History of English By Damien Everitt Period: 400 to 1100 Old English 700 First Old English Manuscript 1000 only surviving manuscript of the Old English poem Beowulf 1007 Danes attack English Period: 1101 to 1500 Middle English 1150 Earliest surviving Old English texts 1209 University of Cambridge 1258 King Henry III is forced to accept the Provisions of Oxford Period: 1501 to 2024 Modern English 1586 William Bullokar's Pamphlet for Grammar 1803 The Act of Union incorporates Ireland into Britain 1928 The Oxford English Dictionary is published