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Sep 15, 731
St Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation
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Sep 15, 1066
The Norman Invasion
The Normans transformed England, both culturally and linguistically. For over 300 years French was the language spoken by the most powerful people. French was used in political documents, in administration, and in literature. Latin was still the language of the church and of scholars, but most of the general population speak English in their everday lives. -
Sep 15, 1137
Petesborough Chronicals
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Period: Sep 15, 1150 to Sep 15, 1470
Middle English Period
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Sep 15, 1362
Statue of Pleading
This was an Act of the Parliament of England. The Act complained that because the French language was much unknown in England, the people therefore had no knowledge of what is being said for them or against them in the courts, which used Law French. -
Period: Sep 15, 1470 to
Renaissance English
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Sep 15, 1476
Printing Press
In 1476, Caxton introduced the printing press to England. He printed mythic tales, popular stories, poems, phrasebooks, devotional pieces & grammars. In the following 150 years around 20,000 books werre printed. Books become cheaper and were therefore increasingly popular. -
Period: Sep 15, 1476 to
The Great Vowel Shift
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First British Exploration of America
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Vowel Pronunciation Changed
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King James' Bible
The year 2011 marks 400 years since the publication of the King James or Authorised Version of the Bible. Around 250 phrases from the King James Bible are now part of present-day English, -
First British Settlement In America
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Shakespeare
The first collected edition of William Shakespeare's plays, published in 1623, only 7 years after his death, known as the 'First Folio'. 'Folio' comes from the Latin 'leaf', but in printer's jargon means 'page'. It was two of Shakespeare's fellow actors and closest friends, John Heminge and Henry Condell, who undertook the work of editing the text and supervising the printing. -
Jonothan Swift
In 1712, the English language, according to satirist Jonathan Swift, was in chaos. He outlined his complaints in this public letter to Robert Harley, leader of the government, proposing the appointment of experts to advise on English use. The model was to be based on that of the Académie Française, which had been regulating French since 1634. His proposal, like all the others, came to nothing. To this day no official regulation of the English language exists. -
Johnsons Dictionary
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language is one of the most famous dictionaries in history. First published in 1755, the dictionary took just over 8 years to compile and listed 40,000 words. Johnson required only 6 helpers. Each word was defined in detail; the definitions illustrated with quotations covering every branch of learning. -
Lowth's Grammer
Several grammar books were published during the 18th century. They fulfilled the demand among a growing middle class for guidance on how to use ‘polite’ or ‘correct’ English. Robert Lowth, an academic and Anglican bishop, compiled this extremely successful work that was re-issued around 45 times between 1762 and 1800. -
Storming of the Bastille
On 14 July 1789, a state prison on the east side of Paris, known as the Bastille, was attacked by an angry and aggressive mob. The prison had become a symbol of the monarchy's dictatorial rule, and the event became one of the defining moments in the Revolution that followed. This article reporting the events of 14 July was published in an English newspaper called The World, a few days after the event took place. -
William Blake's Notebook
William Blake (1757-1827) was an artist, poet, mystic, visionary and radical thinker. The closely-filled pages of this working notebook give a fascinating insight into his compositional process, allowing us to follow the genesis of some of his best-known work, including London, The Tyger and The Sick Rose. -
Period: to
Modern Enlglish
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Enlgish of Today
A century of world wars, technological transformation, and globalisation. The language continues to grow, expanding to incorporate new jargons, slangs, technologies, toys, foods and gadgets. -
The Beginning of English Language
Viking PoemBefore 449, Latin was spoken. Anglo Saxon dialects and cultures form the basis of the language we now call Old English. About 400 Anglo Saxons texts survive from this era, including many beautiful poems which tell tales of wild battles and heroic journeys. -
The Viking Invasion
For a hundred years the Vikings controlled most of Eastern England, before being pushed back into the North East of the country by King Alfred the Great. They remain in power in the North East until the late 900s, in an area then known as Danelaw. During this time King Alfred uses the English language to develop a sense of national identity amongst the English. -
Period: to Sep 15, 1150
Old English Period
