English replaces French as educational language

Literary/ Cultural Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.02: English Writing and Culture: High and Late Medieval, 1066-1485.
Vol. editors: Kate Ash-Irisarri (University of Edinburgh), Rory Critten (Université de Lausanne), David Fuller (University of Durham), Natalie Hanna (University of Liverpool), Hugh Magennis (Queen's University Belfast), Jamie McKinstry (University of Durham), Sarah Peverley (University of Liverpool), Sebastian Sobecki (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen)

Domains

Education
Language & Linguistics

Dates

Date of occurrence 1350

Places

England (Location)

Ever since the government of England had been taken over by a Norman elite with the conquest of 1066, French had been the language of the court, of government and of education. English was still spoken by the common people throughout this period, of course, but from approximately 1350, it also started to be used again for literary texts. The second half of the fourteenth century saw a flowering of literature in Middle English that included the anonymous Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, William Langland's Piers Plowman, and the works of Geoffrey Chaucer.

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92 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "English replaces French as educational language". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 31 July 2012 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=9459, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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English replaces French as educational language

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Dates

Places

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