The Old English Period Summary 449-1100 / The English Period 1100-1500. By Paola Monney 55 BCE Julius Caesar’s invasion of the island. 43 Emperor Claudius made Britain part of the Roman Empire. 400 Christianity had been introduced to the British Isles, and particularly to Ireland, much earlier, before the year 400. 410 Picts from the north and Scots from the west savagely attacked the unprotected British Celts. 449 Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians began to occupy Great Britain. 449 The first landing of the Saxons. Period: 449 to 1500 The origins and development of the English Language 597 Saint Augustine of Cantenbury arrived in England to begin the conversion of the English. 597 Pope Gregory I dis- patched a band of missionaries to the Angles. 601 Augustine was consecrated first archbishop of Canterbury. 664 The Synod of Whitby aligned the English with Roman rather than Celtic Christianity. 664 England went with Rome 730 The Venerable Bede produce his " Ecclesiastical History of the English people" 730 Venerable Bede’s account in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People was completed. 787 The Scandinavian invasion began with Raids along the northeast, seacoast 825 Wessex, first king Ecgberht, who overthrew the Mercian king. 865 The Scandinavians occupied northeastern Britain and began a campaign to conquer all of England. 865 In 865 a great and expertly organized army landed in East Anglia, led by Ivar the Boneless and his brother Halfdan, sons of Ragnar Lothbrok. 870 The Vikings attacked Wessex. 871 Alfred became king of Wessex and reigned until his death in 899 878 Alfred won a signal victory at Edington. He defeated Guthrum, the Danish king of East Anglia. 899 The Great Alfred died. 987 Ælfric, the homilist and grammarian, went to the abbey of Cerne, where he became the major prose writer of the Old English period. 991 Valiant Byrhtnoth 991 Olaf Tryggvason invaded England. 1000 Ælfric, the most representative writer of the late tenth and early eleventh centuries, was flourishing. 1000 The manuscript of the Old English epic Beowulf was written. 1016 Canute became king of England. 1016 Ethelred and his son Edmund Ironside died. 1042 The Danish dynasty ended with the death of King Hardicanute, 1042 Accession of Edward the Confessor. 1066 Edward the Confessor died and was succeeded by Harold. 1066 The battle of Hastings 1066 King Harold was killed in the battle of Hastings. 1066 The Normans conquered England. 1204 King John lost Normandy to the French. 1204 The loss of Normandy by King John. 1258 King Henry III issued the first English-language royal proclamation since the Conquest. 1337 The Hundred Years’ War began and lasted until 1453. 1337 The Hundred Years´ War 1348 The Black Death killed an estimated one-third of England’s popula- tion and continued to plague the country. 1362 The Statute of Pleadings was enacted. 1381 The peasants´ revolt 1381 The Peasants’ Revolt led by Wat Tyler was the first rebellion of working-class people against their exploitation. 1384 John Wycliffe died. 1399 Henry IV used English to claim the throne. 1400 Geoffrey Chaucer died. 1400 Geoffrey Chaucer died. 1430 The Chancery office (where legal records were deposited) began record- keeping in a form of East Midland English. 1476 William Caxton brought printing to England. 1484 Le morte Darthur 1485 Henry Tudor became king of England. 1497 John Cabot sailed to Nova Scotia. 1859 The Idylls of the king 1960 Camelot 1975 Monty Python and the Holy Grail (The movie) 2005 Spamalot
