Letteratura Inglese

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Data:	24.05.2000
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William I (1066 - 1087)
When William became king he introduced the feudal system into England, that was divided among the nobles called Barons. They swore loyalty to the King and helped him i war for forty days a year. Moreover the Barons gave part of their land to lesser nobles called Knights and the land was tilled by paesants called serfs who were bound to the soil and to their Lord.When William died he hand down his Duchy to his helder son Robert and England to William Rufus, his second son.Then while Robert was fighting the Muslims William Rufus died and his younger brother Henry take control of the whole kingdom in spite of Robert's claim.
Henry I (1100 - 1135)
Henry defeated Robert and united the reign under his rule. Henry tried to hand down his reign to his son but unfortunatly he died and so the two possible heirs were Matilda, his daughter and Stephen, his nephew that became King.This led to a civil war that finished when Stephen died and Matilda's son, Henry II, became king .
Henry II (1154 - 1189)
Henry II was the son of Jeoffrey of Anjou and he was, married with Eleanor ofr Aquitania so his reign ranged from the Scottish to the Spanish border. He asked the lords to pay taxes instead of sending soldiers to provide money for a professional soldier army to protect his land.Moreover he introduced a new law system. But his reign was spoilt by the opposition of the archbishop of Canterbury Thomas à Becket because both the church and the king wanted to judge the clerks. In the end the Archbishop was killed.
Richard "Lionheart" (1189 - 1199)
Richard was called "Lionheart" for his courage. He left England to join the crusade and when he came back from the Holy Land, he was imprisoned by his brother John who tried to take his place. After his freedom , Richard was killed in France and John became King.
John "Lackland" (1199 - 1216)
John was unpopular for his greed in fact he set heavy taxes to enlarge his revenue. When the king of France invaded Normandy, John was called Lackland so he imposed new taxes to provide money for a new army. For this new taxes the lords rebelled and compelled John to sign the Magna Carta, a document that granted, to freemen, legal trials and no taxation whitout the approvation of the council.
Henry III (1216 - 1272)
Henry III, a young King, was advided to accept the document by his advisers. When he became an adult he surrounded
himself by foreign friends and waged expensive wars to support the Pope. The lords, headed by Simon de Monfort, took over the governement and created an elected council called parliament.
Edward I (1272 - 1307)
Edward I needed money so he had to rely on the rich people who could be taxed. Moreover he created the house of commons (made up of knights, freemen, and merchants) to reinforce the principle of no taxation without representation.
Edward II (1307 - 1327)
Edward II wasn't a brave soldier, in fact he lost some of his lands and he was defeated by the Scots. So the parliament obliged to hand over the crown to his son, Edward III.
Edward III (1327 - 1377)
Inspite of Edward's claims about Normandy, the french crown refused tho recognize Edward's rights.So Edward declared war on France in 1337 and the Hundred Years' War begun.
The Hundred Years' War (1377 - 1453)
In the beginnig the English won two battles at Crécy and Poitiers thanks to the "Welsh Longbow", so Edward III recaptured all the previously lost lands; but in the following fifteen years the French took back most of the lost lands.Edward III and his son, the Black Prince, became the models of the perfect kinght because of their bravery and courtesy. In this period there were a terrible plague, called Black Death, that reduced the population of one third so the system of distribution and farming changed. In fact higher wages were asked to till the land and a new class, called "Yeomen" emerged.
Richard II (1377 - 1399)
Richard II inerhite a trouble contry moreover he was neither diplomatic like his grandfather nor popular like his father.
He was very young in fact he had to rely on his uncle John of Gaunt and also he imposed a tax on every person. This let to a rebellion, called Paesants' revolt, but it didn't last long because Richard II promised to consider the paesants' requests.He didn't keep his promise.Then after marrying the daughter of Charles VI of France he became crazy and he arrested many lords, John of Gauntand he sent to exile John's son Henry of Lancaster.Then the nobles rebelled and Richard was imprisoned in the Tower where he died.
Henry IV (1399 - 1413)
Henry IV became king and gave rise to a quarrel between the noble families about his rights to the krown. In this period France took advantage from the English civil struggle and so they regain their lost territories.
Henry V (1413 - 1422)
Henry V, who was very popular and a brave soldier, decided to fight the French especially to distract the nobles from their contrasts.
The Hundred Years' War Phase II
The Hundred Years' war had started again. The English won at Angicourt and obliged the French to sign a peace agreement in 1420. But Henry died two years later.
Henry VI (1422 - 1461)
When Henry VI became king he was still a baby and so, in this period the nobles fighted against one another. This episodes gave way to a French revolt headed by Joan of Arc, who was captured,trialled and burnt on the stake by the English Church. Then the French regained all their lost lands except the port of Calais.
The Wars of the Raoses (1455 - 1485)
In 1453 The Hundred Years' War was over. Because of the fits of insanity of the King the nobles started to wonder who should be ruling the country. There were two families: the Lancastrins (that had as simbol a white rose) faithful to Henry VI, and the Yorkists (that had as simbol a red rose) loyal to the Duke of York (from this the name War of the Roses).
Edward IV (1461 - 1483)
When the Duke of York died, his son Edward IV became King and he had the support of the rich merchants of London.
He sent Henry VI to the Tower and when he died he left his two very yong son alone. Then they were both killed by their uncle Richard of Gloucester that became King as Richard III.
Richard III (1483 - 1485)
Because of Richard III has kileed his nephew the nobles searched someone who could fight his Kingship and they found him in Henry Tudor that was a Lancaster. In fact he fight with the nobles against Richard and he defeated him. So he was crowned King on the battlefield. The War of the Roses endedthe two houses to the marriage of Henry with Elizabet of York.

From old English to middle English.
The Norman conquest deeply affected English language and literature, in fact the passage from Old English to Middle English is dated about in 1150 and from this to the modern English about 1500. The new political unity and the development of intercommunication tended to diffuse grammatical semplifications, while the influence of French can't be traced on English grammar.

The Arturian Legend
In spite during the old period the litterature was religious or didactic the people's mind was also occupied with popular legends. One of them was the Arthurian Legend that was written by Goeffry of Monmouth in History of Britain and he wrote also in his book some legends and historical events that contributed to the diffusion of the Arthurian Cycle. In the book he described the legend of the knights of the round table that represented the model of courtly life.

Late middle English prose
John Wycliff (1330 - 1384)
Prose wasn't very popular as poetry, but anyway the English was overcaming the other languages. John Wycliff in his works denounced the corruption of the church, it was inspired by the Bible and for his idaes he was called the father of the English Reformed Church.

Middle English Poetry.
Middle English Poetry over the centuries changed mainly in the metrical aspect and it had a new outlook of nature. In fact allitteration was substituted by rhymes and by a regular metrical pattern. The Norman conquest stated a new feature based on a more serene mediterranean autlook.
The Ballad was a popular oral form of poetry that emerged in writen form abuot the middle of the 15th century, they were stories of love and death, sorrow and revenge, full of supernatural of religious events; moreover they were made up of an alternation of dialogue and narrative with one or more climactic episodes and sudden conclsion.
- Division into a regular stanzas (generally quatrains)
- Use of the incremental repitition: the repetition of the same sentences with possible little variation
- The story is usually drammatic and describes one shocking episode at its most critical moment, quite near the conclusion
- The language is very simple, so as to be onderstood by simple people
- The sructure is often in the form of a dialogue, there is usually one or more climaxes.

Geoffrey Chaucher (1340? - 1400)
Life: G Chaucher was born in London and he's the son of a rich wine merchant. He entered the service of Duchess of Clarence. Taken prisoner in France, he was ransomed a year later. He translated Le Roman De La Rose and wrote The book of the Duchess. He was sent to France on royal business. He visited Italyand came in touch with :Petrarch, Boccaccio and Dante. Again abroad in France and Flanders on diplomatic missions. Between 1372 and 1386 under the Italian influence he wrote:Troilus and Criseyde, The House of Fame, The Legend of Good Woman, The Parliament of Fowls. The poet worked at his masterpiece Canterbury Tales, which remained unfinisherd.He died in London and was buried in Westminster Abbey, in the Poet's Corner.
The Author:
Chaucher trasformed an english dialect into a first-rate literary medium.
We don't know very much about him because we don't possess any of his manuscript, in fact he made no attempt to collect or finish his writings. What is certain is that he inherited the courtly poetry of French and the Italian culture. In his life, after entering in the service of the Duchess of Clarence, he held office at the royal court and he travelled in all the Europe for diplomatic missions and so he met many poets like Boccaccio and Petrarch. They all favoured the moulding of his artistic personality and the achievement of the litterary output that gained him the title of Father of English Literature.
The world of his work
Chaucher's works are divided into three periods:
- The French period: he wrote "The book of the Duchess " and he translate "Le roman de la Rose"
- The Italian period: he wrote "Troilus and Criseyde" "The legen of good women" "The House of fame " and "The parliament of fowls". In thi story Chauchr's took a metrical pattern of French origin that is the eroic couplet (two rhytming lines whit iambic pentameters)
- The English period: in this period he wrote his masterpiece "Canterbury Tales" (also written in eroic couplets).
Canterbury Tales
The work isn't complete because the original intention was to write 120 tales but only 24 are left. He Take his idea to collect his tales in a framework by Boccaccio's Decameron and he alsotake the idea of a social event that bring many people together.In fact he describes a pilgrimage; in the beginning the pillgrims were 29 but Chaucer's himself met them at the Tabard inn and decided to join the group. The was composed by people of all the social classes but the lowest and the highest. The host of the inn propose that during the journey each pilgrimm have to tell one story to the way to Canterbury and one to the way back. The best story will be rewarded with a dinner at the Tabard inn.
The Prologue
The metrical pattern of the prologue is the eroic couplet (ten sillables and five accent in each line).
In the first part Chaucher describes the rebirt of nature in spring conveying a sense of peace and serenity connected with the mood of the pillgrims; in fact the pilgrimage is a sort of holyday.
In the second part Chaucherm give us more information about the number and the social classes of the member of the company and also about his join to the group. This fact is very important because so he had an actual eyewitness that adds credibility on the narration.
The Prioress
One of the pillgrims is a Prioress and Chaucer gives us a description of her manners andappearence from which we can understand some aspects of her personality. The portrait is very ironical in fact the manner of the prioress aren't the usual manner for a nun; she try to have the behaviour of a lady. This aspect are underlined by her manners at meat, as she speak French, as sche feed her little dogs and also by a brooch on hitch are engraved the latin word "Amor Vincit Omnia".
The Wife of Bath
The Wife of Bath represents the middle class and she's a rich widow. Chaucher mock this lady like the Prioress, in fact he says that she want always to be the first in all the thingh in fac she's dressed whit the best clcloth, kechiefs and hose.
She 's very rich and she had five husband. She's very exagerated, in fact Chaucher describes that she had a hat large like a shield that weighed a good ten pound. She had travelled a lot in fact she stayed also in Gerusalem. She likes to chat and she know the remedies for all the love mischanchese and all the old dances.