British Literature: Old English & Late Medieval Periods

General name for the range of dialects spoken by Germanic settlers in England between the 5th and 12th centuries AD, also known as Anglo-Saxon. MORE

From Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature
Copied around 940, the Exeter Book contains some of the most important works of Old English poetry. MORE

An anonymous Old English epic poem in alliterative verse, believed to have been composed in the 8th century AD. MORE

Period of the English language from about 1050 to 1550. MORE

From Continuum Encyclopedia of British Literature
Caxton was born to prosperous parents, who apprenticed him to Robert Large, a successful silk mercer who became Lord Mayor of London. MORE

English poet. The Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories told by a group of pilgrims on their way to Canterbury, reveals his knowledge of human nature and his stylistic variety, from the sophisticated and subtly humorous to the simple and bawdy. MORE

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Putative author of Piers Plowman. He was born probably at Ledbury near the Welsh marshes and may have gone to school at Great Malvern Priory. MORE

From Continuum Encyclopedia of British Literature
The legend of King Arthur remains alive in English literature today largely because of the work of Malory, who shaped it into what is sometimes seen as the first novel in English, published by William CAXTON in 1485 as Le Morte d’Arthur (wr. ca. 1470). MORE

Born in London on 7 February 1478, and executed on Tower Hill in the same city on 6 July 1535. MORE

From Continuum Encyclopedia of British Literature
English medieval drama is today the subject of an enthusiastic scholarly and popular revival. The literary and theatrical qualities of the plays are being newly revealed in academic research and in exciting productions, mounted in physical conditions approximating to the original staging. MORE