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Period: 450 BCE to 1066
Old English
Old English is the earliest form of the English language, it was spoken and written in Anglo-Saxon Britain from c. 450 CE until c. 1150 (thus it continued to be used for some decades after the Norman Conquest of 1066)
The genres are epic or heroic poetry, sermons, Bible translations, legal texts, chronicles, riddles and tongue twisters, etc. These texts collect an older oral literature, related to mythologies, legends and early Christian heritage. -
700
Cædmon’s Hymn
The earliest named English poet was a cowherd named Cædmon who lived at the Abbey of Whitby. We know about this man because the story of his life is described in the Ecclesiastical History of the English People written by the 8th-century monk, Bede. Unfortunately, all of Cædmon's poems are lost, but Bede does describe one of them, which is known as Cædmon's Hymn. -
731
The Venerable Bede
Bede wrote "Ecclesiastical History of the English People", one of our best-written sources for early English history.
The Venerable Bede was one of the greatest scholars of the Anglo-Saxon period. He produced a large number of works on subjects as varied as science, music, poetry and biblical commentary. -
800
Beowulf
Beowulf is an Old English epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, considered the first great literary work of Germanic literature, mixes the legends of Scandinavia with the experience of the Angles and Saxons in England. -
Period: 1066 to 1500
Middle English
Before this period we encounter a language which is chiefly Old Germanic in its character – in its sounds, spellings, grammar and vocabulary. After this period we have a language which displays a very different kind of structure, with major changes having taken place in each of these areas, many deriving from the influence of French following the Norman Conquest of 1066. -
1100
The Poetic Edda
It is a collection of mythological and heroic poems of unknown authorship, composed over a long period (AD 800–1100). They are usually dramatic dialogues in a terse, simple, archaic style that is in decided contrast to the artful poetry of the skalds. -
1135
The Legends of King Arthur
King Arthur, also called Arthur or Arthur Pendragon, legendary British king who appears in a cycle of medieval romances (known as the Matter of Britain) as the sovereign of a knightly fellowship of the Round Table. It is not certain how these legends originated or whether the figure of Arthur was based on a historical person. The legend possibly originated either in Wales or in those parts of northern Britain inhabited by Brythonic-speaking Celts. -
1222
The Prose Edda
The Prose Edda was written by the Icelandic chieftain, poet, and historian Snorri Sturluson. It is a textbook on poetics intended to instruct young poets in the difficult metres of the early Icelandic skalds (court poets) and to provide for a Christian age an understanding of the mythological subjects treated or alluded to in early poetry. It consists of a prologue and three parts. -
1290
Blessed John Duns Scotus
John Duns Scotus (1265/66–1308) was one of the most important and influential philosopher-theologians of the High Middle Ages. His brilliantly complex and nuanced thought, which earned him the nickname “the Subtle Doctor,” left a mark on discussions of such disparate topics as the semantics of religious language, the problem of universals, divine illumination, and the nature of human freedom -
1340
William of Ockham
He was one of the first medieval authors to advocate a form of church/state separation, and was important for the early development of the notion of property rights. His political ideas are regarded as "natural" or "secular", holding for a secular absolutism. The ockham's razor is made in 1340. -
1367
Piers Plowman by William Langland
William Langland, presumed author of one of the greatest examples of Middle English alliterative poetry, generally known as Piers Plowman, an allegorical work with a complex variety of religious themes made in 1367 -
1387
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer is considered one of the first great English poets. He is the author of such works as The Parlement of Foules, Troilus and Criseyde, and The Canterbury Tales. Humorous and profound, his writings show him to be an acute observer of his time with a deft command of many literary genres.
The Canterbury Tales was one of the first major works in literature written in English. Chaucer began the tales in 1387 and continued until his death in 1400. -
Period: 1500 to
The Renaissance
The Renaissance was a fervent period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic “rebirth.
It was divided in three periods; the first one was Elizabethan era, the second period Jacobean era, and the last Caroline period -
1522
The Tyndale Bible
The Tyndale Bible usually refers to the translations of various books of the Bible by William Tyndale in the 1500s. His work is credited with being the first English translation from the original Hebrew and Greek texts and the first English biblical translation that was mass-produced as a result of new advances in the art of printing. -
Period: 1558 to
Elizabethan Age
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. This "golden age" represented the apogee of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of poetry, music and literature. -
Tamburlaine the Great by Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe was an Elizabethan poet and William Shakespeare's most important predecessor in English drama. He is noted especially for his establishment of dramatic blank verse.
Tamburlaine the Great is the only play by Christopher Marlowe to be published during his lifetime. Written in two parts around 1587 and 1578 -
William Shakespeare
Between about 1590 and 1613, Shakespeare wrote at least 37 plays and collaborated on several more. His 17 comedies include The Merchant of Venice and Much Ado About Nothing. Among his 10 history plays are Henry V and Richard III. The most famous among his tragedies are Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth. Shakespeare also wrote 4 poems, and a famous collection of Sonnets which was first published in 1609. -
Period: to
The Jacobean Era
The Jacobean era was the period in English and Scottish history that coincides with the reign of James VI of Scotland who also inherited the crown of England in 1603 as James I.
The term "Jacobean" is often used for the distinctive styles of Jacobean architecture, visual arts, decorative arts, and literature which characterized that period. -
Period: to
Caroline Age
The Caroline era is the period in English and Scottish history named for the 24-year reign of Charles I (1625–1649). The term is derived from Carolus, the Latin for Charles.
The Caroline era was dominated by growing religious, political, and social discord between the King and his supporters, termed the Royalist party, and the Parliamentarian opposition that evolved in response to particular aspects of Charles's rule. -
Period: to
The Commonwealth Period
The Commonwealth was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when England and Wales, later along with Ireland and Scotland