Literature after the Norman Conquest

It was not until the beginning of the thirteenth century, when Albion became independent and its relations with France became more distant, the time when the language began to change. While the Normans were assimilated into the culture itself, the French penetrated the lower social classes, changing an important part of the grammar and vocabulary of Old English. Although it became a Romance language, the English of Chaucer is more like the current language that was spoken in England a century earlier.

In the late medieval period (1200-1500), the ideals of courtly love came to England and began writing romances authors, both in verse and prose. They were especially popular issues with King Arthur and his court. The poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight shows many of the characteristics of literature from this period located in the Time of legendary Arthur, the book emphasizes the behavior of knights with religious overtones. At that time, the mystery plays were staged in towns and cities to celebrate major holidays, they also conducted less formal representations with religious themes.

The first great English author Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400), wrote in Middle English. His most famous work is The Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories of disparate genres narrated by a group of pilgrims traveling to Canterbury. Although Chaucer is an English author, his work was inspired by the changes and developments taking place in Europe, especially in Italy. The Canterbury Tales are clearly indebted to Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron. The Renaissance was making its way in England.