The Middle Ages covered a period that goes roughly from 1066 to 1485.

1066 is a crucial date because it marks the Norman conquest.

When the Normans, with William I, arrived in England, they found the Anglo-Saxsons, a group of German origins. They were divided in tribes and they spoke German languages and dialects.

William I, also called the Conqueror, is a very important king because he introduced a new form of social organisation into England, that is called FEUDAL SYSTEM. In fact he divided the lands he had conquered among his knights and barons. This new social system is a piramidal system: on the top of the hierarchy there was the Pope, because the most important institution of the Middle Ages was the Church. Than came the king, successfully the nobles and on the bottom there were the serfs. They had very isolated lives, their world was incredibly small and every worry or happiness was linked to their land. For these reasons religion gave a meaning to their existence.

William I applied the feudal system in the same way it had been applied before in Europe, because he was afraid of vassals and barons that were coming more powerful. Successfully in 1215 they forced the king to sign the Magna Carta, the result of a process of negotiation of power between the king and the barons, it limited royal power.

LITERATURE AND LANGUAGES IN THE MIDDLE AGES 

During the Middle Ages the most important codes were the religion (regular) and the chivalry (worldly - secular). Ballads represents narrative poems transmitted orally among common people and the aristocracy, they are quite easy: there are many repetitions and the language is concrete and simple.

On the other hand most of the epic poetry were about the chivalry code, the poems were not transmitted orally but written and just the aristocracy read them.

During this period the latin was the language of the Church and of the law. The common people spoke old English, a language of German origins and the court's language was French.