ROMANCES

After the Norman conquest the mainly
languages were French, which was spoken by the nobility, and Latin, which was
spoken by the literate class. English was spoken by the illiterate people. The romances
those were favored by the nobility, were anonymous long narrative poem that
tell story about heroic adventures, noble knights, love stories and all sorts
of wonder. One of the most important book on this literary movement is the "History
of the kings of Britain". In this book is told the story of King Arthur and his
knights. This book inspired Layamon, the writer of Brut, the first English epic
poem which describes the history of England.

One of the most important people in this
period is "Geoffrey Chaucer", a diplomat who decided to write his poem in
English, the pagans' language. He wrote "The Canterbury Tales" .

BALLADS

Ballads were oral form of poetry used by
the illiterate people. They are developed if four line stanzas rhyming ABCB. They
tell about love stories, supernatural and the battles between English and
Scottish. They are accompanied by music.

DRAMA

Drama was used to give a religious
education to the illiterate people. They were written in popular English. The Mistery
Plays took place outside the churches and consisted of a number of stories
which told about the Old and New Testament. 
The subjects were the biblical subjects. There were also the Morality
Plays which told an allegorical tale with the aim of improving common people's
religious and moral education.