General introduction David Wallace

Part I. After the Norman Conquest: Introduction David Wallace

1. Old English and its afterlife Seth Lerer

2. Anglo-Norman cultures in England,1066-1460 Susan Crane

3. Early Middle English Thomas Hahn

4. National, world, and women's history writers and readers in post-Conquest England Lesley Johnson and Jocelyn Wogan-Browne

5. Latinitas Christopher Baswell

6. Romance in England 1066-1400 Rosalind Field

Part II. Writing in the British Isles: Introduction David Wallace

7. Writing in Wales Brynley F. Roberts

8. Writing in Ireland Terence Dolan

9. Writing in Scotland R. James Goldstein

10. Writing history in England Andrew Galloway

11. London texts and literate practice Sheila Lindenbaum

Part III. Institutional Productions: Introduction David Wallace

12. Monastic productions Christopher Cannon

13. The friars and medieval English literature John V. Fleming

14. Classroom and confession Marjorie Curry Woods and Rita Copeland

15. Literature and the law Richard Firth Green

16. 'Vox Populi' and the literature of 1381 David Aers

17. Englishing the Bible 1066-1549 David Lawton

Part IV. After the Black Death: Introduction David Wallace

18. Alliterative poetry Ralph Hanna

19. Piers Plowman Kathryn Kerby-Fulton

20. The Middle English mystics Nicholas Watson

21. Geoffrey Chaucer Glending Olson

22. John Gower Winthrop Wetherbee

23. Middle English lives Julia Boffey

Part V. Before the Reformation: Introduction David Wallace

24. Hoccleve, Lydgate, and the Lancastrian Court Paul Strohm

25. Lollardy Steven Justice

26. Romance after 1400 Helen Cooper

27. William Caxton Seth Lerer

28. English drama from Ungodly Ludi to Sacred Play Lawrence M. Clopper

29. The allegorical theatre: moralities, interludes, and Protestant drama John Watkins

30. Literature and politics in the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII Colin Burrow

31. Reformed literature and literature reformed Brian Cummings

Chronologies

Bibliography

Index.