Wycliffe translated the Bible into Middle English and it was the first such translation to be available for all people to read. He stated that there was no such thing as “transubstantiation” which was considered a heresy at the time. John Wycliffe, an Oxford professor and a Roman Catholic, began to contend that the Bible was the “supreme authority” and not the clergy. They became more aware of the widespread corruption that was occurring within the ranks of the clergy. The other characteristic of this time, was that the people began to question the authority of the Roman Church. While it was not entirely successful, it planted the thought in the lower classes that they were indeed, a powerful force when united and that they needed to continue to demand equity and fair laws. All of these taxes and laws, especially on the peasant class led eventually to the Peasants Revolt of 1381. However, in 1362, King Edward introduced a poll tax to pay for his Hundred Years War and also enacted sumptuary laws to prevent the peasant class from consuming expensive items that were formerly only available to the upper classes. Some of this was due to many of them training in specialized crafts which put them in higher demand. Chaucer was one of the first writers to use English vernacular in his works.ĭuring the 1340’s and the 1380’s the purchasing power of laborers increased by about 40 percent. As English became widespread, it began to be used in creative writing as well.
In 1362, English became the official language of the courts for the first time since the Norman Conquest. They had to know the language to administer their business. As the laborers and the middle class began to grow, literacy began to spread. All the laborers that were left were able to charge higher wages for a day’s work.
The nobility still had so much surplus land that it gave rise to a “middle class” or the “gentry” These were non-aristocrats who would lease or buy the land from the nobility to use it for a profit. Deaths among the peasants left a lot of land available and no laborers to tend it. The population was so decimated that the nobility found it difficult to find laborers. It ravaged the land and claimed people of all social classes.
England lost half of its population and the Black Death respected no social classes. And interestingly, these social changes were introduced because of the Black Death or Black Plague which devastated England financially and socially around 1350. In this century English becomes the official language of the courts, parliaments and schools. The 14th Century saw the rise of the peasant classes in England and the implementation once again of the English language (which had been in major disuse since the Norman Conquest ). The new use of English in legal courts, parliament and in schools.The peasants revolt and the decline of the feudal system.The beginning of the 100 years war with France.The 14th century can be characterized by these important events or historical changes: “Chaucer at the Court of Edward III” by Ford Maddox Brown. Middle English Literature in the 14th and 15th Century
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