Anglo Norman Period | Middle English Period Features

Middle English Period, Anglo Norman Period, The age of Chaucer, middle english period features, Middle English Period: Literary features, Middle English Period: Writers, Anglo-Norman Period: Historical Events, Try.Fulfill

Anglo Norman Period | Middle English Period Features | Try.Fulfill

Name: Middle English Period or Anglo Norman Period.
Duration: 1066-1500 (Anglo Norman: 1066-1340).
Reign: Normans over England.
Identity: Normans - Mighty French tribes.
Pre-reign: Saxons over England.
Features: French influence (language), domination of church, chivalry in literature, religion in literature, establishment of printing press etc.

Middle English Period or Anglo Norman Period:

In the year of 1066, the Normans came from French and defeated the Saxons. They started to rule this land and imposed their language on the English. The Middle English Period also has three sub-ages. They are:

The Anglo Norman Period: 1066-1340.
The age of Chaucer: 1340-1400.
The Barren Period: 1400-1485/1500.

Anglo-Norman Period: Historical Events:

Some most significant historical events happened in this period. To present, ‘The Magna Carta’ was established in 1215. Secondly, Oxford and Cambridge universities were established in this period to provide religious learning for the Christians. The English parliament was also established in this age in 1295. Furthermore, the historical Crusade war happened in this period between Muslims and Christians for nearly two hundred years (1096-1292). This is considered as the longest war of the human race. Another bloody war was fought between England and France for one hundred years. It is called ‘Hundred Year War’ which started when King Edward-3 (King of England) claimed the throne of France. Moreover, another world changing event was the establishment of printing press by William Caxton also happened in this era (1476). The discovery of American continent was also a remarkable event of this period in the year of 1492 by Christopher Columbus.

Middle English Period: Literary features:

In the Middle English period or the Anglo Norman Period, literature was comprised of two sorts of dominant social facts. One is religious literature and another one in chivalric literature. Religious literature also had some different genres, such as: devotional writing, hagiographies, mystery plays, morality plays.

Devotional Writings included religious sermons and prayers.
Hagiographies included the life story of the Christian saints.
Mystery Plays included the stories described in the Bible, the religious book of the Christians.
Morality plays hold the moral lessons in its essence. They were mostly allegorical writings.

Chivalric literature also hold a dominant place in the Middle English Period or Anglo-Norman Period. Chivalry meant the writings about the medieval Christian knights. Their adventures and heroic actions were the essence of the chivalric literature.

Middle English Period: Writers:

Geoffrey Chaucer: Age of Chaucer:

The most influential writer of this age is Chaucer. 1340-1400 age is called the Age of Chaucer. Geoffrey Chaucer is called the Morning Star of Renaissance. He is also known as the Father of English Language and The Father of English Literature.

One of the prominent writing of Chaucer is the Canterbury Tales. It is an incomplete poetic description of stories comprising 17000 lines of total 24 stories. In Canterbury Tales, a group of pilgrims were travelling from London to Canterbury and they told these stories.

John Wycliffe:

He is the religious reformer of Middle English Period or the Anglo-Norman Period. He stood against the Roman Catholic priests. Wycliffe was also a renowned writer and professor of Oxford. He first translated Bible into English.

William Langland:

One of the poet of Middle English Period. He wrote ‘Piers and Plowman’.

Thomas Malory:

He wrote the first romance in prose named ‘Morte D’ Arthur’.

Written by: TRY DOT FULFIL English Literature.

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