Early Modern English

Early Modern English

Early Modern English (sometimes abbreviated to EModE) is the stage of the English language used from the beginning of the Tudor period until the English Interregnum and Restoration, or from the transition from Middle English in the late 15th century to the transition to Modern English during the mid to late 17th century.

Prior to and following the accession of James I to the English throne in 1603 the emerging English standard began to influence the spoken and written Middle Scots of Scotland. Modern readers of English are generally able to understand texts written in the late phase of the Early Modern English period (e.g. the first edition of the King James Bible and the works of William Shakespeare), while texts from the earlier phase (such as Le Morte d'Arthur) may present more difficulties. The Early Modern English of the early 17th century forms the base of the grammatical and orthographical conventions that survive in Modern English.

The change from Middle English to Early Modern English was not just a matter of vocabulary or pronunciation changing: it was the beginning of a new era in the history of English. An era of linguistic change in a language with large variations in dialect was replaced by a new era of a more standardized language with a richer lexicon and an established (and lasting) literature.

1476 – William Caxton starts printing in Westminster; however, the language he uses reflects the variety of styles and dialects used by the authors who originally wrote the material.

Tudor period (1485–1603), English Renaissance

Caxton publishes Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, the first print bestseller in English. Malory's language, while archaic in some respects, is clearly Early Modern, possibly a Yorkshire or Midlands dialect.

1491 or 1492 – Richard Pynson starts printing in London; his style tends to prefer Chancery Standard, the form of English used by government.

Henry VIII

c. 1509 – Pynson becomes the king's official printer.

From 1525 – Publication of William Tyndale's Bible translation (which was initially banned).

1539 – Publication of the Great Bible, the first officially authorized Bible in English, edited by Myles Coverdale, largely from the work of Tyndale. This Bible is read to congregations regularly in churches, familiarizing much of the population of England with a standard form of the language.

1549 – Publication of the first Book of Common Prayer in English under the supervision of Thomas Cranmer. This book standardizes much of the wording of church services. Some have argued that, since attendance at prayer book services was required by law for many years, the repetitive use of the language of the prayer book helped to standardize modern English.

1557 – Publication of Tottel's Miscellany.

Elizabethan English

Elizabethan era (1558–1603)

Christopher Marlowe fl. 1586-1593

1592 The Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd

c. 1590 to c. 1612 – William Shakespeare's plays written.

The 17th century

Jacobean and Caroline eras

Jacobean era (1603–1625)

1609 – Shakespeare's sonnets published

Ben Jonson

Thomas Dekker

Beaumont and Fletcher (Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher)

John Webster

1607 - The first successful permanent English colony in the New World, Jamestown, is established in Virginia. Early vocabulary specific to American English loaned from indigenous languages (such as moose, racoon).

1611 – The King James Bible is published, largely based on Tyndale's translation. It remains the standard Bible in the Church of England for many years.

1623 – Shakespeare's First Folio published

Caroline era and English Civil War (1625–1649)

1647 – publication of the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio

Interregnum and Restoration

The period of the English Civil War and the Interregnum was one of social and political upheaval and instability.

1651 – Publication of Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes.

The dates for Restoration literature are a matter of convention, and they differ markedly from genre to genre. Thus, the "Restoration" in drama may last until 1700, while in poetry it may last only until 1666 (see 1666 in poetry), the annus mirabilis; and in prose it might end in 1688, with the increasing tensions over succession and the corresponding rise in journalism and periodicals, or not until 1700, when those periodicals grew more stabilized.

1662 – New edition of the Book of Common Prayer, largely based on the 1549 and subsequent editions. This also long remains a standard work in English.

1667 – Publication of Paradise Lost by John Milton, and of Annus Mirabilis by John Dryden