THE ORIGINS OF GENRES

After the Norman conquest, English literature did not produce anything until about the year 1200. Only in the 13^th century, the nobility favoured the French form of the romance. It was an anonymous narrative poem about knights, love stories and all sorts of wonders. Romances became extremely popular. The influence of French literature also affected the poetic form, changing rhymes, the number of syllables and the structure of the stanza

The Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain), a book written in Latin, had an enormous influence on English and French literature. It became the source of the cycle of legends dealing with King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. It describes the life and deeds of King Arthur and his knights. This History inspired Brut by Layamon, the first national English poem (tracing the story of Britain from its foundation up to King Arthur reign. Le Morte D'Arthur is comprised in the Arthurian cycle.

Middle English
The term refers to the English language spoken from 1150 to 1500, when French and English amalgamated. It had a wider vocabulary but a simple structure. There were varieties of English but the relevant one was spoken in London, Oxford and Cambridge (places as centres of education, law, government and trade). This dialect was used by Geoffrey Chaucer (who set a literary model) and William Caxton (the first printer in England).

• Geoffrey Chaucer. He was the son of a wealthy wine-merchant and he was a servant in some courts. He received a good education and travelled abroad as a diplomat. Chaucer was also a writing poet. His decision to write in English, and not in Latin or French, was a revolution.
• The Canterbury Tales. It was Geoffrey's main work and had 24 tales. It was not completed. It was about a group of 29 pilgrims setting off on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. It was written in verse but there are parts in prose. It has come to us in manuscript form.
• Chaucer's Characters. The story-tellers represent various classes of English society of later Middle Ages: the military, the clergy, the middle class, the trades. Each one has an economic, social and moral dimension.
• Chaucer's Humanism. Chaucer is the first humanist (with his emphasis on human beings) and the first realist (in portraying personal and social relations.
• Metrical Innovations. Chaucer introduced several metrical innovations: he laid the foundations of the classic English verse line, imported the pentameter from France and he was a rhyming coupler.

Other poems were written in different English dialects. Scottish poetry appeared in this period. Other forms and types of poetry were religious and love lyrics.
Ballads

They were anonymous songs committed to memory and handed down orally from generation to generation. The traditional folk ballad came from England and Scotland. This form had a simple storyline developed in four-line stanza rhyming abcb. They are about situations and everyday life (conflicts between Scots and English). The origins of this poetic form are mystery.
 

Drama

Origins of Medieval Ballad

Drama began with rituals of the Church. It was used to give illiterate people a religious education about the faith and the Bible.

Mystery Places

Mystery or Miracle plays were processions developed into a new form of drama  placed outside the churches and consisted of a numbered plays dealing with stories of the Old and New Testament. The Mystery plays were single episodes strung together in a Mystery Cycle.

The Subjects
The subjects were biblical stories or events from the life of Chris. They were written in English spoken by local people, where human types could be immediately recognized by the spectators.
The Performance
The plays were financed and performed by the trade or craft guilds of the town. They were stage outdoors, in the central square or next to the town hall.
The Manuscripts
The manuscripts of the complete Mystery Cycle have been preserved and they are called from the name of the town were they were presented because their athours are anonymous.
Morality Plays
They were other anonymous forms of drama and were performed by travelling companies. Then they moved indoors in noble and university rooms. These plays told an allegorical tale, not a biblical one, with the aim of improving common people's religious and moral education.

• Everyman. Finest Morality play came down to us. Its hero is a character representing mankind. The story offers a moral lesson for the salvation of the man's soul. 

The Importance of Medieval Drama

It added a human element to the religious themes, created characters corresponding to English social types. All social classes appealed it.