British Literature

By val.medina
  • Period: 400 to Dec 31, 1485

    Middle Ages

  • 405

    St. Jerome completes Vulgate Latin Bible

    This Bible became the standard for the Roman Catholic Church.
  • 450

    Anglo-Saxon conquest of Britons

    This event is relevant for the influence Anglo-Saxons would have in British Literature.
  • Jan 1, 1000

    "The Dream of the Rood"

    Unknown Author
  • Jan 1, 1066

    Norman Conquest by William I

    Established French-speaking ruling class in England.
  • Period: Jan 1, 1095 to Jan 1, 1221

    Crusades

    This event is relevant because of the religious atmosphere created by the Crusades in the British Isles.
  • Jan 1, 1321

    Dante writes the Divine Comedy

    The Divine Comedy had a great influence in literature.
  • Period: Jan 1, 1337 to Jan 1, 1453

    Hundred Years' War

    This war strengthened nationalism in England.
  • Jan 1, 1348

    Black Death

    The Black Death ravaged Europe.
  • Jan 1, 1386

    The Canterbury Tales

    By Geoffrey Chaucer
  • Jan 1, 1470

    Sir Thomas Malory imprisioned

    Sir Thomas Malory worked on Morte Darthur while in prison.
  • Jan 1, 1476

    Caxton sets up first printing press

    The printing press was very important for British Literature.
  • Jan 1, 1485

    Morte Darthur

    By Sir Thomas Malory
  • Jan 1, 1485

    Caxton publishes Morte Darthur

    Morte Darthur was one of the first books in English to be printed.
  • Jan 1, 1485

    Accession of Henry VII

    This event inagurated the Tudor dynasty.
  • Period: Jan 1, 1485 to

    The Sixteenth Century

  • Jan 1, 1509

    Accension of Henry VIII

    Henry VIII's accession to the throne marks the beginnig of a lot of political unrest.
  • Jan 1, 1517

    Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses

    This event marks the beginning of the Reformation which had a major impact on literature.
  • Jan 1, 1525

    William Tyndale's translation of the New Testament

    Thi event has significance because the New Testament became avilable to the common man.
  • Jan 1, 1534

    Henry VIII divorces Catherine of Aragon

    This event is significant because Henry VIII declared himself head of the Church of England.
  • Jan 1, 1542

    Roman Inquisition

    This event is important because it tells of the religious mood in England.
  • Jan 1, 1553

    Accesion of Catholic Queen Mary

    Queen Mary is known for her persecution of dissenters.
  • Jan 1, 1558

    Queen Mary dies

    This event is important because she was succeded by Protestant Elizabeth I.

  • Shakespeare begins career as actor and playwright

    This event is important because of the influence on William Shakespeare's works in British literature.

  • Amoretti

    By Edmund Spenser

  • "The Passionate Shepherd to his Love"

    By Christopher Marlowe

  • Globe Theater Opens

    This event is relevant because in this theater were performed many of Shakespeare's plays.

  • "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd"

    By Sir Walter Raleigh

  • Queen Elizabeth I dies

    Elizabeth was succeded by James VI of Scotland, thus inagurating the Stuart dynasty.
  • Period: to

    The Early Seventeenth Century

  • Gunpowder plot fails

    This plot was an effort of Roman Catholic extremists to blow up parliament.

  • Sonnets

    By William Shakespeare

  • Holy Sonnets

    By John Donne

  • "Eve's Apology in Defense of Women"

    By Aemilia Lanyer

  • Epigrams

    By Ben Johnson

  • The Thirty Years' War

    This event is important because the literature of this period reflects the unrest between Protestants and Catholics.

  • Donne appointed dean of St. Paul's Cathedral

    This event is important because it influenced Donne's writings.

  • "To the Memory of My Beloved, The Author, Mr. William Shakespeare, and What He Hath Left Us"

    By Ben Johnson

  • Charles I becomes king

    This event is important because Charles first dissolved Parliament in 1629.

  • "On Shakespeare"

    By John Milton

  • "L'Allegro" & "Il Penseroso"

    By John Milton

  • "The Flea"

    By John Donne

  • The Temple

    By George Herbert

  • "Still to Be Neat"

    By Ben Johnson

  • First Civil War begins

    This event is important because Parliament closed theaters due to Puritan opposition.

  • Aeropagitica

    By John Milton

  • Second Civil War

    This event is important because the texts of this period reflect the political unrest of that time.

  • Lucasta

    By Richard Lovelace

  • The Anglo-Dutch War

    This event is important becuase it reflects the conflict going on about control of the seas and trade routes.

  • Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector

    Oliver Cromwell ruled over the Commonwealth of England.

  • Sonnets

    By John Milton

  • Restoration of Charles II to the throne

    This event is important because the monarchy was restored.

  • Charles II restored to the throne

    This event is relevant because it marks the reopening of the theaters.
  • Period: to

    The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century

  • The Great Plague

    This event is important because it was the last outbreak of the bubonic plague.

  • An Essay of Dramatic Poesy

    By John Dryden

  • Poems

    By Andrew Marvell

  • Mac Flecknoe

    By John Dryden

  • The Glorious Revolution

    James II exiled and succeeded by his Protestant daughter, Mary, and her husband, William of Orange.

  • A Discourse Concerning the Original and Progress of Satire

    By John Dryden

  • Death of William III

    This event marks the succession of Anne.

  • A Tale of a Tub

    By Jonathan Swift

  • A Description of a City Shower

    By Jonathan Swift

  • Tories take power

    This event is important because the literature of this period reflects the conflict between the Tories adn Whigs.

  • An Essay on Criticism

    By Alexander Pope

  • Tory government replaced by Whigs

    This event is important because the literature of this period reflects the conflict between Tories and Whigs.

  • Death of Queen Ann

    George I becomes the first Hanoverian king.

  • George I dies

    George II succeeds him.

  • A Modest Proposal

    By Jonathan Swift

  • A Rake's Progress

    By William Hogarth

  • The Dunciad

    By Alexander Pope

  • Marriage-A-la-Mode

    By William Hogarth

  • The Rambler

    By Samuel Johnson

  • Seven Years' War

    This event is relevant because it shows the conflict between European countries over the colonies and trade routes.

  • Geoge III becomes king

    This event is also relevant because King George's reign influenced political literature. He went mad in 1788.

  • Captain James Cook voyages to Australia and New Zealand

    This event is relevant because Captain Cook's voyages influenced literature.

  • American Revolution

    This event is significant because it reflects the unrest in the England as well as in America.

  • Lives of the Poets

    By Samuel Johnson
  • Period: to

    The Romantic Period

  • Songs of Innocence

    By William Blake

  • Holly Willie's Prayer

    By Robert Burns

  • Beginning of the French Revolution

    This event reflects the political unrest in the world during this period of time.

  • Songs of Experience

    By William Blake

  • "The Eolian Harp"

    By Samuel Taylor Coleridge

  • "We Are Seven"

    By William Wordsworth

  • The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

    By Samuel Taylor Coleridge

  • Rebellion in Ireland

    This event is relevant because the literature in this period reflects the conflict between England and Ireland.

  • "She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways"

    By William Wordsworth

  • "Three Years She Grew"

    By William Wordsworth

  • "A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal"

    William Wordsworth

  • Michael

    By William Wordsworth

  • Preface to Lyrical Ballads

    By William Wordsworth

  • Napoleon crowned emperor

    Reflects political unrest of the time.

  • The French fleet defeated by the British at Trafalgar

    This event is relevant also because it reflects the conflict between the French and the British over the seas.

  • "I Travelled Among Unknown Men"

    By William Wordsworth

  • "Written after Swimming from Sestos to Abydos"

    By George Gordon, Lord Byron

  • The War Between Britain and the United States

    Reflects political unrest.

  • "She walks in beauty"

    By George Gordon, Lord Byron

  • Kubla Khan

    By Samuel Taylor Coleridge

  • "Mutability"

    By Percy Bysshe Shelley

  • "To Wordsworth"

    By Percy Bysshe Shelley

  • "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer"

    By John Keats

  • "On Seeing the Elgin Marbles"

    By John Keats

  • "Ozymandias"

    By Percy Bysshe Shelley

  • "Ode to a Nightingale"

    By John Keats

  • "To A Sky-Lark"

    By Percy Bysshe Shelley

  • "La Belle Dame sans Merci: A Ballad"

    By John Keats

  • "Ode to Psyche"

    By John Keats

  • "Ode to a Grecian Urn"

    By John Keats

  • "Ode on Melancholy"

    By John Keats

  • "To Autumn"

    By John Keats

  • George IV becomes king

    George IV became king at the death of King George III.

  • Parliamentary repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts

    The Test and Corporation Acts excluded dissenters from state offices. This event reveals the social atmosphere of the time.

  • "They say that Hope is happiness"

    By George Gordon, Lord Byron

  • Catholic Emancipation

    This event is important because it marks the removal of various restrictions placed on Roman Catholics.
  • Period: to

    The Victorian Age

  • "The Lady of Shalott"

    By Alfred, Lord Tennyson

  • First Reform Bill

    This event is important because the government in Great Britain was being restructured.

  • Abolition of Slavery Act

    This event is relevant because it reveals the social atmosphere of the day.

  • "Porphyria's Lover"

    By Robert Browning

  • Victoria becomes queen

    Marks the beginnig of the Victorian era wich was a time of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom.

  • "Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art"

    By John Keats

  • "Sonnet to Sleep"

    By John Keats

  • "A Song: Men of England"

    By Percy Bysshe Shelley

  • "England in 1819"

    By Percy Bysshe Shelley

  • "My Last Duchess"

    By Robert Browning

  • "When I have fears that I might cease to be"

    By John Keats

  • "To Homer"

    By John Keats

  • "Ode to Indolence"

    By John Keats

  • Sonnets from the Portuguese

    By Elizabeth Barret Browning

  • "The Charge of the Light Brigade"

    By Alfred, Lord Tennyson

  • Crimean War

    This event is relevant because the Victorian age was a time of British expansion.

  • The Origin of the Specie, by Charles Darwin

    This event is important because this text was influential in British literature.

  • American Civil War

    This event is important because it reveals the political unrest that was going on in America.

  • Das Kapital, by Karl Marx

    This event is relevant becuase this text was influential in literature and politics during this age.

  • Second Reform Bill

    This event is important because it gave the right to vote to many adult males in Great Britain.

  • Newnham College founded at Cambridge

    This event is relevant because Newnham College was the first women's Oxbridge college.

  • Gerard Manley Hopkins joins Jesuit order

    This event is relevant because it influenced Hopkins' writings.

  • "Crossing the Bar"

    By Alfred, Lord Tennyson

  • "The Lake Isle of Innisfree"

    By William Butler Yeats

  • "Hap"

    By Thomas Hardy
  • Period: to

    The Twentieth Century and After

  • Death of Queen Victoria

    Marks the end of the Victorian age and the succession of Edward VII.

  • Heretics

    By Gilbert Keith Chesterton

  • "On Lying in Bed"

    By Gilbert Keith Chesterton

  • "No Second Troy"

    By William Butler Yeats

  • "The Convergence of the Twain"

    By Thomas Hardy

  • World War I begins

    This event is relevant to literature because of its magnitude.

  • "Science and Religion"

    By Gilbert Keith Chesterton

  • "Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

    By T.S. Elliot

  • "God's Grandeur"

    By Gerard Manley Hopkins

  • "The Windhover"

    By Gerard Manley Hopkins

  • "Spring and Fall"

    By Gerard Manley Hopkins

  • "No worst, there is none"

    By Gerard Manley Hopkins

  • "Piano"

    By David Herbert Lawrence

  • Armstice; Franchise Act

    This event is relevant because the Franchise Act gave women thirty and over the right to vote.

  • Treaty of Versailles. League of Nations formed

    The League of Nations was the first international organization whose principal mission was to mantain world peace.

  • The Waste Land

    By T.S. Elliot

  • "Journey of the Magi"

    By T.S. Elliot

  • Women twenty-one and over granted voting rights

    This event is relevant because it reveals the social condition of the time.

  • Stock market crash; Great Depression begins

    The Great Depression was a worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II.

  • "Learning in War-Time"

    By C.S. Lewis

  • "The Unknown Citizen"

    By W.H. Auden

  • World War II

    This event is relevant bacause of its magnitude and impact.

  • "Musée des Beaux Arts"

    By W. H. Auden

  • World War II ends

    The war ended after two atomic bombs dropped on Japan.

  • "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night"

    By Dylan Thomas

  • Berlin Wall erected

    This event is important because the Berlin Wall stood like a symbol of the Cold War.

  • Apollo moon landing

    This event is relevant because it is a landmark of scientific advance.

  • Fall of the Berlin Wall

    This event is significant because it marks the reunification of Germany.

  • Collapse of the Soviet Union

    This event is important because it marked the end of the Cold War.