English Language Timeline By sigridlarsen 55 BCE Roman Empire conquered the British Isles 400 Old English 500 The Jutes, Angles and Saxons invaded the British Isles 1066 The Normanic people invaded the British Isles 1100 Middle English 1200 Trilingual English 1337 100 years of war France and England fought over the succession of the French throne 1346 The Great Plague 1400 Early Modern English 1476 The printing press was invented 1600 Shakespeare 1611 The Bible is published for the "common" people 1700 Modern English 1746 The First Dictionary