-
337
Reign of Constantine the Great
It leads to adoption of Christianity as official religion of the Roman Empire -
420
Roman invasion and occupation of Britain
Romans conquer Britons; Brittania a providence of the roman Empire. Invaders spoke an early form of the language we now call Old English. -
Jan 1, 700
The Dream of the Rood
Written by unknown author -
Period: Dec 17, 700 to
Literature
-
Dec 1, 1066
Norman Conquest
By William I which establishes French-speaking ruling class in England -
Dec 1, 1154
Reign of Henry II
As he married Eleanor two years earlier, he brings vast French territories to the English crown. -
Dec 1, 1200
Beginning of Middle Enlgish Literature
Where art, literature, and science flourished -
Jan 1, 1389
The Cantebury Tales
Written by Geoffrey Chaucer -
Dec 17, 1390
Pardoner's Prologue and Tale
Written by Geoffrey Chaucer -
Jan 1, 1400
Chaucer's Retraction
Written by Geoffrey Chaucer -
Dec 18, 1453
Hundred Year's War
Conflict between England and France -
Dec 1, 1455
Wars of the Roses
The premature death of Henr V left England exposed to the civil wars knows as the Wars of the Roses -
Dec 1, 1470
Morte Darthur
Written by Sir Thomas Malory -
Dec 1, 1470
Sir Thomas Malory working on Morte Darthur
It gave the definitive form in English to the legend of King Arthur and his knights. -
Dec 1, 1485
Printing of Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur
One of the first books printed in England -
Dec 1, 1485
Accession of Henry VII
His accession inagurates Tudor dynasty -
Dec 1, 1509
Accession of Henry VIII
During his reign, Renaissance began to flower -
Dec 1, 1517
Martin Luther's Wittenberg Theses
The Reformation begins in Germany -
Dec 1, 1534
Henry VIII declares himself head of the English Church
England's monasteries were suppressed and their vast wealth seized bt the crown. -
Dec 1, 1557
Pubication of Tottel's Songs and Sonnets
Contains poems of Sir Thomas Wyatt -
Dec 1, 1558
Accession of Elizabeth I
She was drawn to the idea of royal absolutism. -
Dec 1, 1576
Building of The Theater
The first permanent structure in England for the presentation of plays -
Defeat of the Spanish Armada
Exalted Queen Elizabeth more among her people -
Shakespeare begins career as actor and playwright
Brillian man; one of the most famous authors in literature -
Sonnets from Amoretti
Written by Edmund Spenser -
The Passionate Shepherd
Written by Christopher Marlowe -
Globe Theater opens
Famous theater where Shakespeare's plays were perfomed -
The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd
Written by Sir Walter Ralegh -
Death of Elizabeth I
James I was ascended and was the first of the Stuart kings. -
The Gunpowder Plot
Failed effort by Catholic extremists to blow up Parliament and the king -
Establishment of the first permanent English colony
in the World at Jamestown, Virgina; famous settlement today -
Sonnets
Written by Shakespeare -
Eve's Apology in Defense of Women
Written by Aemilia Lanyer -
To My Book, On My First Daughter, To John Donne, and On My First Son
Written by Ben Johnson -
To the Memory of William Shakespeare
Written by Ben Johnson -
The Temple, The Altar, Redemption, Easter Wings, Jordan, The Collar, The Pulley, The Flower, Love
Written by George Herbert -
Death of James I
Accession of Charles I; attempted to rule without summoning Parliament at all. -
On Shakespeare
Written by John Milton -
L' Allegro, and Il Penseroso
Written by John Milton -
The Flea
Written by John Donne -
Outbreak of civil war
Devastating war and thearets are closed -
Second Civil War
"Pride's Purge" of Parliament -
To Lucasta, Going to the Wars, and To Althea, from Prison
Written by Richard Lovelace -
Execution of Charles I
Beginning of Commonwealth and Protectorate; Interregnum. -
Part of Paradise Lost written
After Restoration, encompassing all he had experienced of tyranny and political controversy. -
To His Coy Mistress, The Definition of Love, and The Mower to the Glowworms
Written by Andrew Marvell -
Oliver Cromwell made Lord Protector
Many saw him as the only hope for stability while others, including Milton, saw him as a champion of religous liberty. -
Sonnets; How Soon Hath Time, When I Consider How My Light Is Spent, On the Late Massacre in Piedmont, and Methough I saw My Late Espoused Saint
Written by John Milton -
End of the Protectorate
Restoration of Charles II -
Criticism, and From An Essay of Dramatic Poesy
Written by John Dryden -
Dryden becomes poet laureate
Brought England a modern literature -
Pilgrim's Progress, part 1
By John Bunyan; well known story today -
Mac Flecknoe
Written by John Dryden -
The Glorious Revolution
Deposition of James II and accession of William Orage -
The Glorious Revolution
James II is exiled and is succeeded by his Protestant daughter, Mary, and her husband William of Orange. -
From A Discourse Concerning the Original and Progress of Satire: The Art of Satire
Written by John Dryden -
Tale of a Tub excerpt
Written by Johnathan Swift -
Jonathan Swift and others
They turned their wit against fanaticism and innovation; great age of satire -
Act of Union
Unites Scotland and England creating the nation of "Great Britain" -
An Essay on Criticism
Written by Alexander Pope -
A Description of a City Shower
Written by Johnathan Swift -
Treaty of Utrecht
Ends War of the Spanish Succession -
Accession of George I
Rule by House of Hanover begins -
A Modest Proposal
Written by Johnathan Swift -
Rake's Progress
Written by William Hogarth -
From The Dunciad, from Book the Fourth
Written by Alexander Pope -
Marriage-A-la-Mode
Written by William Hogarth -
The Rambler; No. 4 and No. 60
Written by Samuel Johnson -
First English Dictionary
Samuel Johnson helped codify the prose of the age. -
American Revolution
James Watt produces steam engines -
Lives of the Poets; From Pope
Written by Samuel Johnson -
There Is No Natural Religion; a, b
Written by William Blake -
From Songs of Innocene; Introduction, The Lamb, The Chimney Sweeper, and Holy Thursday
Written by William Blake -
Holy Willie's Prayer
Written by Robert Burns -
Fall of Bastille
Beginning of the French Revolution -
Execution of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
France declares war against Britain. The Reign of Terror -
From Songs of Experience; Introduction, The Chimney Sweeper, Holy Thursday, Tyger, and London
Written by William Blake -
The Eolian Harp
Written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge -
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge -
We Are Seven
Written by William Wordsworth -
Kubla Khan
Written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge -
She dwelt among the untrodden ways, and Three years she grew
Written by William Wordsworth -
Michael
Written by William Wordsworth -
From Preface to Lyical Ballads, with Pastoral and Other Poems
Written by William Wordsworth -
Treaty of Amiens
Edinburgh Review founded. John Constable first exhibits at the Royal Academy -
Napoleon Crowned emperor
Founding of the republic of Haity -
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphonies 5 and 6. Famous composer today. -
Written After Swimming from Sestos to Abydos
Written by Geroge Gordon, Lord Byron -
Prince of Wales becomes regent for George III
Declared incurably insane -
She walks in beauty
Written by Geroge Gordon, Lord Byron -
They say that Hope is happiness
Written by Geroge Gordon, Lord Byron -
Mutuability, and To Wordsworth
Written by Percey Bysshe Shelley -
Napoleon defeated at Waterloo
Corn Laws passed, protecting economic interests of the landed aristocracy. -
On First Looking into Chapman's Homer
Written by John Keats -
On Seeing the Elgin Marbles
Written by John Keats -
Ozymandias
Written by Percey Bysshe Shelley -
When I have fears that I may cease to be
Written by John Keats -
To Homer
Written by John Keats -
Ode to Psyche
Written by John Keats -
La Belle Dame sans Merci: A Ballad
Written by John Keats -
Ode to a Nightingale
Written by John Keats -
Ode on Indolence
Written by John Keats -
Lamia
Written by John Keats -
To Autum
Written by John Keats -
A Song: "Men of England"
Written by Percey Bysshe Shelley -
England in 1819
Written by Percey Bysshe Shelley -
Ode on a Grecian Urn
Written by John Keats -
Ode on Melancholy
Written by John Keats -
Free Elementary Education
Many more children were able to attend school. -
To a Sky-Lark
Written by Percey Bysshe Shelley -
Death of Geroge II
Accession of Geroge IV. London Magazine founded -
Parliamentary repeal of the Test
Corporation Acts excluding Dissenters from state offices -
Death of George IV
Accession of William IV. Revolution in France -
Lady of Shalott
Written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson -
First Reform Bill
Extended voting rights -
Porphyria's Lover
Written by Robert Browning -
Victoria becomes Queen
Powerful Queen who regined from 1837-1901 -
My Last Duchess
Written by Robert Browning -
Portatoe Famine in Ireland
Mass emigration to North America -
Sonnet 22 and 43
Written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning -
The Great Exhibition in London
Exhibitions of culture and industry -
Charge of the Light Brigade
Written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson -
Charles Darwin
Wrote "The Origin of Species" who still influences many people today. -
American Civil War
Fought to abolosh slavery -
Hap
Written by Thomas Hardy -
The Second Reform Bill
Enfranchised the urban male working class in England and Wales. -
God's Grandeur
Written by Gerard Manley Hopkins -
The Windhover
Written by Gerard Manley Hopkins -
Electric street lighthing in London
Provided better visibility for citizens -
Spring and Fall
Written by Gerard Manley Hopkins -
No worst, there is none
Written by Gerard Manley Hopkins -
Crossing of the Bar
Written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson -
Lake Isle of Innisfree
Written by William Butler Yeats -
From Holy Sonnets
Written by John Donne -
Death of Queen Victoria
Succession of Edward VII -
First wireless communicatoin across the Atlantic
Majorly improved communication -
Henry Ford produces the first mass-produced car
Many road improvements were made -
No Second Troy
Written by William Butler Yeats -
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Written by Thomas Stearns Eliot -
Covergenve of the Twain
Written by Thomas Hardy -
World War I
By the end of the war, The German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires ceased to exist. -
Science and Religion
Written by G. K. Chesterton -
On Lying in Bed
Written by G. K. Chesterton -
On the Wit of Whistler
Written by G. K. Chesterton -
Piano
Written by David Herbert Lawrence -
The Second Coming
Written by William Butler Yeats -
The Waste Land
Written by T. S. Elliot -
Journey of the Magi
Written by Thomas Stearns Eliot -
Stock Market crash
Great Depression begins -
Musee des Beaux arts
Written by Wystan Hugh Auden -
The Unknown Citizen
Written by Wystan Hugh Auden -
Learning in War Time
Written by C. S. Lewis -
First atomic bomb
Dropped on Japan; destoryed many cities -
Britain enters European Common Market
Aimed to bring economic integration -
Iran-Iraq War
War for almost nine years; suffered major losess -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
Tinananmen Square, Beijing, demosntration and massacre -
British handover of Hong Kong to China.
Northen Ireland Assembly established -
September 11 attacks
Destroy World Trade Center; many los their lives -
Death of Queen Anne
George I becomes the first Hanoverian king. Troy government replaced by Whigs. -
World War II
The most widespread war in history; millions of people serving in military -
Reign of King Alfred
There were texts wrtitten or commissioned by him