A Literary History of the English People | Page 4

charters--Alfred and the Danish invasions--The fight for civilisation--Translation of works by St. Gregory, Orosius (travels of Ohthere), Boethius (story of Orpheus)--Impulsion given to prose--Werferth--Anglo-Saxon Chronicles--Character of Alfred. 78
V. St. Dunstan--Sermons.--St. Dunstan (tenth century) resumes the work of Alfred--Translation of pious works--Collections of sermons--?lfric, Wulfstan, "Blickling" homilies--Attempt to reach literary dignity. End of the Anglo-Saxon period 88
BOOK II.
THE FRENCH INVASION.
CHAPTER I.
BATTLE.
I. The Invaders of the Year 1066.--England between two civilisations--The North and South--The Scandinavians at Stamford-bridge. The Normans of France--The army of William is a French army--Character of William--The battle--Occupation of the country 97
II. England bound to Southern Civilisations.--Policy of William--Survey of his new domains--Unification--The successors of William--Their practical mind and their taste for adventures--Taste for art--French families settled in England--Continental possessions of English kings--French ideal--Unification of origins--Help from chroniclers and poets--The Trojan ancestor 104
CHAPTER II.
LITERATURE IN THE FRENCH LANGUAGE UNDER THE NORMAN AND ANGEVIN KINGS.
I. Diffusion of the French Language.--The French language superimposed on the English one--Its progress; even among "lowe men"--Authors of English blood write their works in French 116
II. The French Literature of the Normans and Angevins.--It is animated by their own practical and adventurous mind--Practical works: chronicles, scientific and pious treatises 120
III. Epic Romances.--The Song of Roland and the Charlemagne cycle--Comparison with "Beowulf"--The matter of Rome--How antiquity is translated--Wonders--The matter of Britain--Love--Geoffrey of Monmouth--Tristan and Iseult--Lancelot and Guinevere--Woman--Love as a passion and love as a ceremonial 125
IV. Lays and Chansons.--Shorter stories--Lays of Marie de France--Chansons of France--Songs in French composed in England 141
V. Satirical and Ironical Works.--Such works introduced in England--The pilgrimage of Charlemagne--The "Roman de Renart," a universal comedy--Fabliaux--Their migrations--Their aim--Their influence in England 146
CHAPTER III.
LATIN.
I. The Ties with Rome.--William I., Henry II., John--Church lands--The "exempt" abbeys--Coming of the friars--The clergy in Parliament--Part played by prelates in the State--Warrior prelates, administrators, scavants, saints 157
II. Spreading of Knowledge.--Latin education--Schools and libraries--Book collectors: Richard of Bury--Paris, chief town for Latin studies--The Paris University; its origins, teaching, and organisation--English students at Paris--Oxford and Cambridge--Studies, battles, feasts--Colleges, chests, libraries 166
III. Latin Poets.--Joseph of Exeter and the Trojan war--Epigrammatists, satirists, fabulists, &c.--Nigel Wireker and the ass whose tail was too short--Theories: Geoffrey of Vinesauf and his New Art of Poetry 176
IV. Latin Prosators--Tales and Exempla.--Geoffrey of Monmouth--Moralised tales--"Gesta Romanorum"--John of Bromyard--"Risqué" tales, fables in prose, miracles of the Virgin, romantic tales--A Latin sketch of the "Merchant of Venice"--John of Salisbury; Walter Map--Their pictures of contemporary manners 181
V. Theologians, Jurists, Scientists, Historians.--The "Doctors"; Scot, Bacon, Ockham, Bradwardine, &c.--Gaddesden the physician--Bartholomew the encyclop?dist--Roman law and English law--Vacarius, Glanville, Bracton, &c. History--Composition of chronicles in monasteries--Impartiality of chroniclers--Their idea of historical art--Henry of Huntingdon, William of Malmesbury, Matthew Paris--Observation of manners, preservation of characteristic anecdotes, attempt to paint with colours--Higden, Walsingham and others 193
CHAPTER IV.
LITERATURE IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
I. Pious Literature.--A period of silence--First works (pious ones) copied, translated or composed in English after the Conquest--Sermons--Lives of saints--Treatises of various sort--"Ancren Riwle"--Translation of French treatises--Life and works of Rolle of Hampole 204
II. Worldly Literature.--Adaptation and imitation of French writings--The "Brut" of Layamon--Translation of romances of chivalry--Romances dedicated to heroes of English origin--Satirical fabliaux--Renard in English--Lays and tales--Songs--Comparison with French chansons 219
BOOK III.
ENGLAND TO THE ENGLISH.
CHAPTER I.
THE NEW NATION.
I. Fusion of Races and Languages.--Abolition of the presentment of Englishery, 1340--Survival of the French language in the fourteenth century--The decline--Part played by "lowe men" in the formation of the English language--The new vocabulary--The new prosody--The new grammar--The definitive language of England an outcome of a transaction between the Anglo-Saxon and the French language 235
II. Political Formation.--The nation coalesces--The ties with France and Rome are loosening or breaking--A new source of power, Westminster--Formation, importance, privileges of Parliament under the Plantagenets--Spirit of the Commons--Their Norman bargains--Comparison with France 248
III. Maritime Power; Wealth and Arts.--Importance of the English trade in the fourteenth century--The great traders--Their influence on State affairs--The English, "rois de la mer"--Taste for travels and adventures. Arts--Gold, silver and ivory--Miniatures and enamels--Architecture--Paintings and tapestries--Comparative comfort of houses--The hall and table--Dresses--The nude--The cult for beauty 255
CHAPTER II.
CHAUCER.
The Poet of the new nation 267
I. Youth of Chaucer.--His London life--London in the fourteenth century--Chaucer as a page--His French campaigns--Valettus camer? Regis--Esquire--Married life--Poetry à la mode--Machault, Deguileville, Froissart, Des Champs, &c.--Chaucer's love ditties--The "Roman de la Rose"--"Book of the Duchesse" 268
II. Period of the Missions to France and Italy.--The functions of an ambassador and messenger--Various missions--Chaucer in Italy, 1372-3, 1378-9--Influence of Italian art and literature on Chaucer--London again; the Custom House; Aldgate--Works of this period--Latin and Italian deal--The gods of Olympus, the nude, the classics--Imitation of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio--"Hous of Fame" 282
III. Troilus and Criseyde.--Plot derived from Boccaccio but transformed--A novel and a drama--Life and variety--Heroism and vulgarity--Troilus, Pandarus, Cressida--Scenes of comedy--Attempt at psychological analysis--Nuances in Cressida's feelings--Her inconstancy--Melancholy and grave ending--Difference with Boccaccio and Pierre de Beauveau 298
IV. English Period.--Chaucer a member of Parliament--Clerk of the king's works--"Canterbury Tales"--The meeting