The Middle Ages
Period Introduction Overview
T HE MI D D LE AG E S
The Middle Ages is a vast literary time period. It stretches from the collapse of the Roman Empire in
Britain (ca. 450) to the beginning of the Renaissance (ca. 1485).
The period is subdivided into three parts: Anglo-Saxon literature, Anglo-Norman literature, and
Middle English literature.
The word "medieval" comes from the Latin medium(middle) and aevum(age).
There are two trends in scholarship concerning the Middle Ages: some scholars view the Middle Ages
as the beginning of ideas that continued developing well into the sixteenth century; others feel the
Middle Ages were "created" by sixteenth-century writers who wanted to emphasize the originality of
their contributions to literary culture.
Old English was spoken by the Germanic invaders of Britain; Old French or Anglo-Norman was
spoken in Britain after the Norman Conquest of 1066; and Middle English, which appeared in the
twelfth century, displaced French as Britain's official language by the end of the fourteenth century.
Monasteries and other religious houses were the major producers of books until they were dissolved
by King Henry VIII in the 1530s (at which point the king assured the nobility's loyalty to himself by
giving them much of the former monastic houses' lands and assets); commercial book-making
enterprises began around the fourteenth century.
Religious houses were the major consumers of books during the Middle Ages. Nobles began
purchasing and commissioning books during the Anglo-Norman period; later, in the fourteenth
century, wealthy urbanites also entered the book market.
A NG L O- SA X ON L I TE R AT UR E
The Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes were the three related Germanic tribes who invaded the
Roman province Britannia (England) around the year 450, after the Romans withdrew.
The name "English" derives from the Angles.
As the Germanic tribes invaded, native Britons withdrew from England to Wales, where the modern-
day version of their language is still spoken.
The widespread adoption of Christianity in the seventh century had an effect on literacy, as laws,
histories, and ecclesiastic writings were propagated by the church.
The Anglo-Saxons were invaded in turn by the Danes in the ninth century.
Anglo-Saxons had a tradition of oral poetry, but only circumstantial evidence of this tradition
remains in manuscripts―most remaining Old English poetry is contained in just four manuscripts.
Admiration for and performance of Germanic heroic poetry continued into the Christian era.
