+1000+ 6. +Aelfric+, Archbishop of York, turned into English most of the historical books of the Old Testament +1066+ 7. +The Norman Conquest+, which introduced Norman French words +1160+ 8. +Anglo-Saxon Chronicle+, said to have been begun by King Alfred, and brought to a close in [1160] +1200+ 9. +Orm+ or +Orrmin’s Ormulum+, a poem written in the East Midland dialect, about [1200] +1204+ 10. +Normandy+ lost under King John. Norman-English now have their only home in England, and use our English speech more and more +1205+ 11. +Layamon+ translates the ‘Brut’ from the French of Robert Wace. This is the first English book (written in _Southern English_) after the stoppage of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle +1220+ 12. +The Ancren Riwle+ (“Rules for Anchorites”) written in the Dorsetshire dialect. “It is the forerunner of a wondrous change in our speech.” “It swarms with French words” +1258+ 13. +First Royal Proclamation in English+, issued by Henry III. +1300+ 14. +Robert of Gloucester’s+ Chronicle (swarms with foreign terms) +1303+ 15. +Robert Manning+, “Robert of Brunn,” compiles the ‘Handlyng Synne.’ “It contains a most copious proportion of French words” +1340+ 16. +Ayenbite of Inwit+ (= “Remorse of Conscience”) +1349+ 17. +The Great Plague+. After this it becomes less and less the fashion to speak French +1356+ 18. +Sir John Mandeville+, first writer of the newer English Prose-- in his ‘Travels,’ which contained a large admixture of French words. “His English is the speech spoken at Court in the latter days of King Edward III.” +1362+ 19. +English+ becomes the language of the Law Courts +1380+ 20. +Wickliffe’s+ Bible +1400+ 21. +Geoffrey Chaucer+, the first great English poet, author of the ‘Canterbury Tales’; born in 1340, died [1400] +1471+ 22. +William Caxton+, the first English printer, brings out (in the Low Countries) the first English book ever printed, the ‘Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye,’-- “not written with pen and ink, as other books are, to the end that every man may have them at once” +1474+ 23. +First English Book+ printed in England (by Caxton) the ‘Game and Playe of the Chesse’ +1523+ 24. +Lord Berners’+ translation of Froissart’s Chronicle +1526-30+ 25. +William Tyndale+, by his translation of the Bible “fixed our tongue once for all.” “His New Testament has become the standard of our tongue: the first ten verses of the Fourth Gospel are a good sample of his manly Teutonic pith” +1590+ 26. +Edmund Spenser+ publishes his ‘Faerie Queene.’ “Now began the golden age of England’s literature; and this age was to last for about fourscore years” +1611+ 27. +Our English Bible+, based chiefly on Tyndale’s translation. “Those who revised the English Bible in 1611 were bidden to keep as near as they could to the old versions, such as Tyndale’s”