A GENERAL OUTLINE OF ENGLISH LITERATURE I. THE PERIOD OF PREPARATION 1. From the Beginning to the Norman Conquest, A. CONTINENTAL AND PRE-CHRISTIAN ERA. 1. Widsith. to 1066. English begin to settle in Britain, 449. of Christianity, 597. B. CAEDMON TO ALFRED (670-871) 1. Literature in Wessex. Aldhelm, poet and scholar, 670?-709. 2. Literature in Northumbria. a. Beowulf. b. Caedmon's paraphrase of Genesis and Exodus, etc. c. Cynewulf; religious poems. d. Bede, scholar and historian, writes in Latin the Ecclesiastical History of the English People. C. ALFRED TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST (871-1066). Invasions of the Danes, 787-878. Accession of Alfred the Great, 871. Peace of Chippenham, 878. 1. Revival of Prose under Alfred, 880. a. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. b. Alfred's Translations from Latin into Old English, or Anglo-Saxon Prose. 2. From Death of Alfred to Norman Conquest. 2. Norman Conquest to the Death of Chaucer (1066-1400). William the Conqueror wins the Battle of Hastings, 1066. ILLUSTRATIONS GRASMERE, IN THE ENGLISH LAKE COUNTRY Frontispiece PAGE ST. MARTIN'S CHURCH, CANTERBURY, CALLED "THE MOTHER RUINS OF HYDE ABBEY, WINCHESTER, WHERE ALFRED IS MARY ARDEN'S COTTAGE HOLY TRINITY CHURCH AND RIVER, STRATFORD IN MILTON'S HOUSE, CHALFONTE ST. GILES VILLAGE OF ELSTON, WHERE BUNYAN WAS BORN ALEXANDER POPE JOSEPH ADDISON MAGDALEN TOWER AND QUADRANGLE 99 128 138 148 149 facing 152 ADDISON'S WALK AT MAGDALEN. JONATHAN SWIFT SAMUEL JOHNSON 261 266 facing 286 COFFEE-ROOM IN CHESHIRE CHEESE INN STOKE POGIS CHURCHYARD, THE SCENE OF GRAY'S "ELEGY" 299 289 Loss of Normandy by King John of England, 1204. Literature during this period was written in Latin, A. LATIN. 1. Florence of Worcester and William of Malmesbury, early Latin chroniclers (first half of XII century). 2. Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain, in Latin, introduces Celtic legend into Norman and English literature (1147). 3. Matthew Paris, a later Latin Chronicler, died 1259. B. FRENCH. Romances. a. Song of Roland. b. Arthurian Romances. C. ENGLISH. 1. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle continued to 1154. 2. English begins to gain ground in the 13th century. a. Layamon's Brut about (1205). b. French romances appear in English (13th and 14th centuries). c. English Songs. d. Miracle Plays. 3. Triumph of English in the 14th century. a. Wyclif (about 1324-1384). b. Gower (1330–1408). c. Langland (about 1332-1400). d. Chaucer (about 1340-1400). II. PERIOD OF THE RENAISSANCE IN ENGLAND, 1. The Revival of Learning. 1400-1600. Foreign and Civil Wars, 1400-1485. During this period the Renaissance slowly enters |