The evolution of English: From Romans to Shakespeare

A journey through time with the history of English.

Julius Caesar invades Britain in 55 and 54 BC.

The Emperor Claudius invades Britain, leading to four hundred years of Roman control of much of the island. Latin becomes the dominant language of culture and government.

The end of Roman rule in Britain, leading to a period of gradual Roman withdrawal.

Germanic tribes from the north of Europe settle in Britain, bringing with them their indigenous dialects.

What is known as the ‘Early Old English’ period runs from c. 450 to c. 850.

Illuminated Latin manuscripts of the four gospels of the New Testament are produced on Lindisfarne in Northumbria.

Bede writes his account of the Anglo-Saxon invasions of Britain in the 400s (Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum or Ecclesiastical History of the English People).

Composition of the anonymous Old English epic poem Beowulf.

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Vikings first come to Britain in 783, but the date most often cited for the first Viking raid is 793, when a group lands on Lindisfarne.

The ‘Later Old English’ period runs from c. 850 to c. 1100.

Alfred the Great (born 849) is king of Wessex from 871 to 899. He instigates the translation of many Latin works into English.

Following the Battle of Ethandun, a treaty is signed acknowledging the rule of the Danish king Guthrum in the north and east of Britain.

The area governed by the Danes in the north and east of Britain, known as the Danelaw, is established.

The collection of Old English writings chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons are first composed. They are originally compiled on Alfred’s orders.

Glosses in Old English are added to the Lindisfarne Gospels by Aldred the Scribe. These are the oldest surviving English version of the gospels.

William of Normandy defeats Harold Godwin at Hastings. Norman French is introduced as the language of the nobility in Britain.

The ‘Middle English’ period runs from c. 1100 to c. 1450.

Henry II (r. 1154–1189) invades Ireland and creates the ‘Lordship of Ireland’. English and Norman French are introduced into the island.

King John loses his lands in Normandy to France. 

Edward I (r. 1272-1307) passes the ‘Statute of Rhuddlan’, establishing English law in Wales. Legal use of the Welsh language is retained, however.

Robert the Bruce defeats Edward II, thus re-asserting Scottish Independence following wars between the Kingdoms of Scotland and England from the late thirteenth century onwards.

John Wycliffe translates the Vulgate (Latin) version of the Bible into English.

John Trevisa’s English translation of Ranulf Higden’s Polychronicon, a chronicle originally written in Latin. Trevisa notes that children are leaving the learning of French in schools, and shifting to English.

Henry IV (r. 1399–1413) becomes the first king in England since the Norman invasion to speak English as a first language.

Government documents begin to be written in English rather than French. The dialect chosen for them is that used by clerks in the Chancery at Westminster.

The ‘Early modern English’ period runs from c. 1450 to c. 1750.

William Caxton produces the first English printed book, History of Troy, while living in Bruges. He later returns to England where his first publication is Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales in 1478.

Caxton publishes an English translation of Virgil’s Aeneid, titled Eneydos.

The first publication of William Tyndale’s English translation of the New Testament. 

Henry VIII breaks with the Roman Catholic Church.

The ‘Act of Union’ of 1536 creates a single state by annexing Wales to England. It makes English the only language of administration and the legal system in Wales.

The ‘Crown of Ireland Act’ of 1542 establishes that the king of England is also ‘King of Ireland’. This title replaces the ‘Lordship of Ireland’.

Publication of the first prayer book with the forms of service written in English. This comes to be viewed as one of the major works of English literature. 

Sir John Hawkins takes slaves from the coast of West Africa to the Caribbean, marking the beginnings of the British slave trade.

William Shakespeare (1554-1616), who in later centuries become canonised as the greatest writer in the English language, is born in Stratford-upon-Avon.

William Bullokar writes the first English grammar book, Pamphlet for Grammar.

George Puttenham publishes his style guide, The Arte of English Poesie.

The East India Company is granted a Royal Charter by Elizabeth I on 31 December 1600.

King James I of England (James VI of Scotland) unites the crowns of England and Scotland.

Robert Cawdrey publishes his A Table Alphabeticall, the first monolingual dictionary in the English language.

Plymouth Colony is founded in Massachusetts by the Pilgrim Fathers, who arrived in the New World in The Mayflower.

The first folio of Shakespeare’s plays is published.