Medieval literature is defined broadly as any work written in Latin or the vernacular between c. 476-1500, including philosophy, religious treatises, legal texts, as well as works of the imagination. More narrowly, however, the term applies to literary works of poetry, drama, romance, epic prose, and histories written in the vernacular, though some histories were in Latin.
More about: Medieval LiteratureDefinition
Timeline
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476 CE - 1500 CEMedieval literature written during the Middle Ages.
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c. 600 CE - c. 900 CEBeowulf composed in Britain, possibly in East Anglia.
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c. 650 CECaedmon's Hymn composed at Whitney Abbey, Northumbria.
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c. 650 CEDream vision poem The Dream of the Rood composed.
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c. 995 CEThe Battle of Maldon composed.
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c. 1040 CEThe epic poem Song of Roland composed in France.
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c. 1160 CE - c. 1190 CEChretien de Troyes writes his chivalric romances in southern France.
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c. 1319 CEThe Italian poet Dante Alighieri completes his epic the Divine Comedy.
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1335 CE - 1341 CEGiovanni Boccaccio writes his first poetry work, including Diana's Hunt, The Lovestruck, and Teseida.
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c. 1353 CEGiovanni Boccaccio completes his masterpiece, the Decameron.
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c. 1370 CEChaucer writes his first long poem, Book of the Duchess.
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c. 1392 CEChaucer writes his masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales.
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1485 CEWilliam Caxton publishes Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur.
