ANGLO NORMAN AGE (1100-1500)

The Normans who were residing in Normandy (France) defeated Anglo Saxon’s king at the battle of Hastings (1066) and conquered England.

The conquest affected the wholesome awakening of national life. The people were suddenly inspired by a new version of a greater future.

They became united in a common hope. In course of time the Anglo-Saxons lost their initial hostility to the new comers, and all became part and parcel of one nation. The Normans not only brought with them soldiers and artisans and traders, they also imported scholars to revive knowledge, chronicles to record memorable events, minstrels to celebrate victories, or sign of adventure and love.

The great difference between the two periods Anglo-Saxon and Anglo Norman period is marked by the disappearance of old English poetry.

The most obvious change in literary expressions appear in the vehicle employed .For centuries Latin had been more or less spoken or written by the clergy in England. The conquest which led to the reinvigoration of the monasteries and tightening of the ties with Rome; determined its more extensive use still more important, as a result of foreign sentiments in court and castle. It caused writing in English vernacular to be disregarded and established the French; no one of influence saw the utility of English as a mean of perpetuating thought, and for nearly three centuries      very few works appeared in the native tongue.

Inspire of English language having been thrown into background, some works were composed In it, though they echoed mainly in the sentiments and tastes of French writers, as French then was the supreme arbiter of European literary style. Another striking characteristic of medieval literature is its general anonymity. Of the many who wrote the names, very few are recorded, and of the history of these few we have only a meager details. It was because originality was declared as a fault, and independence of treatment was a hideous offence in their eyes.

Romances

The most popular form of literature during Middle English period was the romances. No literary productions of the middle ages are so characteristics, none as perennially attractive as those that treat romantically the heroes and heroines of by-gone days. These romances are notable for their stories rather than their poetry and they, like the drama afterwards, furnished the chief mental recreation of time for the great body of the people.

These romances were mostly borrowed from Latin and French sources. They deal with the stories of King Author, the war of Troy, and the mythical doings of Charlemagne and of Alexander the great.

 

Miracle

 

In the middle English period, miracle plays became very popular from the growth and development of the bible story, scene by scene, carried it to logical conclusion, this drama develop to an enormous style of sacred history, beginning with the creation of man, his fall and banishment from the garden of heaven and extending through the more important matters of the old treatment and life of Crist in the new to the summoning of the quick and the dead on the day of judgment .this kind of drama is called the miracle play ,sometimes less correctly the mystery play and it flourished throughout England from the reign of Henry ll to that of Elizabeth(1154-1803).

 

Morality plays

 

Another form of drama which flourished during the middle ages was the morality plays. In these plays the uniform theme is the struggle between the powers of the god and evil for the mastery of man. The personages were abstract virtues, each acting and speaking in accordance with his name and the plot was built upon their contrasts and influences on human nature, with the instant to teach the right living and uphold religion. In a word, allegory is the distinguishing mark of the moral plays.

William Langland

 

One of  the greatest poets of the middle ages was William Langland, and his poem a vision of the piers THE PLLOWMAN holds an important  place in English literature. Inspire of his archaic style, it is a classic work in English literature. This poem which is satire on the corrupt religious practices, throw light on the ethical problems of the day. He represents the dissatisfaction of the lower and the more striking classes of English society. Although Langland is essentially a satiric poet, he has decided views on political and social questions.

 

Gower (1325-1408)

 

Gower occupies an important place in the development of English poetry. Gower’s contributions can’t be ignored. Gower represents the English culmination of medieval English poetry which had its rise in France two or three hundred years before. He is a great stylist and he proved that English might compete with other languages. Gower is mainly a narrative poet and his most important work is CONFESSION AMANTIS which is form of conversation between poet and the divine interpreter. It is an encyclopedia of art of love and satirizes the vanities of the current time throughout the collection of stories which forms the major portion of CONFESSION AMANTIS. Gower presents himself as a moralist.

GEOFFREY CHAUCER(1304?-1400)

Chaucer is known as the father of English poetry. It was in fact he who was the real founder of English poetry that has been read and enjoyed continuously from his own day to this. He disregarded altogether the old English tradition .He was not mere bookman; he was the man of world and of affairs.

Works

Chaucer’s works can be divided into

 

1-   the French period

2-  the Italian period

3-the English period (Canterbury tales)

Chaucer was the great poet of English nation and in the middle ages he stands supreme. After his death there was a decline in English poetry for about 100 years.

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