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The Celts began to spread and arrived at the Black Sea, southwest Spain, central Italy, Britain and Ireland. (5th Century)
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Germanic tribes invaded Britain, these tribes were the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes. They spoke some dialect of English called Englisc and became what we call Old English. (5th Century A.C.)
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St. Agustine and a group of monks arrived in Kent. They wanted to teach the Anglo-Saxons about Christianity. The Anglo-Saxons borrowed a number of Latin words. During this time. -
King Alfred made English the language of education and literature. He started a history of England in English called The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. (Around 8th Century A.D) -
Beowulf was created, but it was written until 250 years later. (Middle of 8th Century) -
King Alfred won and important battle. He and the Vikings agreed that England should be divided in two parts. The Vikings and the English managed to communicate because their languages were quite similar. Many words of Old Norse became a part of Old English. (Around 9th Century)
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It has origin in 1066 and was formed for three main phases. -
After the Norman invasion, French became a less important language in literature, law and in official documents. English disappeared as a written language. (1066-1204)
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King Harold of England was killed, and his army was defeated in the Battle of Hastings. -
William of Normandy was made king on England in London. He made a lot of changes in the English society. French became the language of the governing classes and remained so for the next two hundred years.
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After King John lost all his possessions, French became a less important language and the interest in English increased. (1204-1348) -
The Black Death brought labour shortage and English popularity increased because is used to be the language of the working class. The Hundred Years War led to the loss of all continental holdings, so English people became uninterested in learning French. (1348-1509) -
William Caxton set up the first printing press at Westminster -
The Celtic languages such as Welsh in Wales, Scottish in Scotland, Cornish in Cornwall and Irish in Ireland were being replaced by English. Although at the beginning of the century Latin was the language of learning in all Europe, the printing press made everyone interested in reading books in English. -
Henry VIII passed the Laws in Wales Acts to incorporate Wales into the Kingdom of England. (16th Century) -
It has its origin when Henry VIII ascended to the throne -
Henry VIII used the Parliament to establish himself as the head of the Protestant church of England with the Act of Supremacy
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William Shakespeare obtained popularity with his playwrights. He created about 2000 words. -
Elizabeth I ascended to the throne. Her age was one of the great flowering of Literature.
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Elizabeth I dies and James VI of Scotland, eventually King James I of England, Wales and Scotland. During his monarchy the word ‘ye’ was used as ‘you’, but by 1700 it had disappeared. -
King James I ordered a translation of the Bible into English.
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The peace that England had was destroyed and the language suffered other interesting changes. (17th Century)
