature, and the transition to a new style of anonymous writing. Poetry became the dominant literary form during this time, with influential works like La3amon's Brut and Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, which helped standardize the English language and mark the beginning of English literature.

1. THE MIDDLE
ENGLISH PERIOD
TAMSA PANDYA
RESEARCH SCHOLAR
MKBU

2.  The History of England: The establishment of
Norman and Angevin Dynasties.
 ‘Middle English’ – a period of roughly 300 years
from around 1150 CE to around 1450
 Movements of the times : The rise of Religion orders
 Spirit of Romance
 Sympathy for women and poor
 Immense development in the field of literature.
A Bit History/ Introduction

3. Literary Features of the
age/ Characteristics
THE TRANSITION
THE ANONYMOUS
THE DOMINATION OF POETRY

4.  Period of transition and experiment
 The poets appear in part to be feeling for new media.
 The influence of French and Latin works is undoubtedly
great, and few poets are following Old English Period
 The most influential fourteenth century work
“LA3AMON’S BRUT”
 This work contains the quality of Oral tradition preserved
the poetic models of the past.
THE TRANSITION

5. THE ANONYMOUS
 Anonymous style of writing is still
strongly evidenced .
 A large proportion of the work are entirely
without known authors
 The authors whose names appear are
indeed names only.

6. ● Poetries from the filed of History, Divinity and Science
● Subjects of poetry is mainly written in prose , Small letters
● Remember Latin Language for official documents and
learning
● The Katherine group and Ancrene Riwle are outstanding
works ‘PURPLE PATCHES” an individual write up.
The Domination of Poetry

7. “The Canterbury Tales by
Geoffrey Chaucer”
“William Caxton's illustrated
second edition of The Canterbury Tales”

8. ● Geoffrey Chaucer began writing his famous “Canterbury Tales” in the early
1380s, and crucially he chose to write it in English. The “Canterbury Tales” is
usually considered the first great works of English literature, and the first
demonstration of the artistic legitimacy of vernacular Middle English, as
opposed to French or Latin. In the 858 lines of the Prologue to the “Canterbury
Tales”, almost 500 different French loanwords occur, and by some estimates,
some 20-25% of Chaucer’s vocabulary is French in origin. Chaucer introduced
many new words into the language, up to 2,000 by some counts these were almost
certainly words in everyday use in 14th Century London, but first attested in
Chaucer's written works.
“Canterbury Tales”

9.  The influence of the Normans can be
illustrated by looking at two words, beef and
cow.
 Beef, commonly eaten by the aristocracy,
derives from the Anglo-Norman, while the
Anglo-Saxon
commoners, who tended the cattle, retained
the Germanic cow.
 This split, where words commonly
used by the aristocracy have
Romantic roots and words
frequently used by the Anglo-Saxon
commoners have Germanic roots,
can be seen in many instances.
 French also affected spelling so that
the cw
sound became qu for example,
cween became Queen.
Grammatical change in Middle
English

10.  The linguistic influence of Norman French
continued for as long as the Kings ruled both
Normandy and England.
 When King John lost Normandy in the years
following 1200, the links to the French-speaking
community subsided.
 English then slowly started to gain more weight
as a common tongue within England again.
So why did the
language change?

11. ● Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400) was born
in the reign of Edward III, lived through
that of Richard II and died the year after
Henry IV ascended the throne. He was an
English poet and author. Widely
considered the greatest English poet of
the Middle Ages, he is best known for
The Canterbury Tales. He has been called
the "father of English literature“ or
alternatively the "father of English
poetry"
● The 14th century is known as the age of
Chaucer. It was the age of transition, a
transformation of medieval to the
modern times. The great age of
Enlightenment and Prosperity but
initially, during the middle age, the
people of England were not much
satisfied with the so-called religious,
political and social principles.
The age of Chaucer:

12. LITERARY FEATURES OF THE AGE
Prose
The Standardizing
of English
Scottish Literature
A curious 'modern'
note begins to be
apparent at this
period
A.O.C

13. ● The period of transition is now nearly over. The
English language has shaken down to a kind of
average--to the standard of the East Midland
speech, the language of the capital city and of
the universities. The other dialects, with the
exception of the Scottish branch, rapidly melt
away from literature, till they become quite
exiguous. French and English have
amalgamated to form the standard English
tongue, which attains to its first full expression
in the works of Chaucer
● There is a sharper spirit of criticism, a more
searching interest in man's affairs, and a less
childlike faith in, and a less complacent acceptance of,
the established order. The vogue of the romance,
though it has by no means gone, is passing, and in
Chaucer it is derided. The freshness of the romantic
ideal is being superseded by the more acute spirit of
the drama, which even at this early time is faintly
foreshadowed. Another more modem feature that at
once strikes the observer is that the age of anonymity
is passing away
The Standardizing of English/A curious 'modern' note
begins to be apparent at this period

14. ● This era sees the foundation of an English prose
style. Earlier specimens have been experimental
or purely imitative; now, in the works of
Mandeville and Malory, we have prose that is
both original and individual. The English
tongue is now ripe for a prose style. The
language is settling to a standard; Latin and
French are losing grip as popular prose
mediums and the growing desire for an English
Bible exercises a steady pressure in favor of a
standard English prose.
● Scottish Literature. For the first time
in our literature, in the person of
Barbour Scotland supplies a writer
worthy of note. This is only the
beginning for the tradition is handed
on to the powerful group of poets
who are mentioned in the next
chapter.
Prose/Scottish Literature

15. General Characteristics of Age:
PERIOD
Growth of
National
Sentiment
The Corruption
of the Church
and the
Reformation
An Era of
Transition
Black
Death
The Dawn of
New
Learning

16. ● The period between 1343 and 1450
is known as the age of Chaucer. The
age of Chaucer is the first significant
period in the Literary history of
England. It marks the beginning of a
new era, new language and new
literature.
● An Era of Transition: Chaucer
was born in a turbulent period
of social, religious and
political change. He was born
in the reign of Edward III, lived
through that of Richard II, and
died the year after Henry IV
ascended the throne.
Period/ An Era of Transition

17. ● In this age, we come across an ardent upsurge
of nationalism. The fusion of Normans and
Saxons had completely taken place even before
the birth of Chaucer. The consciousness of
national unity was strengthened during “The
Hundred Years’ War” with France and the
battles of Crecy and Poitiers. The victories of
Edward and the Black Prince on French soil
during the ‘The Hundred Years’ War’ gave a
feeling of national pride and self-respect to
the people of England
● It was an epoch of natural calamities
which increased the sufferings of the
common people. In 1348-49 came the
terrible Black Death Unit 1 The Age of
Chaucer Page 3 which carried off no less
than one-third of the population. It
reappeared in 1362, 1367 and which
carried off no less than one-third of the
population. It reappeared in 1362, 1367
and 1370.
Growth of National Sentiment/ Black
Death

18. ● The church, which was the seat of power and
prestige, was infected with corruption, moral
loss and superstition. Politically, intellectually
and spiritually its influence had been
diminished. The ecclesiastics were corrupt
and demoralized. They rolled in wealth and
luxury, and indulged in sorts of vices and
follies. They lived in a godless and
materialistic world. Chaucer’s ecclesiastical
characters in the Prologue realistically depict
the corruption of the church.
● Theology molded and affected the entire
life of people and ecclesiastical ideas
swayed the feelings of common people.
The spirit of humanism, which was one
of the formative influences of the age of
Chaucer, engendered “the quickened
sense of beauty, the delight in life, and
the free secular spirit” which began to
appear, though dimly, both in life and
literature. Root says: “The movement of
Renaissance first assumed definite
form, and our modern world began”.
The Corruption of the Church and the
Reformation/ The Dawn of New Learning

19. THANK
YOU