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450
Romans Invade British Isles And Take Over
200 Latin loanwords are inherited from the Romans - But by the 6th century the Church brought back many more. -
Period: 450 to
English Language Timeline
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Jan 1, 1066
The Normans invade
The Normans transform England, both culturally and linguistically. For over 300 years French is the language spoken by the most powerful people - royalty, aristocrats and high-powered officials. Latin is still the language of the church and of scholars, but most of the general population speak English. -
Jan 1, 1400
100 Years War fought between England and France
Following the 100 Years War, many people regard French as the language of the enemy. Literacy increases but books are still copied by hand and are therefore extremely expensive. -
May 19, 1550
A time of great cultural and intellectual development
Caxton introduces the printing press to England. He prints all kinds of texts: mythic tales, popular stories, poems, phrasebooks, devotional pieces & grammars. Books become cheaper and are therefore increasingly popular.Over the next 200 years wonderful discoveries and innovations are made in the fields of art, theatre and science -
Dictionaries, grammars and rules and regulations
Human knowledge continues to stretch into new areas, with discoveries in the fields of medicine, astrology, botany & engineering. Books teaching 'correct' grammar, pronunciation & spelling are increasingly popular. Samuel Johnson publishes his famous dictionary in 1755. -
Transformation of the western world
In an age of inventions and contraptions, of science & industry, and expanding cities & smog factories the language must swell to accommodate new ideas. -
English 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. -
Germanic tribes - Saxons and Jutes - begin to arrive
Saxon dialects form the basis of the language we now call Old English. About 400 Saxon texts survive from this era, including many beautiful poems - these tell tales of wild battles and heroic journey -
Christian missionaries arrive from the Continent
Christian missionaries, led by St. Augustine, move through the land, converting the Saxons from their Pagan beliefs to a Christian faith. Throughout Europe, the language of the Church is Latin, and the missionaries inject hundreds of new Latin words into the English language. -
Danish invasion of Britain
For a hundred years the Vikings controled most of Eastern England, before being pushed back into the North East of the country by King Alfred the Great. During this time King Alfred used the English language to develop a sense of national identity amongst the English.
