page_title: Middle English literature
section_title: Late period
hierarchical_section_title: Middle English literature / Late period
caption_attribution_description: English: Produced in London in the 1330s, the manuscript provides a unique insight into the English language and literature that Chaucer and his generation grew up with and were influenced by. It acquired its name from its first known owner, Lord Auchinleck, who discovered the manuscript in 1740 and donated it to the precursor of the National Library in 1744. Auchinleck contains a large collection of Middle English poetry, containing a wide range of genres, the above page being one of eight romances; Reinbroun in particular shows an interest in the supernatural and the fairy world. http://auchinleck.nls.uk/mss/reinbrun.html http://auchinleck.nls.uk/index.html
context_page_description: The term Middle English literature refers to the literature written in the form of the English language known as Middle English, from the 14th century until the 1470s. During this time the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English became widespread and the printing press regularized the language. Between the 1470s and the middle of the following century there was a transition to early Modern English. In literary terms, the characteristics of the literary works written did not change radically until the effects of the Renaissance and Reformed Christianity became more apparent in the reign of King Henry VIII. There are three main categories of Middle English literature, religious, courtly love, and Arthurian, though much of Geoffrey Chaucer's work stands outside these. Among the many religious works are those in the Katherine Group and the writings of Julian of Norwich and Richard Rolle.
  After the Norman conquest of England, Law French became the standard language of courts, parliament, and society. The Norman dialects of the ruling classes mixed with the Anglo-Saxon of the people and became Anglo-Norman, and Anglo-Saxon underwent a gradual transition into Middle English.
context_section_description: It was with the fourteenth century that major works of English literature began once again to appear; these include the so-called Pearl Poet's Pearl, Patience, Cleanness, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; Langland's political and religious allegory Piers Plowman; John Gower's Confessio Amantis; and the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, the most highly regarded English poet of the Middle Ages, who was seen by his contemporaries as an English successor to the great tradition of Virgil and Dante. Far more manuscripts of the Prick of Conscience than any other Middle English poem survive, however.
  
  The Kildare Poems are a rare example of Middle English literature produced in Ireland, and give an insight into the development of Irish English.
  The latter portion of the 14th century also saw not only the consolidation of English as a written language, taking over from French or Latin in certain areas, but a large shift from primarily theological or religious subject matter to also include that of a more secular nature. Vernacular book production saw a growth in the number of books being copied, both secular and religious. Thus, the latter portion of the 14th century can be seen as one of the most significant periods in the history of the English language.
  The reputation of Chaucer's successors in the 15th century has suffered in comparison with him, though Lydgate, Thomas Hoccleve, and Skelton are widely studied. At this time the origins of Scottish poetry began with the writing of The Kingis Quair by James I of Scotland. The main poets of this Scottish group were Robert Henryson, William Dunbar, and Gavin Douglas. Henryson and Dunbar introduced a note of almost savage satire, which may have owed something to the Gaelic bardic poetry, while Douglas's version of Virgil's Aeneid is one of the early monuments of Renaissance literary humanism in English.
  It was a vibrant time for religious drama as well: many morality plays and miracle plays were produced, and some scripts survive today. Sidrak and Bokkus is another example of late Middle English literature.
caption: A page from the Auchinleck Manuscript which contains a large collection of Middle English poetry
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