Timeline: English 12A Language Timeline

450

5th Century - The Beginning

The history of the English language started with the arrival of three German tribes who invaded Britain in the 5th century AD. These tribes were the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes. Old English was developed. It was spoken until the 1100's.

500

6th Century

With the collapse of the empire, Romans withdrew from Britain. The conquest of the Celtic population in Britain by speakers of West Germanic dialects eventually determined many essential characteristics of the English language

550

Late 6th Century

Ethelbert, the King of Kent is baptized. He is the first English king to convert to Christianity.

600

7th Century

Rise of the Saxon kingdom in Wessex. Many convert to Christianity. New religious words were borrowed from Latin and Greek. Latin speakers began to refer to the country as Anglia and later as Englaland.

700

The approximate date of the earliest manuscript records of Old English.

700

Late 8th Century

Scandinavians began to settle in Britain and Ireland.

800

Early 9th Century

Egbert of Wessex incorporates Cornwall into his kingdom and is recognized as overlord of the seven kingdoms of the Angles and Saxons. England begins to emerge

850

Mid 9th Century

Danes raid England, occupy Northumbria, and establish a kingdom at York. Danish begins to influence English.

850

Late 9th Century

King Alfred of Wessex (Alfred the Great) leads the Anglo-Saxons to victory over the Vikings, translates Latin works into English, and establishes writing of prose in English. He uses the English language to foster a sense of national identity. England is divided into a kingdom ruled by the Anglo-SAxons and another ruled by the Scandinavians.

900

10th Century

English and Danes mix fairly peacefully, and many Scandinavian or Old Norse loanwords enter the language, including such words as sister, wish, skin, and die.

1000

11th Century

Approximate date of the only surviving manuscript of the Old English epic poem Beowulf, composed by an anonymous poet between the 8th and early 11th century.

1000

Early 11th Century

Danes attack England, and the English King escapes to Normandy. The Battle of Maldon becomes the subject of one of the few surviving poems in Old English. The Danish king rules over England and encourages the growth of Anglo-Saxon culture and literature.

1150

Mid 12th Century

Approximate date of the earliest surviving texts in Middle English.

1204

Early 13th Century

King John loses control of the Duchy of Normandy and other French and English to the country. About this time the University of Oxford is founded.

1215

13th Century

King John signs the Magna Carta a critical document in the long historical process leading to the constitutional law in the English speaking word.

1300

Mid to Late 14th Century

The Hundred Years War between England and France leads to the loss of almost all of England's French possessions. The Black Death kills 1/3 of England's population. Geoffrey Chaucer composes The Canterbury Tales in Middle English. English becomes the official language of the law courts and replaces Latin as the medium of instruction at most schools.

1399

Late 14th Century

At his coronation, King Henry IV becomes the first English monarch to deliver a speech in English.

1400

Late 15th Century

William Caxton brings the first printing press and publishes The Canterbury Tales. Literacy rates increase and printers begin to standardize English spelling.

1590

Late 16th and Early 17th Centuries

1590-1611 William Shakespeare writes his Sonnets and the majority of his plays.

1611

Early 17th Century

The Authorized Version of the English Bible (the King James Bible) is published, greatly influencing the development of written language.

1702

Early 18th Century

The Daily Courant, the first regular daily newspaper in English, is published in London.

1776

Late 18th Century

The Declaration of Independence is signed, and the American War of Independence begins, leading to the creation of the United States of America, the first country outside the British Isles with English as its principle language.

1844

Mid 19th Century

The telegraph is invented by Samuel Morse, inaugurating the development of rapid communication, a major influence on the growth and spread of English.

1850