Middle English Period

Middle English Period Summary

What do we mean when we refer to the 'Middle English period'? Let's start with a basic definition and summary.

The Middle English period began in 1066, following the Norman conquest of England.

Prior to this, England was controlled by the Anglo-Saxons, who themselves had invaded the island following the collapse of Roman Britain in the 5th Century AD.

During their nearly 600-year reign in England, The Anglo-Saxons spoke the first recorded version of the English language, known as 'Old English'. This version was more closely related to the West Germanic language family than it was to the version of English we know today. In fact, to a modern English speaker, Old English would sound completely foreign!

Prior to the invasion, the Normans spoke a regional dialect of Old French, known as 'Norman French'. Immediately after conquering England, the Normans began to adopt loan words from the Anglo-Saxons, leading to a new variant of the French language called 'Anglo-Norman'.

Anglo-Norman became associated with the upper class and was the language of nobility, courts, law and administration. Despite this, most of the lower-class population of England continued to speak Old English.

It took many years for English to once again re-emerge as the country's dominant language. One of the primary reasons for this was the Normans' gradual loss of touch with French culture. This occurred in part due to King John (1166-1216), who lost control of Normandy - the region of France under Norman control - to the King of France Philip II (1165-1223).

Fig 1. Normandy (highlighted red) is a region in northern France that was controlled by the Normans from 911 until 1204.

This defeat isolated the Normans in England, quickly leading them to see themselves as English rather than French. Although many Anglo-Norman words had found their way into the Old English language by this point, this was the first time that Anglo-Norman speakers had readily and extensively adopted Old English words into their own vocabulary. The eventual mix of these two languages resulted in what we now know as Middle English.

But what was the difference between Old and Middle English? Let's read on to find out.

Middle English Period's Grammar and Characteristics

The primary change from Old English to Middle English was the simplification of grammar. In Old English, word order was left up to the discretion of the author. Therefore, writers needed to use other grammatical functions to convey meaning within their work. Most prevalent within Old English was a startling number of inflections.

This made Old English grammar extremely complex. In contrast, Middle English grammar was based more heavily on fixed word order, meaning that the arrangement of words could communicate the writer's intention over unnecessarily complex inflections.

Old English also used three genders to describe nouns: masculine, feminine and neuter. Today we see this only in languages like German and Icelandic.

Middle English saw the transition towards the prepositional constructions that we find in our language today. Combined with the fixed word order, this makes Middle English much easier to understand for a modern English speaker when compared with Old English, which is almost impossible to comprehend without study.

The primary difference between Middle English and Modern English is the amount of standardisation in the language. The invention of the printing press in 1436 allowed texts to be mass-printed. This helped regulate the written word, eventually making spelling, punctuation and grammar consistent throughout the country.

Middle English Period: Literature

Most of the surviving literature we have from both the Middle English and Old English period is either administrative or religious. Hymns, sermons, laws and documents are the most readily available texts for scholars who want to learn more about life in the Middle Ages.

For hundreds of years after the Norman invasion, most literature was written in either Latin or French. Aside from some exceptions dated to the thirteenth century, like Layamon's Brut, English only made a complete resurgence within written work during the fourteenth century.

There are many surviving examples of Middle English fiction from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries that tell us a lot about language use, the way writers constructed texts, and the themes that medieval authors were concerned with. Let's look at three essential works created during this period.

Middle English Period Writers

Let's look at some important authors and poets from the Middle English period.

Geoffrey Chaucer - The Canterbury Tales

The most important text to come from Middle English is Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales (1387-1400), which contains twenty-four unique tales told from the perspective of travelling pilgrims who are trying to win a story-telling contest. The work is largely written in poetry, but some passages are written in prose.

Fig 2. Geoffrey Chaucer (c. the 1340s-1400) was an English poet and author famed for creating The Canterbury Tales (1387-1400).

By this time, English was starting to more closely resemble the language we know today. If we modernise spellings for this extract of The Canterbury Tales, it's possible to interpret the text quite easily.

Now, here's a modern translation of the same two lines.

Compared with Old English, the fixed word order in Middle English texts makes them much more accessible for Modern English speakers to read. Within this extract, you can also see the Norman invasion's impact on the English language. The words 'vein', 'liquor', 'virtue', 'engendered', and 'flower' all derive from Old French!

Margery Kempe - The Book of Margery Kempe

The Book of Margery Kempe (c.1440) was published in the early 15th century and is the earliest example of an autobiography in the English language. Kempe's work is invaluable, as she was one of the first to depict the reality of a typical middle-class life in Medieval England.

Margery couldn't read or write, so she recited her stories to a scribe who wrote the book for her. The narrative tells us a lot about the beliefs held in England at the time. For example, when Margery's businesses collapsed, she saw it as punishment for her sins and so devoted herself entirely to religion. The autobiography also reveals a lot about common attitudes to women; she describes being accused of heresy, repeatedly arrested, and being told she would be burnt alive in the street.

All in all, Margery's account of her life is a frank, unembarrassed account of a woman's life in Medieval England. As such, it is an essential text for anyone interested in learning more about the period.

Anonymous - Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Published anonymously sometime around the year 1400, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight tells the story of a knight at King Arthur's court, Camelot. The knight, named Sir Gawain, accepts a challenge from a Green Knight who arrives at court, after which Sir Gawain is put through a series of challenges that test both his loyalty and honour.

Today the poem is seen as an important example of the 'romance' genre. No, not that romance! This is the medieval romance.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight tells us a lot about the medieval concern for honour and chivalry, which was a common theme in Middle English literature. The poem is also helpful for scholars studying the dialects of the period.

Although the poet is anonymous, we know that he was from the North West Midlands, as the entire manuscript is written in this dialect.

Middle English Period: Literary Features

Let's look at some of the defining characteristics and literary features of Middle English literature in more detail.

Depictions of chivalry

One of the major themes within Middle English literature is Chivalry.

Chivalry binds a knight to a strict code of honour that shapes how they speak and act. Some of these virtues are generosity, piety, courtesy and chastity. The idea of chivalry was popularised in Middle English society through literature. The legend of King Arthur, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales all feature elements of chivalry that guide their character's choices.

Religion

Religion was one of the most important concerns in all Middle English society. Most citizens believed that God decided their fate and saw religion as a way of life. This was reflected in almost all literature of the period. As the church held authority over daily life, most texts instructed citizens on how to live content, religious lives while warning them of what not to do should they want to make it to the afterlife.

Anonymous authors

Many works of literature, both poetry and prose, were written anonymously in the Middle English period. This is because most Medieval literature comes from an oral tradition, meaning that it was designed to be spoken rather than read. This means that stories were often memorised, adapted and altered by different people, so knowledge of the original author was unimportant.