Middle+English+Period

** 1350-1500 Middle English **
By: Sir Robert Bell IX & The Jared of Albers III

**__Middle English: What happened?__**
**Middle English-** is the period of English language between the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century. Middle English developed out of Late Old English in Norman England (1066–1154) and was spoken throughout the Plantagenet era (1154–1485). The Middle English period ended at about 1470, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become popular, a process aided by the introduction of the printing press to England by William Caxton in the late 1470s.The language of England as used after 1470 and up to 1650 is known as Early Modern English. Unlike Old English, which tended largely to adopt Late West Saxon scribal conventions in the period immediately before the Norman conquest of England, written Middle English displays a wide variety of scribal forms. This suggests the gradual end of the role of Wessex as a focal point and trend-setter for writers and scribes, the emergence of more distinct local scribal styles and written dialects, and a general pattern of transition of activity over the centuries that followed, as Northumbria, East Anglia, and London successively emerged as major centres of literature, each with their own particular interests. Middle English literature of the 12th and 13th centuries is comparatively rare, as written communication was usually in Anglo-Norman or in Medieval Latin. Middle English became much more important as a literary language during the 14th century, with poets such as Chaucer and Langland.

**__Authors of This Time Period:__**
**Roger Bacon** (1355-1401) English philosopher and scientist. Bacon is one of the most prominent figures in 13th century scholastic philosophy. He was born in Somerset and educated at Oxford and Paris. On his return from Paris he became a Franciscan and carried out much experimental research in natural science and in his //Opus majus// ‘Major work’ he expounded on all branches of knowledge accessible at the time including grammar and logic along with mathematics and moral philosophy.


 * William Caxton** (1422-1491) A merchant and later a writer who set up the first printing press in England in 1476. A few years earlier Caxton had visited Cologne where he acquired his knowledge in the technique of printing and returned to England via Belgium to apply this new art. He established his base at Westminster and during his career as publisher produced more than 90 editions of well-known and lesser known authors. Among the former are Chaucer, Gower, Malory . Caxton himself prepared some translations of works in Latin and French. He is also famous for the prefaces which he wrote to his editions and which are revealing documents of literary attitudes in late 15th century England.

**Miles Coverdale** (1488-1569) (religious writing) One of the main translators of the Bible in the 16th century. He was born in Yorkshire and studied in Cambridge and became bishop of Exeter in his latter years. For much of his life he lived and worked in Germany, producing the first complete Bible to be printed in English (1535) and worked with others on the Great Bible of 1539.

**Robert Gloucester**(late 13th century) The author of a chronicle which can be dated to about 1300 and was written in the southern dialect. The chronicle consists of about 12,000 rhyming couplets and is noted for comments on the political and linguistic state of England at the time, with special reference to the behavior of the Normans in the country.

**Julian of Norwich** (1342-1416) An English mystic of the 14th century. A near-death illness at the age of 30 led to a series of visions which formed the basis for //The Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love// or simply //The Revelations of Divine Love//, a devotional work which she wrote some 20 years later. The language is that of the East Midlands. Julian (whose name is of uncertain origin) was the first woman in England to have a book published.

__Major Works:__
//**Sir Gawain and the Green Knight**//- a late 14th-century Middle English alliterative romance outlining an adventure of Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table. In the poem, Sir Gawain accepts a challenge from a mysterious warrior who is completely green, from his clothes and hair to his beard and skin, save for his red eyes. The "Green Knight" offers to allow anyone to strike him with his axe if the challenger will take a return blow in a year and a day. Gawain accepts, and beheads him in one blow, only to have the Green Knight stand up, pick up his head, and remind Gawain to meet him at the appointed time. In his struggles to uphold his oath, Gawain faithfully demonstrates the qualities of chivalry and loyalty until his honor is called into question by a test crafted by the lady of the castle in which much of the story takes place. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is one of the better-known Arthurian stories, which date back to the 12th century.

//**Pearl**//- a Middle English alliterative poem written in the late 14th century. Its unknown author, designated the " Pearl poet " or " Gawain poet ", is generally assumed, on the basis of dialect and stylistic evidence, to be the author of //Sir Gawain and the Green Knight//, //Patience//, and //Cleanness// or // Purity // and may have composed //St. Erkenwald//.

//**Patience**//- a Middle English alliterative poem written in the late 14th century. Its unknown author, designated the //Pearl-Poet// or //Gawain-Poet//, also appears, on the basis of dialect and stylistic evidence, to be the author of //Sir Gawain and the Green Knight//, //Pearl//, and //Cleanness// (all ca. 1360-1395) and may have composed //St. Erkenwald//. This is thought to be true because the techniques and vocabulary of regional dialect of the unknown author is that of Northwest Midlands, located between Shropshire and Lancashire.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">//**Cleanness**//- a Middle English alliterative poem written in the late 14th century. Its author is unknown. it designated the // Pearl poet // or // Gawain poet //, also appears, on the basis of dialect and stylistic evidence, to be the author of //Sir Gawain and the Green Knight//, //Pearl//, and //Patience//, and may have composed //St. Erkenwald//.

This is a short briefing of Middle English Poetry: <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">media type="youtube" key="GrnXgVTTrCI" height="315" width="420"

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">This is what we looked like when we heard we had to do this assignment ...agagaga <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">media type="youtube" key="y8Kyi0WNg40" height="315" width="420"

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">__**Analysis**__

=__Sir Gawain and the Green Knight__=

Author- anonymous writer
 * point of view** - The Gawain-poet tells the story mainly from Gawain’s point of view.


 * __Literary Devices:__**


 * symbolism -** The pentangle; the green girdle


 * Foreshadowing** :The Green Knight’s reiteration of Gawain’s promise as he leaves Camelot foreshadows Gawain’s eventual encounter with the knight. Also the description of the changing seasons at the beginning of Part 2 foreshadows Gawain’s emotional development in the following parts.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight marks a 14 th century revival of the extensive use of alliteration as a poetic device, as early medieval works (like Beowulf) employed. Alliteration is used to create a unique rhythm in poetry, or to stress certain words or lines with the repetition of sounds. Examples within the work: “ Good morning, Sir Gawain,” said that gay lady, “A slack sleeper you are, to let one slip in! He lowers the long ax and leans on it there…
 * Alliteration :**

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gawain/section1.rhtml en.wikipedia.org/wiki/**Sir**_**Gawain_and_the_Green**_**Knight** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_English