Episode 120: The End of the World

The History of English Podcast

Kevin Stroud

History

4.8 • 7.3K Ratings

🗓️ 31 December 2018

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the mid-1300s, most of Europe was devastated by a massive plague known today as the Black Death. The disease killed about one-third of the population of England, and an even higher percentage of clerics and teachers who were trained in Latin and French. These disruptions permitted a younger generation who only spoke English to fill those positions. As a result, English replaced French in the grammar schools of England, and the stage was set for a revival of English learning and literature over the following decades.

TRANSCRIPT: EPISODE 120

Transcript

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0:00.0	[♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING,
0:00.8	OUTRO MUSIC,
0:01.4	OUTRO MUSIC,
0:10.0	Welcome to the History of English Podcast,
0:12.2	a podcast about the history of the English language.
0:15.9	This is Episode 120, the end of the world.
0:20.2	In this episode, we're going to continue our look
0:22.8	at the social and linguistic upheaval of the mid-1300s.
0:27.0	And specifically, we're going to look
0:28.6	at the devastating plague known as the Black Death.
0:32.3	It was one of the worst plagues in human history,
0:35.3	perhaps the worst.
0:37.5	It killed about one out of every three people in Europe.
0:40.6	And when it reached the English shores,
0:42.4	it turned English society on its head.
0:45.8	Most scholars agree that the Black Death
0:47.9	was one of the major factors that led to the end
0:50.2	of feudalism in England.
0:52.5	The social and economic structure imposed
0:54.5	by the Normans three centuries earlier started to break down.
0:58.3	And the new system that emerged in its place
1:00.8	put an emphasis on the use of English
	...

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