the middle english period

General characteristics

1066 - the beginning of a new social and linguistic era

Middle English runs from the beginning of the 12th century until the middle if the 15th

the Chancery Standard the 1470s - the printing press introduced in

England by William Caxton

THE SECOND DANISH INVASION ETHELRED CNUT The council of wise men chose Edward (the

Confessor)

Spent half his life in exile in Normandy (northern France) (while Cnut and sons ruled England)

Placed Norman friends in high offices in England Had little interest in ruling the country Moved the capital from Winchester to London Died in 1066, leaving no children and no clear

choice of heir

Harold the Battle of Hastings

English and Scandinavian - related languages, diverged only a few hundred years before

a pidgin variety of speech William of Normandy’s accession French-speaking barons brought over their own

retinues French-speaking abbots and bishops

condition of a multilingual society in which different languages occupy different social niches - different functions:

French ‘High’ functions: ‘high’ culture: government, law, religion,

education, literature, science, the arts, ‘high society’

English ‘Low’ functions: ‘common folk’: home speech, folk/popular

songs, tales, everyday commerce

1. Language effects of the Scandinavian invasion .

2. Language effects of the Norman Conquest.

3. Middle English dialects.

South Western South Eastern Northern West Midland East Midland

King John of England King Philip of France the Hundred Years War (1337-1453)