Middle Age

The term "Middle English literature" refers to English literature that was created during the roughly 300-year period from 1150 CE to around 1450 after the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes (also known as the Anglo-Saxons) settled in England in the latter part of the fifth century and eventually gave the country its name and language. 

During this time, English gained enormous popularity among people from all social classes. As the language developed over time, Chaucer's poetry made English the ideal literary language by the late 1300s.

The Middle English period starts after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 (The Battle of Hastings); by the year 1300, the language may be categorically referred to as "Middle". 

Even though Middle English writings are difficult for modern English speakers to read, they can usually be understood without a great deal of linguistic study, however, there are subtleties in the grammar and vocabulary that call for careful linguistic attention.

Old English poetry:

After the Norman Conquest, many Anglo-Saxon rulers lost their estates, and a new French-speaking (technically, Anglo-Norman) aristocracy came to power. Naturally, these cultural shifts did not occur overnight everywhere. 

However, as the Norman nobles acquired a taste for continental literary genres like Courtly Love, Romance, and The Matter of Arthur, earlier tendencies, such as Germanic/Heroic literature, fell out of popularity. Later in this period, speakers noticed the formation of a more traditional variety of English, which was largely based on London accents. Numerous authors, including Wace (Brut) and Marie de France (Lays and Fables), wrote in French because it was the court's favored language.

The Norman Conquest did not instantly alter the English language or literature. Older poetry was still being reprinted in the second half of the eleventh century. Two poems from the early 12th century, "Durham," which honors the cathedral and artifacts of that city, and "Instructions for Christians," a didactic poem, prove that correct alliterative verse was still a viable form of poetry well after 1066. 

However, even before the conquest, rhyme had begun to take the role of alliteration in some poetry rather than complement it. Even though these poems' rhythms diverged from those of conventional Old English verse, they still kept the usual four-stress line.

More rhyme than alliteration can be found in a ballad from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle about William the Conqueror's passing that laments his brutality and greed. Numerous lines in the post-conquest sample "The Grave" rhyme.

Women Writers:

In a nutshell, it is impossible to say with certainty if or how many women were "authors" during the Old English era. The chance is slim, though, considering that the majority of the writing was done in all-male monasteries and that manuscripts don't make any reference to female poets. 

Major works by women include the Book of Margery Kemp, the earliest autobiography ever written in English, Julian of Norwich's Showings, a collection of mystical and profoundly theological visions, and Marie de France's writings. But in the Middle English era, when recognized authorship began to be greatly valued, we have a clearer picture. 

Although we will just briefly address the "Scottish Makars" William Dunbar, Robert Henryson, and Gavin Douglas for the sake of concision, it should be noted that a sizable amount of literature was also being written during this period in Scotland.

Two of the most well-known poets of the fourteenth century, John Gower and Geoffrey Chaucer, were products of this urban commercial milieu. "The Canterbury Tales" by Chaucer and Gower's "Confessio Amantis" are both well-known works. Each is composed of a collection of stories that are connected by a framing story. 

This novel's structure was derived from works by writers from the Mediterranean, such as Giovanni Boccaccio, whose Decameron had a plague-related frame tale. 

The Crusades to the Holy Land and the Hundred Years War (in France) may have increased English people's exposure to continental and Mediterranean literature. 
The amount of English engagement with these locations may have increased as a result of this increased exposure. 

Influence of French Poetry:

The influence of French poetry on English poetry by the end of the 12th century was so great that works like the lengthy epic Brut (circa 1200), written by a Worcestershire priest named Lawamon, seem outmoded for their use of rhyming couplets and alliterative lines while primarily avoiding French terminology. 

The Anglo-Norman Roman de Brut (1155), which was based on Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain), is where the majority of Brut's inspiration comes from. Wace largely lacks the Germanic and heroic tone that Lawamon injects into the Arthurian story. The Brut is available in two manuscripts, one from around 1200 and the other from around 50 years later.

Unquestionably the greatest poetry of this period is The Owl and the Nightingale, a work from the well-known discussion genre that was written after 1189. The two birds argue about everything, including relationships, prognostication, and the proper ways to worship, as well as their grooming habits, appearances, and songs. 

Although there is no obvious victor, the debate is over when the birds fly off to make their cases to Nicholas of Guildford, a wise man. The owl symbolizes the shadowy aspects of life, while the nightingale represents the happy ones. The poem wears its ecclesiastical tradition learning lightly since the disputants occasionally employ colloquial and vulgar language.

Prose:

Old English prose works were reproduced for more than a century after the Norman Conquest; King Alfred's translations of Boethius and Augustine are only now preserved in manuscripts from the 12th century. 

The homilies of Aelfric were particularly well-read. By the early 13th century, Old English manuscripts were proving difficult to read, as shown by the anonymous Worcester worker who added glosses to a number of these texts. Very little important writing was produced in the last half of the 13th century. 

Dan Michel of Northgate wrote The Ayenbite of Inwit ("Prick of Conscience"), a translation from French, in Kentish about the start of the 14 century. 

The best literature of this period was written by the mystic Hampole hermit Richard Rolle, whose English tracts include The Commandment, Meditations on the Passion, and The Form of Perfect Living, among others. The following works, among the most famous of the 14th century, were inspired by his colorful and stylized prose, including the anonymous Cloud of Unknowing, Julian of Norwich's Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love, and Walter Hilton's Scale of Perfection.

The invention of the printing press (by Johannes Gutenberg in 1455) and William Caxton's introduction of it to England (around 20 years later) marked a key turning point for literature. The popularity of English as a language and the accessibility of literature to all people significantly grew. 

One of the earliest printed works is Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur, a protracted chronicle-style account of Arthur's life narrative and various adventures (including the well-known quest for the Holy Grail). 

Other important literary works include the scientifically avant-garde writings of Roger Bacon and the superb historical and encyclopedic translations of John Trevisa.

Growing Drama:

The appeal of drama also saw a resurgence during this time. The majority of the earliest examples of this genre were Morality Plays and Mystery Plays. The former aim to impart moral, ethical, and spiritual truth through the dramatization of an allegorical existence. 

The plays Everyman and Mankind are two well-known examples. The latter includes the York Cycle of plays, which are annually performed at York, a city in northern England, as part of the summer Corpus Christi celebration. Several plays from this cycle were performed on separate pageant wagons, each of which was supported by a nearby guild.

To complete the cycle across the city, one station at a time, it may take up to 12 hours of nonstop performances. The plays dramatized every verse of the Bible, from the beginning of time through the second coming of Christ. There were also traveling productions, such as the N-town plays.