Test 3--Chapter 4--Middle English

Front 1

Why didn't the English lower classes learn to speak French?

Back 1

They had no way to rise above their station in life. (192)

Front 2

How did French hold its cultural advantage over English from 1070-1300?

Back 2

The French remained the ruling class of England, and maintained the French language over or in favor of the English spoken by the peasant class. Therefore, all of the official records were solely in the hands of the French. In 1072, there were twelve earls in England and only one was of Anglo-Saxon origin, and he was executed for treason in 1076. The rest had been killed or replaced by William. (193)

Front 3

What socio-political events caused French to lose its hold on the English nobility?

Back 3

The Anglo-Norman disregard for the language of the lower classes began to break down in the 13th century, due primarily to the loss of Normandy. This occurred in 1204 during the reign of the infamous English King John who was forced later, in 1215, to sign the Magna Carta. (195)

Front 4

What socio-political evidence indicates French was a second language for most young nobles from 1250 onwards?

Back 4

As a sense of Englishness and patriotism grew in England in the 13th century, the nobles felt need to study or speak French began to decline; so much so that by century's end, we see evidence that for the upper classes, French had clearly become a second language. This is seen in the publications of textbooks aimed to teach French to the young nobles. (197)

Front 5

How did the Black Death affect the re-emergence of English?

Back 5

The demand for higher wages and better conditions created by the Black Death would culminate in the Peasant's Revolt of 1381, a national uprising of the English working class that almost resulted in an overthrow of the monarchy of Richard II. There was a significant number of tradesmen increasing to a middle class. (203)

Front 6

What do the basic movements in Anglo-Norman and Middle English literature tell us about the two languages' relative status between 1100 and 1500 AD?

Back 6

The history of ME lit. follows the same fates as the language of the masses did between 1100-1500, at first, almost totally submerged, then arising triumphant at the beginning of the European Renaissance. This is because Anglo-Normans embraced English as their official language. From 1100-1300 very little English poetry and prose survive. Alfred the Great's "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" halts abruptly in 1154. "The Peterborough Chronicle" (1070-1154) take over. It was made by a group of monks in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. The only major English poems from this time period are the "Poema Morale" (1170) and Lazamon's "Brut" (c.1200). Up until 1300 Anglo-Norman literature is much more widespread. Then in 1300-1400 (207) these two literary strands switch places, with English becoming clearly the language for use with a popular audience.

Front 7

Hundred Years War

Back 7

a series of conflicts waged from 1337-1453 between the House of Valois for the Kingdom of France. Each side drew many allies into the war.

Front 8

Crecy

Back 8

The place in France where the Battle of Crecy took place on 26 August 1346. It was one of the most important battles of the Hundred Years' War because of the combination of weapons and tactics used.

Front 9

Agincourt

Back 9

This battle was in 1415, the young King Henry V of England marched into France to make a name for himself as a military man. (201) He sacked several French cities on the north coast of France. Then he became severely outnumbered by the French. This subject has been dealt with most notably with exaggeration by Shakespeare in his play Henry V. Henry V married the French king's daughter. This was the second of three great English victories of the Hundred Years War.

Front 10

Poitiers

Back 10

This battle of the Hundred Years War was major battle between England and France. The battle occurred in 1356. It was preceded by the Battle of Crecy and followed by the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.

Front 11

Black Death

Back 11

One of the most devastating pandemics in human history, lasted from 1346-53, resulting in the deaths of 75-200 million people and peaking in Europe in 1346-53. Originated in China and entered Europe via the Black Sea on the fleas of rats of the merchant ships. Also known as the "Bubonic Plague," emanating in China and entered Europe via the Black Sea from the Genoese port of Caffa in 1347.

Front 12

Magna Carta

Back 12

Latin for "Great Charter"--sealed under oath of King John of Runnymede on the bank of the River Thames near Windsor, England on 1215. It was the first document imposed upon a King of England by a group of subjects, the feudal barons, to limit the king's powers and protect their rights.

Front 13

Walter of Bibbesworth

Back 13

1235-1270--English knight and Anglo-Saxon poet

Front 14

Jean Froissant

Back 14

1337-1405--medieval French author who wrote several works including "Chronicles" and "Meliador"--a long Arthurian romance and a large body of poetry

Front 15

Marie de France

Back 15

medieval poet who was probably born in France and lived in England during the late 12th century. She wrote in Anglo-Norman French and proficient in Latin and English as well. She authored "Lais of Marie de France." She translated "Aesop's Fables" from ME to Anglo-Norman French.

Front 16

Edward III

Back 16

1367-1400 also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was king of England from 1377-1399. He was the son of Edward, the Black Prince.

Front 17

Henry V

Back 17

1386-1422 King of England from 1413-1422. He was the second English monarch who came from the House of Lancaster.

Front 18

compurgation

Back 18

wager of law, is a defense used primarily in medieval law. A defendant could est. his innocence or non-liability by taking an oath and by getting a required number of persons, typically 12, to swear that they believed the oath.

Front 19

Statute of Pleading--Peasant's Revolt

Back 19

act of Parliament of England. The act complained that defendants did not know what was being said for or against them in courts since it was in French. It changed the language to English.

Front 20

"Anglo-Saxon Chronicle"

Back 20

a collection of annals in OE chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript was created in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great. Multiple copies were made and distributed to the monasteries across England, where they were updated.

Front 21

"Peterborough Chronicle"

Back 21

also called the Laud manuscript and the E manuscript, contains unique information about the history of England after the Norman Conquest.

Front 22

LaZamon

Back 22

wrote "Brut," a verse chronicle of the kings of Britain

Front 23

Sawles Warde

Back 23

"The Soul's Guardian" is alliterative prose text of approx. 5000 words composed near the end of the 12th century, depicting allegorically, how the body and soul maintain a right relationship with each other through God's divine intervention. The fact that each of these works survives in 8-10 manuscripts indicates they were widely read and circulated.

Front 24

Robert Mannyng of Brunne

Back 24

Remembered for two long poems "Handlyng Synne" (12,638 lines) and "The English Chronicle" (6,000+ lines). In both works, he prefaces his material with a salute to his immediate audience.

Front 25

Dante Aligheri

Back 25

1265-1321 was a major Italian poet of the Middle Ages. His "Divine Comedy" is widely considered the greatest literary work composed in Italian and is a masterpiece of world literature. It is divided into three parts: "Inferno," "Purgatorio," and "Paradiso" (208)

Front 26

Francesca Petrarcha

Back 26

Commonly anglicized as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar and poet of Renaissance Italy. He is grouped with Boccaccio and Alighieri, and is also known as the "father of humanism." (208)

Front 27

Giovanni Boccaccio

Back 27

An Italian , poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and important Renaissance humanist. He wrote the "Decameron" (208)

Front 28

Pearl Poet

Back 28

Wrote a long poem on the death of his daughter which modern editors have named after the first word in the text "Perle." This poet was most likely named Hugo de Mascy, a rhetorician who lived in London in the middle of the 14th century, wrote at least four poems which survive in MS BL Cotton Nero A X. (208)

Front 29

Hugo de Mascy

Back 29

Probably wrote the "Pearl MS" (208)

Front 30

Pearl MS

Back 30

Contains four famous poems: "Pearl," "Patience," "Purity," and "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." All are written in the Cheshire dialect and seem to be connected to a minor court in the country, the themes they address--the Christian's need to learn patience and the stolid acceptance of suffering--are as universal and lively today as they were then. (208)

Front 31

LALME

Back 31

"Linguistic Atlas of Later Middle Middle English"(compiled by McIntosh and Benskin) (244) These two professors at Edinburgh University spent fifty plus years analyzing over 2000 manuscripts for a set of 280 orthographic features, assuming that in official documents, scribes would use a set of official spellings peculiar to their particular region.

Front 32

William Caxton

Back 32

(245) The young printer born in Kent and left England at the age of 24 to work in the wool trade in Belgium.

Front 33

Why does the word <man> imply "humankind" in PDE?

Back 33

(214)Loss of long consonants.

OE used long (double) consonants to create minimal pairs and discriminate between two meanings. For example in OE, "locc" was a "lock on a door" and "locc" was a "lock of hair." In the ME period, this distinction and many others like it were lost, and the new words created became homonyns, in this case "loc/locc" both spelled <lock> in PDE. The same process affected OE "man" (one, person) and "mann" (humankind). Which is why in PDE we have "All men are created equal," clearly meaning "all humans are created equal."

Front 34

What were the major changes in the vowels and consonants between the OE and ME periods?

Back 34

(214)

1. loss of long consonants

2. loss of initial aspiration in some words

3. loss of /w/ in some words

4. loss of /j/ in OE enclitic <ge->

5. between the OE and ME periods final -m > -n > O with a backslash thru it (was dropped)

6. Frequently, OE /l/ drops

7. Final /-ic/ > /-i/ , <-i, -y>

There were dramatic mutations in vowels between 1100 and 1350 AD. (see page 215)

Front 35

Encapsulate the rules for lengthening and shortening of root vowels in ME.

Back 35

(216)

A series of changes occurred in vowel quantity between the OE and ME periods, also, which affected how we pronounce and spell certain words in PDE. Generally, stressed vowels lengthened and shortened in the following fashion:

1. before <ld, mb, nd>, OE short vowels lengthened, unless these pairs were followed by a third consonant.

2. In disyllabic words, <a, e, o> in open syllables lengthened. An open syllable is one which ends in a vowel.

3. OE long vowels shortened in ME:

a. In closed syllables, that is in syllables which end in a consonant, or before double consonants and consonant clusters, except before <ld, mb, nd>

b. In the first syllable of trisyllabic words; OE "haligdaeg" became ME "halidai"

Front 36

How did the PDE noun declensions develop from the OE system?

Back 36

The phonological changes that occurred at the end of the OE period described under loss of final <-m>, created uniformity throughout the noun declension paradigms.