In 411 the Romans were recalled to defend Italy from the Goths, who were then ravaging Southern Europe.

The Scots and Picts, the unconquered Celts of the North, took advantage of the absence of disciplined military force, and overran Southern Britain. The helpless Britons implored the aid of the "Englise fole" from Angleland, Saxe-land, and Jute-land.

In 449 Hengist and Horsa came and drove back the Celts, but took possession of the island of Britain themselves.

King Arthur opposed the Saxon invaders.

The Celtic tongue is barely represented in the English language.

The Gothic race firmly established themselves, their customs, and their language in Britain, and called the island England.

They worshipped Odin, or Woden, the Al-father, Thor, the Thunderer, and all the Pagan deities of the ancestral Goth.

In 597 Pope Gregory sent Augustine from Rome to convert these people to Christianity.

Alfred established wise measures of government.

The Danes invaded Britain and Danish kings rule from 1017 to 1041. The language was not changed by the Danes.

The Norman conquest occurred in 1066.

Poetry has usually been the first form of a nation's literature.

The Druids were the first poets in Britain.

The three great Celtic poets were Ossian, Merlin, and Taliesin.

Ireland was the seat of learning in the early centuries of the Dark Ages. The Romans left no literature in Britain.

The "Englisc folc" brought with them to Britain their songs and national legends.

The Lay of Beowulf was the first English poem.

Caedmon was the first English poet.

The Venerable Bede, the first great writer of prose in England, wrote mainly in Latin.

King Alfred was the father of English prose. Chronicle is a memorial of his labors.

The Anglo-Saxon

With the closing of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle the first period of English literature ends. This period, 450-1150, is usually styled the Anglo-Saxon Period.

querors and conquered remained mutually repellent for more than a century and a half. Norman French had been adopted as the language of the court and higher circles, but AngloSaxon remained the language of the common people.

The twelfth century marks the first perceptible change in the language, the merging of the Anglo-Saxon into the Semi-Saxon, called, a century later, Old English. The period embraced within the last half of the twelfth, the whole of the thirteenth, and the beginning of the fourteenth century, may be styled the Transition Period.

The twelfth century is a notable landmark in the history of the English nation and literature. At this time we see the English character as well as the English language asserting itself. The stronger national feeling was about to express itself in the MAGNA CHARTA, and in the assembling of a House of Commons.

In the period before us we see the effects of Feudalism, which had divided the social community of Europe into distinct castes, one class subjugating the next in rank below, each exercising over the other the greatest despotism and cruelty. But as every oppressive measure, sooner or later, must react upon itself, so out of the injustice of Feudalism the generous spirit of chivalry arose. From chivalry came knighthood, and the knight, impelled by his love of justice, or adventure, or by

his vow which bound him "to succor the helpless and oppressed, to speak the truth, and never to turn back from an enemy," in the name of God and the lady of his choice, undertook deeds of the greatest peril. For every complaint made to the king of an injury received, a knight or a company of knights must be ready at the king's command, to start out to redress the wrong.

The great sports of chivalry were the joust and tournament; yet these mock combats sometimes required as much personal valor as the heroic deeds of adventure; for often, a knight, if not mortally wounded, was seriously injured, and sometimes maimed for life. In these sports it was the ladies' approbation that was the great stimulus to heroic achievements. Every knight must be in love with some "fair lady," or imagine himself to be so. To her alone he looked for approval, and from her received some "favor," to be worn upon his helmet.* At the close of the tournament the victor was crowned by the lady chosen as the most beautiful. All that a rude age could contrive of pomp and magnificence were displayed in these grand sports of chivalry.

Relieved of the necessity of labor, time unoccupied in battle hung heavily upon the hands of the feudal master, unless mirth and revelry filled up his vacant hours, and to this end games and minstrelsy, beside the grander sports of chivalry, were employed. In the hall or banqueting-room-the chief room of the manor guests were freely entertained, each according to his social degree. On the dais, or raised platform, the table of the nobility was spread, while smaller tables were ranged round the rooms for those of less respect, until the long table came into use, and the salt was made the dividing line between high and low. No feast or festal occasion was ever complete without the presence of the minstrels, who frequently accompanied their songs with acting and mimicry. While the guests were feasting in the hall beggars were fed at the door, or bread† was

The "favor" might be a glove, a rose, a jewel, a sleeve, or any article of adornment. Sometimes a page or squire would be sent to deliver the favor if the lady did not choose to give it with her own hand.

+ Bread was the chief article of food. The terms "lord" and "lady" meant loafkeeper, from hlaf (loaf), and weorden (to ward) (hlafweard), (laverd) (lord). Hlafweardige (lady) is the feminine of the same word.

thrown to them from the tables in the hall as they shared with the dogs the bones that were thrown on the floor.

The Crusades were an outgrowth of the spirit of chivalry. It had been customary from the earliest ages of the Church for Christians to take pilgrimages to Jerusalem or other hallowed places in Palestine. In the early part of the seventh century Jerusalem had been captured by the Turks, who treated with great insolence the humble pilgrims, as well as the Christians residing in the city. Peter the Hermit, of France, returning from a pilgrimage, recounted the sufferings of the Christians at Jerusalem, and, through his eloquence, the first Crusade was undertaken (1095). The Christians throughout Europe mustered to his cry of" Deus Vult,"* and hastened to Jerusalem to rescue from the hands of the "Infidels," through fire and bloodshed, the sacred tomb of the Prince of Peace! The Crusaders opened up a communication between the east and the west. Minstrels, accompanying their masters to the Holy Wars, borrowed of each other songs and tales of romantic adventure.

In England, as in every other country, wandering bards or minstrels were common from the earliest times. By the Celts they were called Bards; by the Goths, Scalds; by the AngloSaxons, Harpers, Gleemen, and Rhymers. They did not receive the name of Minstrel until after the Norman Conquest. To the accompaniment of a harp, these rude poets sang their songs of chivalry, or recited to enchanted listeners their Gests, as these romantic stories were sometimes called.

The Norman Conquest was not without its good results, and France, in the twelfth century, became the source of English culture. The schools of Paris were resorted to by the sons of the nobility from all parts of Europe. No building in Paris, it is said, could contain the crowds of Abelard's pupils. England borrowed of France, not only intellectual improvements, but social and domestic refinement. Houses were still thatched with straw, but windows and chimneys were introduced, and parlors were added to the former hall or room for general assembling. Seats were built into the masonry of the houses; the "table dormant " replaced the movable board; and the

*God wills it.

furnishing of the table was a matter of greater importance than the furnishing of the house. On occasions of festivity the wall at the upper end of the dais was hung with tapestry, and the floor was strewn with rushes. "Books of Courtesy" were circulated in this age, and habits of neatness enjoined.

The literatures of Normandy and Provençe were as distinct as their languages. From Normandy came the Trouvéres, the poets of Chivalry and Romance, from Provençe came the Troubadours, or Lyric poets. The Trouvéres, it may readily be imagined, accompanied the Norman Conquerors into England, and there sang or recited their tales of Romance.

In the Twelfth century a mine of wealth was opened to the literary world in Brittany, that stronghold of the ancient Britons, when they fled from the rude Saxons. This was the discovery of the Legends of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, which had been carefully preserved in this little district of France during the six centuries that had elapsed since the time of that hero, if, indeed, such a hero ever existed. These romances consist of The Holy Grail;* The Story of Merlin, the Enchanter; Launcelot of the Lake; the Search for the Holy Grail; and the Death of Arthur. These have all been subdivided into numerous branches, and have formed themes for poets down to the present day.

Three distinct subjects of Romance were popular throughout Europe at this time-Arthur, Alexander, and Charlemagne-and their adventures were sung by Troubadour, Trouvére, and Minstrel. Other celebrated romances of chivalry of the Middle Ages are the Romance of Horne Childe, or the Geste of King Horne; The Romance of Sir Guy; The Squire of Low Degree; and the King of Tars (Tarsus). The romantic adventures of Robin Hood, the bold outlaw who lived in the twelfth or thirteenth century, furnished subjects for innumerable ballads.

Three literary works are extant which are especially prized by philologists as showing the transitional stage in the language. They are the works of LAYAMON, the ANCREN RIWLE, and the ORMULUM. They were written probably in the thirteenth century.

*The cup out of which Jesus partook at the Last Supper.