| Dates | Language | Historical Events |
|---|---|---|
| 1500 BCE | Celtic | Celtic was the first language spoken on island now called England. A modern form is still spoken in in some areas: Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Isle of Man, etc. |
| 43 CE | Celtic and Latic | Roman Emperor Claudius decides to annex Britain; by 100 CE he is successful |
| 410 CE | Romans withdraw from Britain | |
| 449 | Old English |
Germanic conquest of England ♦ Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, from Denmark and northern Germany, invited to England by Britons, and then... it's complicated ♦ Their dialects fuse to form Old English |
| 597-700 |
England is re-Christianized; initiated
with mission by St. Augustine ♦ Latinate vocabulary influence comes from the Germanic tribes' contact with Rome and this period of influence by the Roman Church |
|
| ca. 800-999 |
Scandanavian tribes invade coastal areas of England ♦ invaders are Vikings from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark |
|
| ca. 1000 | England is a protectorate of Denmark (as reflected much later in Shakespeare's play Hamlet) | |
| 1066 |
Norman invasion ♦ William the Conqueror invades from northern France ♦ Language split results: court speaks French and commoners speak English ♦ These two languages merge and Middle English emerges |
|
| 1200 | Middle English |
Normans loose control of England ♦ Rulers begin to identify themselves with their English home rather than their Norman roots |
| 1420 | Henry V, now known as "the first English king," is the first to use English as the official language of the kingdom. | |
| 1500 | Early Modern English | English language develops into a form that is recognizable to modern speakers today; works in this period (such as Shakespeare's poems and plays) are considered "early modern english" |