Name: Beatrice R.

Obal _____________ Year and Section: 3rd Year- King Philip Project in: English Literature Date of Submission: August 17, 2012

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Synthesis Guide Question: Differentiate the developments and trends in the literature and culture of the Old and Middle English Periods. Anglo-Saxons? Who are they? Anglo-Saxons are the English-speaking inhabitants of Britain from around the middle of the fifth century until the time of the Norman Conquest, when the Anglo-Saxon line of English kings came to an end. According to the Venerable Bede, the greatest Anglo-Saxon scholar whose Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, completed in the year 731, was the most important source for the early history of England. The Anglo-Saxons arrived in the island of Britain during the reign of Martian, in 499. Before that

time, Britain had been inhabited by speakers of Celtic languages: the Scots and Picts in the north, and various groups in the south. By the beginning of the fifth century, the Roman Empire was under increasing pressure from advancing barbarians and their garrisons in Britain were being depleted as troops were withdrawn to face threats closer to home. In A.D. 410, the same

year in which the Visigoths entered and sacked Rome, the last of the Roman troops were withdrawn and the Britons had to defend themselves. Facing hostile, the Britons decided to hire one enemy to fight the other: They engaged Germanic mercenaries to fight the Picts and Scots. These were from the Germanic nations of Europe: the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes. According to Bede, the mercenaries succeeded quickly in defeating the Picts and Scots and then sent word to their homes of the fertility of the island and the cowardice of the Britons. What makes

Anglo-Saxon England especially worthy of study is the remarkable literature that flourished there. Augustine was sent by Pope Gregory to convert the kingdoms to Christianity. He established a Benedictine Abbey which became the centre of learning and scholarship in Western Europe at Canterbury as the seat of his diocese. By the 7th and 8th centuries, Caedmon, an unlearned cowherd who was inspired by a vision and acquired the gift of poetic song and Cynewulf, a poet whose poems were signed in a kind of cipher, were produced. Unfortunately, only nine lines of the first one survive. Cynewulfs were made up of runes. In addition

to such well-known classic poems like Beowulf, an early Anglo-Saxon poem based on their ancient traditions, Old English Literature left us the translations of King Alfred the Great, a great patron of English Literature who established a system of education and started the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. It was the oldest account of English history written in English which recorded national history. 2

While most of the manuscripts that preserve vernacular works date from the late ninth, tenth and eleventh centuries, the Anglo-Saxons were producing written work in their own language by the early seventh century, and many scholars believe that Beowulf and several other important poems date from the eighth century. Thus we are in possession of five centuries of Anglo-Saxon vernacular literature. On October 14, 1066, the Anglo-Saxon period was brought to a close. A dynastic quarrel over the throne of England ended in victory for William, Duke of Normandy, at the Hastings. Harold II, last of Anglo-Saxon kings, was killed. This had greatly changed the English life. The Normans, the new conquerors, were tremendous builders of castles and cathedrals and built much of what we now see as the surviving medieval look of England.

Frenchmen filled all positions of power. For a period there was a kind of linguistic class division, where the lower classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke French. However, after the loss of Normandy by King John in 1204 and the hundred years war, ties were lost with France and many Normans began to think of themselves as English. By these times, education flourished. The first universities, Oxford and Cambridge, were also founded. At the beginning of the Middle English period there were many different dialects and each author wrote in their own dialect. Therefore there is some variation in the writing of this time. During the course of the period however, the speech of the London region gradually emerged as the standard form used for writing 3

and eventually developed into Standard Modern English.

In the 14th

century, English became dominant in Britain again, but with many French words added. This language is called Middle English. It was the language of the great poet Geoffrey Chaucer, the Father of English Poetry (c1340-1400).He was one of the worlds greatest storytellers. The Canterbury Tales is his masterpiece. Through this work, Chaucer painted a picture of contemporary English life by gathering a motley company of people together and letting each class of society tell its own favorite stories. Though it was never finished, Canterbury Tales has remained unequaled to this day. Some of these developments don't leave much trace in the record. In fact, just as enormous changes are in action, we lose sight of them historically. Such a trade-off is almost necessary. The Old English literary tradition ends soon after 1066. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle keeps going till 1154, but as we've seen, it isn't the most talkative of books in a good year.

References: (author. year of publication. title of reference. name of publisher) Johnson & Johnson. 1995. The trends and developments in English literature and culture. Oxford University Press 4