The Renaissance Period in England

1434

Alberti, an Italian humanist, wrote about his disagreement with the new tradition of using the modern languages.

1476

Introduction of the printing press in England by William Caxton.

1500

Beginning of the Modern English Period.

1531

Publication of the first book of education in English known as The Governour by Sir Thomas Elyot.

1534

Sir Thomas Elyot translated The Doctrinal of Princes, made by the Noble oratour Isocrates from Greek.

1549

In France, Du Bellay wrote Defence et Illustration de la Langue Françoise to defend this new tradition

1549

Translation of Erasmus’ work Praise of Folly.

1550

Common practice of spelling and some forms are still in use today.

1553

Publication of the Arte of Rhetorique by Thomas Wilson, a great exponent in the objection to the new words added to the language.

1561

Thomas Hoby made a preface of the translation The Courtier.

1565

Arthur Golding translated Caesar

1568

Publication of Thomas Smith’s Dialogue concerning the Correct and Emended Writing of the English Language.

1569

John Hart published An Orthographie. 

1570

A Method or Comfortable Beginning for All Unlearned, Whereby They May Bee Taught to Read English was published by John Hart

1579

Publication of Sir Thomas North’s version of Plutarch’s Live of the Noble Grecians and Romans.

1582

Richard Munster’s publication of Elementarie.

1583

Sir Philip Sydney said that English should be equal to other languages

1586

George Pettie wrote in his book Civile Conversation a defence of the use of English because there were many people who did not agree this.

1591

Some words forms like cony, conny, cuny cunnie, coosnage, been or beene appeared in one Greene’s pamphlet A Notable Discovery of Coosnage.

1595

“Richard Carew wrote a discourse on The Excellency of the English Language” (Bough & Cable 2002: 193)

1597

The Second Book of Madrigals by Nicholas Yonge

1598

There was printed some translations of Homer before Chapman’s version appeared.

1600

The preposition of shows the new changes in idioms, for instance, “one that I brought up of (from)” (Bough & Cable 2002: 232).

1601

In Poetaster, Ben Jonson called Marston “retrograde, reciprocal, incubus, lubrical, defunct…” (Bough & Cable 2002:208).

1604

A Table of Alphabeticall of Hard Words is the first publication of a dictionary explaining words in a foreign language  by Robert Cawdrey.

1611

Authorized translation of the Bible.

1616

Bullokar said that it was very common among writers to take strange words.

1616

John Bullokar’s English Expositor.

1623

Henry Cockeram’s English Dictionarie.

1623

There are found ten instances of neologisms in Shakespeare’s First Folio.  

1634

Charles Butler’s The English Grammar; or The Institution of Letters, Syllables, and Woords in the English Tung was written.

1650

Around this date, the spelling of the Modern English was established.

1656

Publication of Glossographia by Blount.

1658

New World of Worlds by Edward Phillip.

1721

Publication of the Universal Etymological English Dictionary by Nathaniel Bailey.

1755

Dr Johnson published the preface of his dictionary where he made an statement about the fixation of a spelling for English.