great English prose epic, Le morte d'Arthur. It is believed thathe was an English knight of Warwickshire and spent many years in prison for politicaloffenses and civic crimes. Le morte d'Arthur was supposedly composed while the authorwas in prison. It is a compilation and translation from old French sources of most of thetales about the legendary Arthur, king of the Britons, and his knights. The work is filledwith compassion for human faults and rememberance of the days of chivalry. His worksare followed by John Wycliffe, who gained prominence in 1374 during a prolongeddispute between Edward III, king of England, and the papacy over the payment of acertain papal tribute. Both the king and Parliament were reluctant to pay the papal levies.Wycliffe wrote several pamphlets refuting the pope's claims and upholding the right ofParliament to limit church power.The growth of towns and guilds helped to spread the new trends witnessed in theMiddle Ages. With towns, society was concentrated, encouraging the spread of the newlanguage and culture. Guilds then helped bring people with similar talents together,providing the ideal conditions for new inventions to arise. One such invention crucial tothe development of literature and language in general was the printing press. Developed byJohann Gutenberg of Germany, the printing press allowed works to be copied anddistributed en masse. William Caxton, the first englishman to open a printing press, helpedwith the transmission of new ideas in the Middle Ages, ushering in the Renissance. Caxtonwas responsible for the printing of many of the famous works of Middle Age authors,including Sir Thomas Malory’s Le morte d'Arthur.Therefore, it is readily appearent that the Middle Ages of English history was acrucial time in the development of the English language and the literature to follow.Without such developments witnessed in the works of Chaucer, Wycliffe, and Malory, theliterature that followed, such...
