British literature

British literature is a body of literature from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands. This article covers British literature in the English language. Anglo-Saxon literature is included, and there is some discussion of Anglo-Latin and Anglo-Norman literature, where literature in these languages relate to the early development of the English language and literature. There is also some brief discussion of major figures who wrote in Scots, but the main discussion is in the various Scottish literature articles.
The article Literature in the other languages of Britain focuses on the literatures written in the other languages that are, and have been, used in Britain. There are also articles on these various literatures: Latin literature in Britain, Anglo-Norman, Cornish, Guernésiais, Jèrriais, Latin, Manx, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, etc.
Irish writers have played an important part in the development of literature in England and Scotland, but though the whole of Ireland was politically part of the United Kingdom from January 1801 to December 1922, it can be controversial to describe Irish literature as British. For some this includes works by authors from Northern Ireland.
The United Kingdom publishes more books per capita than any other country in the world.

British identity

The nature of British identity has changed over time. The island that contains England, Scotland, and Wales has been known as Britain from the time of the Roman Pliny the Elder. English as the national language had its beginnings with the Anglo-Saxon invasion which started around AD 450. Before that, the inhabitants mainly spoke various Celtic languages. The various constituent parts of the present United Kingdom joined at different times. Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Acts of Union of 1536 and 1542. However, it was not until 1707 with a treaty between England and Scotland that the Kingdom of Great Britain came into existence. This merged in January 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Subsequently, Irish nationalism led to the partition of the island of Ireland in 1922; thus the literature of the Republic of Ireland is not British, although literature from Northern Ireland is both Irish and British.
In 1927 the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 formally changing the name of the UK to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Until fairly recent times Celtic languages continued to be spoken widely in Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, and Ireland, and these languages still survive, especially in parts of Wales.
Works written in the English language by Welsh writers, especially if their subject matter relates to Wales, has been recognised as a distinctive entity since the 20th century. The need for a separate identity for this kind of writing arose because of the parallel development of modern Welsh-language literature.
Because Britain was a colonial power the use of English spread through the world; from the 19th century or earlier in the United States, and later in other former colonies, major writers in English began to appear beyond the boundaries of Britain and Ireland; later these included Nobel laureates.

The coming of the Anglo-Saxons: 449–c.1066

The other languages of early Britain

Although the Romans withdrew from Britain in the early 5th century, Latin literature, mostly ecclesiastical, continued to be written, including Chronicles by Bede, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum; and Gildas, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae.
Various Celtic languages were spoken by many British people at that time. Among the more important written works that have survived are Y Gododdin and the Mabinogion. From the 8th to the 15th centuries, Vikings and Norse settlers and their descendants colonised parts of what is now modern Scotland. Some Old Norse poetry survives relating to this period, including the Orkneyinga saga, an historical narrative of the history of the Orkney Islands, from its capture by the Norwegian king in the 9th century until about 1200.

Old English literature: c. 658–1100

, or Anglo-Saxon literature, encompasses the surviving literature written in Old English in Anglo-Saxon England, from the settlement of the Saxons and other Germanic tribes in England around 450, until "soon after the Norman Conquest" in 1066; that is, c. 1100–50. These works include genres such as epic poetry, hagiography, sermons, Bible translations, legal works, chronicles, riddles, and others. In all. there are about 400 surviving manuscripts from the period.
Oral tradition was very strong in early English culture and most literary works were written to be performed. Epic poems were thus very popular, and some, including Beowulf, have survived to the present day. Beowulf is the most famous work in Old English and has achieved national epic status in England, despite being set in Scandinavia.
Nearly all Anglo-Saxon authors are anonymous: 12 are known by name from medieval sources, but only four of those are known by their vernacular works with any certainty: Cædmon, Bede, Alfred the Great, and Cynewulf. Cædmon is the earliest English poet whose name is known. Cædmon's only known surviving work is Cædmon's Hymn, which probably dates from the late 7th century.
Chronicles contained a range of historical and literary accounts, and a notable example is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The poem Battle of Maldon also deals with history. This is the name given to a work, of uncertain date, celebrating the real Battle of Maldon of 991, at which the Anglo-Saxons failed to prevent a Viking invasion.
Classical antiquity was not forgotten in Anglo-Saxon England, and several Old English poems are adaptations of late classical philosophical texts. The longest is King Alfred's translation of Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy.

Late medieval literature: 1066–1500

The linguistic diversity of the islands in the medieval period contributed to a rich variety of artistic production, and made British literature distinctive and innovative.
Some works were still written in Latin; these include Gerald of Wales's late-12th-century book on his beloved Wales, Itinerarium Cambriae. After the Norman Conquest of 1066, Anglo-Norman literature developed, introducing literary trends from Continental Europe, such as the chanson de geste. However, the indigenous development of Anglo-Norman literature was precocious in comparison to continental Oïl literature.
Geoffrey of Monmouth was one of the major figures in the development of British history and of the popularity of the tales of King Arthur. He is best known for his chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae of 1136, which spread Celtic motifs to a wider audience. Wace At the end of the 12th century, Layamon in Brut adapted Wace to make the first English-language work to use the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. It was also the first historiography written in English since the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

Middle English

Interest in King Arthur continued in the 15th century with Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, a popular and influential compilation of some French and English Arthurian romances. It was among the early books printed in England by Caxton.
In the later medieval period a new form of English now known as Middle English evolved. This is the earliest form which is comprehensible to modern readers and listeners, albeit not easily. Middle English Bible translations, notably Wycliffe's Bible, helped to establish English as a literary language. Wycliffe's Bible is the name now given to a group of Bible translations into Middle English that were made under the direction of, or at the instigation of, John Wycliffe. They appeared over a period from about 1382 to 1395.
Piers Plowman or Visio Willelmi de Petro Plowman is a Middle English allegorical narrative poem by William Langland. It is written in unrhymed alliterative verse divided into sections called "passūs". Piers is considered by many critics to be one of the early great works of English literature along with Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight during the Middle Ages.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late-14th-century Middle English alliterative romance. It is one of the better-known Arthurian stories, of an established type known as the "beheading game". Developing from Welsh, Irish and English tradition Sir Gawain highlights the importance of honour and chivalry. "Preserved in the same manuscript with Sir Gawayne were three other poems, now generally accepted as the work of its author, including the intricate elegiac poem, Pearl."
Geoffrey Chaucer, known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey. Chaucer is best known today for The Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories written in Middle English, that are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. Chaucer is a crucial figure in developing the legitimacy of Middle English at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were French and Latin.
The multilingual nature of the audience for literature in the 14th century can be illustrated by the example of John Gower. A contemporary of Langland and a personal friend of Chaucer, Gower is remembered primarily for three major works, the Mirroir de l'Omme, Vox Clamantis, and Confessio Amantis, three long poems written in Anglo-Norman, Latin, and Middle English respectively, which are united by common moral and political themes.
Women writers were also active, such as Marie de France in the 12th century and Julian of Norwich in the early 14th century. Julian's Revelations of Divine Love is believed to be the first published book written by a woman in the English language. Margery Kempe is known for writing The Book of Margery Kempe, a work considered by some to be the first autobiography in the English language.
Major Scottish writers from the 15th century include Henrysoun, Dunbar, Douglas and Lyndsay. The works of Chaucer had an influence on Scottish writers.