The Middle English Period (MEP) 1066-1500

11 important questions on The Middle English Period (MEP) 1066-1500

What languages are spoken and by whom in the MEP?

French becomes the official language of the court of William the Conqueror and his successors. But Latin is also used by the clergy. 
The common people uesd their native English.

What are romances and what do they describe?

They describe the adventures of brave knights who fight and conquer all sorts of enemies in order to wint the love of beautiful ladies.

What do you find in poems and prose that is influenced by the church?

In these poems and prose writings life on earth is pictured as a journey to heaven and earthly joys as unimportant and even sinful.
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What is didactic literature?

This means that it wants to teach a moral lesson.

Why are many poems and works of art anonymous?

Man are as an individual not considered as important.

What is a miracle play and what are they about?

This arises out of the church service, is the earliest form drama. It becomes popular because it is one of the very few means of entertainment for the common people.

What is a morality play? Give an example of a morality play.

Allegorical plays which teach a moral lesson by means of personified vices and virtues. The most famous is Everyman (1500).

Who is Geoffrey Chaucer and what is his most important work?

The greatest poet of the MEP (he lived 1340-1400), his most important work is The Canterbury Tales (1390).

What does Geoffrey describe in The Canterbury Tales?

A pilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas a Beckett in Canterbury. The pilgrims represent the three classes of medieval society. On their way the pilgrims tell stories to amuse each other.

Why are those stories (like The Canterbury Tales) of enormous value?

They give a good idea of what went on in the minds of English people in Chaucer's time.

Describe the influence that the invention of the printing-press had on England.

It has a great influence on the possibilities of publishing literature and spreading the new ideas that cause the rise of the next period, that of the Renaissance.

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