1. The opening of the fourteenth century saw the death of the great and able king, Edward I., the “Hammer of the Scots,” the “Keeper of his word.” The century itself-- a most eventful period-- witnessed the feeble and disastrous reign of Edward II.; the long and prosperous rule-- for fifty years-- of Edward III.; the troubled times of Richard II., who exhibited almost a repetition of the faults of Edward II.; and the appearance of a new and powerful dynasty-- the House of Lancaster-- in the person of the able and ambitious Henry IV. This century saw also many striking events, and many still more striking changes. It beheld the welding of the Saxon and the Norman elements into one-- chiefly through the French wars; the final triumph of the English language over French in 1362; the frequent coming of the Black Death; the victories of Crecy and Poitiers; it learned the universal use of the mariner’s compass; it witnessed two kings-- of France and of Scotland-- prisoners in London; great changes in the condition of labourers; the invention of gunpowder in 1340; the rise of English commerce under Edward III.; and everywhere in England the rising up of new powers and new ideas. 2. The first prose-writer in this century is +Sir John Mandeville+ (who has been called the “Father of English Prose”). King Alfred has also been called by this name; but as the English written by Alfred was very different from that written by Mandeville,-- the latter containing a large admixture of French and of Latin words, both writers are deserving of the epithet. The most influential prose-writer was +John Wyclif+, who was, in fact, the first English Reformer of the Church. In poetry, two writers stand opposite each other in striking contrast-- +Geoffrey Chaucer+ and +William Langlande+, the first writing in courtly “King’s English” in end-rhyme, and with the fullest inspirations from the literatures of France and Italy, the latter writing in head-rhyme, and-- though using more French words than Chaucer-- with a style that was always homely, plain, and pedestrian. +John Gower+, in Kent, and +John Barbour+, in Scotland, are also noteworthy poets in this century. The English language reached a high state of polish, power, and freedom in this period; and the sweetness and music of Chaucer’s verse are still unsurpassed by modern poets. The sentences of the prose-writers of this century are long, clumsy, and somewhat helpless; but the sweet homely English rhythm exists in many of them, and was continued, through Wyclif’s version, down into our translation of the Bible in 1611.