What were the "Middle Ages"?Click "Middle Ages" above to access the timeline for this period.
The term "Medieval" comes from the Latin terms medium, meaning "middle," and aevum, meaning "ages," which is why we now designate the Medieval period the Middle Ages, The Middle Ages extends from the Anglo-Saxon invasions around 450 through to Henry VII's ascension to the throne in 1485. On its own, this one period spans nearly 1,000 years. That said, the literature that we will be reading does not necessarily cover that full time span as much of it wasn't recorded in text until later in the period by monks who began producing books by hand; literacy was often restricted to servants of the Church who were educated in order to read the Bible, which is why much of this early literature will deal with religious themes. The poems and epics began as oral traditions and were recorded by those who identified as Christians (a term that encompasses both Catholics and Protestants). The way scholars determine where the literature fits in the period as a whole is by language. Old English texts were the earliest form of English and came from a Germanic tradition, brought by Anglo-Saxon invaders. Early Middle English developed after the Anglo-Norman conquests and introduced French and Latin terminology. Middle English, which is most closely related to modern English, was the last to develop and became tied with a distinctly English identity (prior to it French was the predominant language). This unit will explore texts that fit within each of these languages. We will primarily read in translation, but we will look at the original source texts to get an idea of how English as a language has developed (and continues to develop).
What are we reading?
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