ABSTRACT
The fifteenth century is a turning point in the history of our language and of English letters.1 In Chapter 4 we noted the rarity of letters in English before 1400 but after that there began a dramatic change. A proclamation concern ing the Provisions of Oxford had been circulated in 1258 in English, a statute of 1362 had recited the reasons why English should be used in law courts and a few wills written in the vernacular are known before 1400 but all these examples of English usage are unusual. Kingsford analysed the proportion of French to English letters in the fifteenth century from those in the Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council and concluded ‘for the reign of Henry IV nearly all the letters are in French and only one in English; under Henry V the English letters are about equal to those in French; under Henry VI letters in French are the exception’.2 Latin was becoming limited to international corre spondence, church liturgies and scholarly use by lawyers and churchmen. The poets Langland and Chaucer and the translators of the Wycliffite versions of the Bible had shown that the English language could be a medium for poetry and literature which was lively, humorous and dignified. Despite Henry V’s reconquest of Normandy, his early death and his son’s minority had led to the French territories being lost by 1453, events which strengthened the sense of national identity and so promoted the use of English in the courts and Parlia ment.
