Dərsin mövzusu Saatların miqdarı Dərsin növü Cari nəzarət forması

LECTURE 12
WILLIAM CAXTON (1422-1491)
THE WARS OF THE ROSES
William Caxton was born in around 1422 in Kent. William Caxton was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is the first person to introduce a printing press into England.
In 1476, Caxton set up a printing press in the suburb of Westminster Abbey. He began printing books in Latin and in English. Because there was no standardization in English spelling, Caxton’s choices often became the standard. Caxton’s establishment of the printing press in England helped standardize the English language and developed the use of English in written texts. Among the books he printed were Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales”, Gower’s “Confession Amantis” and Malory’s “Le Morte d’Arthur”. William Caxton was a translator and publisher who had a great influence on English literature. He translated 24 books. By the time of his death he published about 100 books. He died in 1492.
The Wars of the Roses were a series of English Civil Wars for control the throne of England between the House of Lancaster, whose symbol was the Red Rose and the House of York, whose symbol was the White Rose. The conflict lasted from 1455 until 1487 but there was fighting before and after this period between the parties. There was battle of Bosworth Field between the armies of King Richard III and Henry Tudor. Richard dies in battle and Henry becomes King Henry VII of England, ending the Middle Ages in England and beginning of the Tudor dynasty.


LECTURE 13
SCOTTISH LITERATURE IN THE MIDDLE AGES
Scottish literature in the Middle Ages is literature written by Scottish writers between fifth century until the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century. It includes literary works written in Brythonic, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, French and Latin.
The 15^th century is a time of experimentation with poetry. The 15^th-century poets often attempt to generate new meaning from previous poetry by picking up the old to form it into something new. Such is the relationship between Chaucer and Scottish poets. These poets share in the medieval status of Chaucer. Chaucer’s influence on 15^th century Scottish literature started at the beginning of century. As time continues on in the 15^th century, the writers move further away from direct similarity with Chaucer. For 15^th century Chaucer was an important model, but they used that model for their own purposes. The most famous authors of Scottish literature are: King James I of Scotland, Robert Henryson, William Dunbar and Gavin Douglas.
King James I of Scotland (1394 – 1437) wrote “The Kings Quair”, a series of love poems. This poem is narrative story of his love where he mixed allegory with reality. The King wrote this poem as a sort of autobiography about his experiences in English captivity.
Robert Henryson (1425-1500) brings his own nationalism into his writing. He is famous with his work “The Testament of Cresseid”, a critical re-writing of Chaucer’s “Troilus and Criseyde”. He creates a totally new ending where Troilus is kept alive.
William Dunbar (1460- 1520) is also 15^th century Scottish writer but his work is quiet far from of Chaucer’s. His famous work “The Tretis” includes many ironic gestures but his humour is much different from Chaucer’s.
Gavin Douglas (1474-1522) also carries on Chaucerian allegory, but concentrates on cultural nationalism. His Famous work is “The Palace of Honour” is modelled on Chaucer’s work “House of Fame”.