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Period: 400 to Sep 15, 1150
Old English
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Aug 1, 700
Beowulf's Writing
the oldest surviving epic poem in the English language and the earliest piece of vernacular European literature. -
Sep 28, 1066
Norman Invasion
William became king and took over part of the English language -
Period: Sep 16, 1150 to Sep 15, 1500
Middle English
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Sep 15, 1204
The hundred years' war
A war between England and France. It had a significant impact on the development of English because France
became the enemy. The English people didn't want to use French words or terms anymore so the upper class began to want to learn and speak English. -
Nov 26, 1348
The Black Death
The disease that killed a vast majority of the people. It had a significant impact on the development of English because
since so many people died there was a shortage of laborers. Because laborers were valued more, their language became more important too.
The lower class moved up to the middle class and brought their language to a higher status too. -
Sep 15, 1362
Statute of Pleading
This law is the offical recognition of the English language in England.
Parliament was opened with its first speech made in English in this year. -
Jan 1, 1386
Canterbury Tales
A collection of stories written in middle english by Geoffrey Chaucer. -
Feb 22, 1440
Printing Press
a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink -
Oct 13, 1492
Discovery of The Americas
English was being discovered in new ways -
Jun 22, 1497
The Discovery of North America
The English based there claimes in North America -
Period: Sep 15, 1500 to
Modern English
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Cawdry
He wrote the first dictionary of hard words -
Shakespears First Folio
it is the first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays without which there would be no William Shakespeare. -
Academy
A group of people who were the guardians and rule-makers of the English language.
It reached its height when Dean Jonathan Swift wrote his Proposal. The idea failed however, and gave way to the prominence of dictionaries -
Samuel Johnson
He wrote a dictionary, which he hoped would help refine the English language. -
The American Revolution
Cities and towns were named after English couterparts -
Angles Jutes and Saxon Settle England ( Angle )
They were the most prominent group of the Germanic tribes that invaded England.
The other two main tribes were the Angles and the Jutes. The word England is derived from the word Angles -
2nd Wave Invasion by the Vikings on England
The second wave was filled with large armies that caused wide-spread destruction and plundering. -
St. Augustine
He wanted to convert Britain to Christianity. This influenced the English language because
it introduced many new religious words and concepts to the English people. These words were based on examples
from Latin and Greek. These two classic languages brought a large influence to the English tongue.
