CHAPTER IV. THE AGE OF CHAUCER (1350-1400)
THE NEW NATIONAL LIFE AND LITERATURE
HISTORY OF THE PERIOD.Two great movements may be
noted in the complex life of England during the fourteenth
century. The first is political, and culminates in the reign of
Edward III. It shows the growth of the English national spirit
following the victories of Edward and the Black Prince on
French soil, during the Hundred Years’ War. In the rush of
this great national movement, separating England from the
political ties of France and, to a less degree, from ecclesiasti-
cal bondage to Rome, the mutual distrust and jealousy which
had divided nobles and commons were momentarily swept
aside by a wave of patriotic enthusiasm. The French lan-
guage lost its official prestige, and English became the speech
not only of the common people but of courts and Parliament
as well.
The second movement is social; it falls largely within the
reign of Edward’s successor, Richard II, and marks the grow-
ing discontent with the contrast between luxury and poverty,
between the idle wealthy classes and the overtaxed peas-
ants. Sometimes this movement is quiet and strong, as when