The 15th Century in Literature
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| The 15th Century|Literature |
The 15th century is also considered as Barren Age because there is no any poet or writer to produce great work in the field of English literature. Therefore it is called Barren Age in English Literature. There are many factors which are responsible for the barrenness of literature during this age.
Political and religious changes
It was the period of many changes in the field of politics and religion. The old political and social order was changing giving place to new.
The War of the Roses(1455-1485)
The War of Roses was a series of English civil wars for the throne of England. It was fought between two groups during the 14th century. The two groups were The House of Lancaster and The House of York. Infect these fights were fought between the supporters of these houses. It is known as the War of Roses because the house of Lancaster associated with a red rose and the House of York was associated with a white rose. It means white rose and a red rose were the symbols of two groups. It had a bad effect on the literature of this period. People wasted their time in small fights. There was an atmosphere of wars, unrest, chaos in the country. This kind
of atmosphere did not support the development of literature.
Introduction to the printing press(1476)
William Caxton introduced the printing press into England in 1476. He was an English writer and merchant.
Establishments of schools and universities
New schools and universities were established during this age. Thus chances were given to the new Greek ideas and culture but they were not in the state of development because of confusedness or turmoil. So the poets and writers were failed to produce any master peace in the field of literature.
lack of free thought in literature
Free expression of thought is the main part of producing masterpieces in literature but unfortunately, it was prevented by those who were in power and authority during this period. Great literature could not be produced in this kind of atmosphere where poets and writers were not allowed to express their thought freely.
Poor education
The state of education in the 15th century was very poor. There were many universities and learning centres but people were not interested in learning new things. The poets and writers were not motivated and inspired to produce great literary works.
Thus it was the age of barrenness in producing the great works of literature. There were two kinds of disciples of Chaucer who tried to carry his skills of literature forward. They both contributed during this period in the field of English Literature. They were The English Chaucerians and the Scottish Chaucerians.
The English Chaucerians were--
Lydgate, Occleve, Stephen Hawes, Barclay and John Skelton.
