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Romans withdraw from Britain. Britons are attacked by the Picts and by Scots from Ireland. Angles, Saxons, and other German settlers arrive in Britain to assist the Britons and claim territory.
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500-1100 The conquest of the Celtic population in Britain by speakers of West Germanic dialects
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Speaking West Germanic dialects settle most of Britain. Celts retreat to distant areas of Britain: Ireland, Scotland, Wales.
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He is the first English king to convert to Christianity.
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the monk who composed
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the Saxon kingdoms of Essex and Middlesex; the Angle kingdoms of Mercia, East Anglia, and Northumbria.
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begin to settle in Britain and Ireland; Danes settle in parts of Ireland.
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his kingdom and is recognized as overlord of the seven kingdoms of the Angles and Saxons (the Heptarchy): England begins to emerge.
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occupy Northumbria, and establish a kingdom at York. Danish begins to influence English.
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leads the Anglo-Saxons to victory over the Vikings, translates Latin works into English, and establishes the writing of prose in English.
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mix fairly peacefully, and many Scandinavian
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King Harold is killed at the Battle of Hastings, and William of Normandy is crowned King of England.
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and the English king (Ethelred the Unready) escapes to Normandy. The Battle of Maldon becomes the subject of one of the few surviving poems in Old English.
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King of England who was raised in Normandy, names William, Duke of Normandy, as his heir.
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1100-1500
The Middle English period saw the breakdown of the inflectional system of Old English and the expansion of vocabulary with many borrowings from French and Latin. -
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introducing Norman French and English to the country. About this time the University of Oxford is founded.
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other French lands; England is now the only home of the Norman French/English.
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a critical document in the long historical process leading to the rule of constitutional law in the English-speaking world.
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which establish a Privy Council to oversee the administration of the government. These documents, though annulled a few years later, are generally regarded as England's first written constitution.
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royal authority is consolidated in England and Wales. English becomes the dominant language of all classes.
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makes English the official language in England. Parliament is opened with its first speech delivered in English.
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King Henry IV becomes the first English monarch to deliver a speech in English.
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between England and France leads to the loss of almost all of England's French possessions. The Black Death kills roughly one-third of England's population.
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the first printing press and publishes Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Literacy rates increase significantly, and printers begin to standardize English spelling.
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Andrew Boorde illustrates regional dialects.
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one of the first works on logic and rhetoric in English.
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The British defeat the Spanish Armada, boosting national pride and enhancing the legend of Queen Elizabeth.
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are made in North America. William Tyndale's English translation of the Bible is published. Many Greek and Latin borrowings enter English.
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I attempts to arrest his parliamentary critics. The war leads to the execution of Charles I, the dissolution of parliament, and the replacement of the English monarchy with a Protectorate (1653–59) under Oliver Cromwell's rule.
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Daniel Defoe calls for the creation of an Academy of 36 "gentlemen" to dictate English usage.
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a pioneer study in English lexicography: the first to feature current usage, etymology, syllabification, clarifying quotations, illustrations, and indications of pronunciation.
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whose rule books, primarily based on prescriptive notions of grammar, become increasingly popular.
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the American War of Independence begins, leading to the creation of the United States of America, the first country outside the British Isles with English as its principal language.
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