Timeline

This chronology is intended to serve as background for English 430: Chaucer, at Edgewood College. Its purpose is to give a sense of the ways in which English developed up to the time of Chaucer, and to provide a smattering of general historical background along the way. As a result, it is somewhat idiosyncratic: it omits or brushes lightly past issues and events which are normally accorded greater importance, and includes much that would, in other contexts, seem minor. (And, in all honesty, I have complicated things still further by occasionally including items simply because of my own personal interests.) I have included sections of "Commentary" in order to summarize and synthesize along the way.

55 B.C.	Julius Caesar in Britain. He exacts promises of tribute from Celtic tribes, but tribute is not paid and Caesar does not return.
43 A.D.	Emperor Claudius sends Roman legions to Britain. The Romans defeat the British Celts under Caractacus at Medway. The Roman occupation of Britain begins.
122-27	Emperor Hadrian orders the building of "Hadrian's Wall," a fortified structure stretching from Tyne to Solway, between what are now Scotland and England. The wall is intended as a defensive line against incursions by unRomanized Celts from the north.
Commentary	From the last half of the first century A.D. through the early fifth century, Britain is an outlying province of the Roman empire. The north (Scotland) and west (Wales) remain unRomanized, as does Ireland. The central portion (England) is under Roman control. This division of the Romanized and unRomanized areas will affect later national and linguistic history. The Romanized portion enjoys greater peace and prosperity during this period. Roman legions provide protection; local armed forces largely disappear. A network of Roman roads is built and maintained; travel and trade are generally safe. Christianity is widespread. Latin is the language of law, government and the church, and is often used in trade, but Celtic dialects remain the language of the people.
410	Last Roman legions withdraw from Britain to defend Roman interior. Attacks by unRomanized Celts (Picts and Scots) begin shortly thereafter, and the Romanized Britons have difficulty defending their territory. Appeals to Rome for help get little response.
449	According to the Venerable Bede (who was writing in the eight century), the Celtic leader Vortigern invites a group of Jutes (probably from part of what is now Denmark) to help fend off the attacks by northern Celts; the Jutes defeat the attackers but then take a portion of Kent and settle there, initiating the period of Anglo-Saxon invasion and settlement.
477	According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Saxons begin settling in Sussex.
495	According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, other Saxons begin settling in Wessex. Angles are settling in East Anglia at about the same time.
537	Battle of Camlan; supposed death of King Arthur. (Okay, so this date isn't exactly historical, but it's hard to leave out the great hero of the Celtic resistance, even if his identity is semi-legendary and his exploits almost wholly so. A Romanized Celt may really have led a temporarily successful resistance to the Germanic invaders, and he may possibly have died somewhere around this time.)
547	Angles found a kingdom north of the Humber River. (The precise date, like most of the preceding ones, is unverifiable.) The Anglo-Saxon conquest of Britain is nearing completion at this point.
Commentary	By the latter half of the sixth century, the Anglo-Saxon conquest and settlement of England is largely complete. Scotland, Wales and Ireland remain largely outside of Anglo-Saxon dominance, as they did with the Romans. The Anglo-Saxon tribes (who included Jutes and Frisians and possibly others, in addition to Angles and Saxons) are pagan Germanic-speaking peoples, predominantly from the area that is now northern Germany and Denmark. They speak a group of mutually intelligible Germanic dialects, which almost wholly replace the Celtic dialects of the native Britons. Numerous Celtic place names remain (Kent, Avon, Exe, etc.), but only a handful of words in the more general vocabulary (e.g., "tor," for a high hill or mountain). Celtic languages continue to be spoken in Scotland, Wales and Ireland, making these areas linguistically as well as culturally distinct from the area that comes to be known as England..
597	St. Augustine arrives in Kent to convert the pagan Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. (Note: He is not the same St. Augustine who wrote the Confessions and the City of God.)
601	Augustine becomes first Archbishop of Canterbury. The re-Christianization of England proceeds over the next half-century or so.
674	Monastery at Jarrow founded.
c.700	Psalms translated into Old English. Lindisfarne Gospels produced (famous illuminated manuscripts).
782	Charlemagne sends for the English scholar Alcuin to head his palace school, an indication of Anglo-Saxon importance in the European world of learning.
Commentary	Latin continues to be the principal language of religion and of study. The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms harbor increasingly important centers of learning and culture. Traditionally the country is divided into seven kingdoms (the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy): Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Kent, Essex, Sussex and Wessex.
787	Scandinavian (Viking) raids on England begin, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The early raids are usually brief, plundering areas near the coast.
793-94	First period of Scandinavian (Viking) raids culminates in the sacking of the the monasteries of Lindisfarne and Jarrow.
802-839	Egbert, King of Wessex, extends his dominance to include all of England and at least a portion of Wales.
834	Viking raids renew along the southern coast and in East Anglia.
850-51	A fleet of 350 Danish ships attacks England, capturing Canterbury and London and plundering the countryside.
866-69	Danish army plunders East Anglia and captures York. Edmund, king of East Anglia, is killed.
871-78	Danish forces attack Wessex. After many reverses, King Alfred the great finally defeats them at Ethandun (Edington). Treaty of Wedmore is signed in 878. Danish forces withdraw from Wessex. The peace is an uneasy one, and conflicts continue.
Commentary	The Danelaw (territory which remains under Danish rule) is established in eastern (and northern) England. The Danes agree to accept Christianity as part of the treaty of Wedmore. Danes are now living side by side with Anglo-Saxons in some areas, speaking Germanic dialects which share considerable vocabulary with some of the Anglo-Saxon dialects, but generally have different inflectional systems. The simplification of the Old English inflectional system accelerates; Old English becomes less synthetic (dependent on word endings) and more analytic (dependent on word order). This process continues over a long period of time.
871-889	Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, establishes rule over almost all of England. There is a flowering of literary culture, and West Saxon is established as the dominant literary dialect of Old English.
937	King Athelstan (Alfred the Great's grandson) defeats the Danes at the battle of Brunanburh, one of a series of successful English counterattacks against the Danes.
991	A fleet of 93 Scandinavian ships attacks Essex. They defeat the East Saxons at the Battle of Maldon.
994-1012	Large-scale attacks by Scandinavian forces continue. Anglo-Saxons pay large sums (Danegeld) to prevent plunder.
1014	Svein, king of Denmark, forces Aethelred, king of England, into exile. Svein is seizes the English throne. He dies, and is succeeded by his son, King Canute (Cnut), who consolidates his position as king by 1016. Danish kings rule England for over a quarter century.
1042	King Hardicanute (last Danish king of England) dies. Edward the Confessor, son of Aethelred, becomes English king.
1066	Edward the Confessor dies childless, leaving the English throne vacant.
Commentary	Edward the Confessor's father, King Aethelred, is the brother-in-law of William, Duke of Normandy. When he is forced into exile by the Danes, Aethelred seeks refuge at William's court. Edward the Confessor is thus raised in France, and seems to have promised that William would succeed him as King of England. After Edward's death, the English choose Harold Godwinson as the new king. William raises an army to press his own claim. He lands with his army at Pevensey in England. King Harold is in the north, defeating another claimant to the throne, the king of Norway. He returns to the south with a weakened force and engages William at the Battle of Hastings. Harold is killed in the battle, and the English forces are routed.
1066	William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, is crowned king of England.
1066-1010	William consolidates his position as king, replacing the Anglo-Saxon nobility and high church officials with his own appointees, generally Normans.
1072	Only one of England's twelve earls is an Englishman (and he is executed four years later). The others are Normans or men of foreign blood.
1075	Twenty-one abbots sign the decrees of the Council of London; thirteen are Englishmen.
1087	Of the twenty-one abbots, only three are English.
1087	Only one of England's bishops is English (Wulfstan).
1087	William the Conqueror dies. His son, William Rufus, becomes king.
Commentary	Before the end of the eleventh century, the Norman dynasty was thoroughly established on the English throne, and Norman appointees had largely displaced Englishmen in the aristocracy, the courts, and in higher offices of government and the church. The aristocracy of England had dual allegiances to their holdings in England and in France. French was the language of the upper classes, and those who had dealings with them generally had to be able to speak French. English continued to be the language of the lower classes. With continued contact between French and English, and with increasingly common intermarriages, the difference between French and English became a marker of class rather than of ethnic origin. The pace of change in the English language itself also accelerated. The language became more and more analytic (dependent on word order rather than inflectional endings), and thousands of French words were adopted into the vocabulary.
1154	Last year that the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is kept at Peterborough--last surviving document written in Old English.
1200-1205	In 1200, King John of England marries Isabel of Angouleme, who is already betrothed to Hugh of Lusignan. Anticipating a reaction, John also attacks Hugh's territories. The case is taken to the court of the King of France. King Philip of France orders John (as Duke of Normandy and hence a vassal of the French king) to appear before him in 1202. John refuses to appear, and Philip confiscates his lands in France. By 1204, military action has made good the confiscation. In 1204-05, The French king also confiscates the French holdings of several major English noblemen; John retaliates with similar action against the English holdings of some French noblemen, although his court continues to be heavily influenced by French relations and appointees.
1215	King John is forced by English nobles to sign the Magna Carta at Runnymede.
1216ff.	King John dies. His son, King Henry III, becomes king.
1233	King Henry III replaces most of his royal officers with French appointees.
1236	King Henry III marries Eleanor of Provence. There is a new flood of French appointees to English offices and titles.
c.1250	Manuals for the teaching of French begin to appear in England; French is increasingly an acquired language for those raised in England.
1258	Henry III's preferment of Frenchmen in government and church offices provokes resistance from the middle class and the nobility, led by Simon de Montfort. The Provisions of Oxford establish the House of Commons. The Barons' War follows.
1258-65	The Barons' War. Many foreigners are driven from England.
1272	Edward I becomes king of England. Most government officials are English.
c.1300	Increasing numbers of monasteries and universities enforce a ban on speaking English, in order to preserve spoken French.
Commentary	Middle English is well established as the common speech of England. Most inflectional endings have been reduced to a single final "e," so that inflections can no longer govern syntax, and word order has increased in importance. Vocabulary is heavily influenced by French borrowings. The French and English aristocracies have become more and more fully separated. French is still spoken as a prestige language among the upper classes and social climbers, but more often than not it is an acquired language. There is considerable national feeling against "foreign" French influence. Latin remains the most important language of learning.
1309	Pope Clement V (a Frenchman) moves the Papal Curia to the French city of Avignon, beginning what is called the "Babylonian Captivity" of the church.
1337	Hundred Years' War between England and France begins (ends 1453). English King Edward III is pressing his claim to the throne of France.
c.1342-44	Geoffrey Chaucer born.
1346	English forces in France defeat a much larger French force at the Battle of Crecy. Feelings of English nationalism increase.
1348-50	The Black Death ravages England. One-third of the population dies, including 40% of parish clergy. The lower classes are probably hit harder than the upper classes. there are subsequent labor shortages, class conflict, etc.
1349	English begins to be used for teaching in England's schools.
1351	The Statute of Labourers attempts to freeze wages in the labor shortages following the Black Death.
1356	English forces in France defeat a vastly superior French army at the Battle of Poitiers, providing more fuel for English national feeling.
1358	The Treaty of London formally restores the French possessions of Henry II to the English crown.
1362	Chancellor's speech to open Parliament is given in English.
1362	Parliament orders that all lawsuits be conducted in English; the order is not obeyed.
1376	Edward the Black Prince, England's foremost military leader and the heir to the throne, dies.
1377	King Edward III dies. His grandson, Richard II, becomes king at the age of 10.
1377	Pope Gregory XI returns to Rome, ending the "Babylonian Captivity" of the church
1378	Pope Gregory XI dies. Urban VI is elected at Rome, Clement VII at Avignon; The church's "Great Schism" begins, with two popes (and finally three) claiming to be the legitimate leader of Christians and to hold the keys to salvation. (The Schism ends in 1417.)
1381	Class conflict erupts in the Peasants' Revolt.. Resentment of the Poll Tax (used for financing the currently unsuccessful, and hence unpopular, Hundred Years' War) is the occasion of the revolt. Large landholders, lawyers, and wealthy church officials are prime targets of the rebels' anger. The rebels take London for a while, and blockade King Richard II in the Tower of London. Richard and his Council disperse the rebellion (with rather underhanded tactics).
Commentary	The social and political landscapes are troubled, with war, intermittent plague, religious controversy, open revolt in the countryside, and a weak king who is still a teenager. But Middle English is in its literary golden age. Geoffrey Chaucer and John Gower are writing in London; William Langland and the anonymous Pearl-poet are active farther north. The South Midlands dialect (the dialect of London and also of Chaucer and Gower) is establishing itself as the country's prestige dialect--it is the speech associated with royal and ecclesiastical government and hence with access to political power and social position. The language is still in an active state of change--by the 1470s, Thomas Malory will be writing his Morte d'Arthur in what is recognizably modern English.
1399	Richard II is forced to abdicate the throne. Henry Bolinbroke becomes King Henry IV.
1400	Henry IV puts down a rebellion by English nobles. The deposed king, Richard II, is murdered.
1400	Geoffrey Chaucer dies.

A Chronology for the Development of the English Language to 1400