1. Middle English 1100-1500

2. Influences and Decline of English  Norman Invasion (1066)  Increase in French as main spoken language  The influence of the Normans can be illustrated by looking at two words, beef and cow. Beef, commonly eaten by the aristocracy, derives from the Anglo-Norman, while the Anglo-Saxon commoners, who tended the cattle, retained the Germanic cow.  French and English eventually combine into Middle English

3. Decline of English (1066-1204)  Increase in dialectal differences  Influence of social classes (aristocrats vs. working class/peasants)  Geographical divisions  Lack of prestige  French as language of courts  Latin as language of Church  Little written in English during this time

4. Rise of English (1204-1348)  Bilingualism begins to appear with marriages between French and English  French culture declines  Norman landholders remain and spoke Anglo-French dialect  Increase in cultural mingling led to decrease in dialectal differences  Beginning of standard English in 14 th century

5. Dominance of English (1348-1509)  1399 – King Henry IV became the first king of England since the Norman Conquest.  By the end of the 14th Century, the dialect of London had emerged as the standard dialect of what we now call Middle English.  Increase in English writing  More legal documents in English by 15 th century  Dominance of London as commercial center  Black Death (1348-1351)  Rise in prestige of English as language of working class  Conclusion of Middle English with reign of Henry VIII  English Renaissance and Early Modern English

6. Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales (approx. 1387-1400)  Late 14 th century English poet  Served in Hundred Year’s War (England and France) as soldier and diplomat  Influenced by Dante and Petrarch  Discusses social tensions  Consists of 24 tales  Narrator (host) joins 29 pilgrims  Characters tell tales on way to Canterbury  Traveling to the shrine of the martyr Saint Thomas Becket  Noted for realism of characters