The second half of the fourteenth century was an important transition period both in the spheres of literary form and message, and of social, economic, and political power. First published in 1981, English Literature in History, 1350–1400 discusses fourteenth-century literature, verse and prose, in Anglo-Norman, Latin, and Middle English, and with the way in which social change—particularly the growth of lay literacy and social mobility—is expressed in the literature. Dr Coleman argues that relatively few works were meant merely to entertain, but rather to instruct, exhort, and ultimately inspire readers to criticize and reform social practice. The increasing emphasis on private responsibility, to bring the practice of Christian ethics more in line with ideals, is also apparent in the growing emphasis on authorial responsibility. This concern reflected the developing public voice of a powerful section of the population—the middle class.

The book begins with the vexed question of literacy and lay education, proceeds to an exploration of the growth in the literature of social unrest, and attempts to draw some conclusions about the nature of preaching and the gradual decline of memory in favour of the written text. Finally, the book focuses on the way in which school theology filtered down into non-scholastic literature, to enlighten an enlarged readership on the issues that confronted them as private, individual Christians, and as servants and citizens devoted to the common weal.

This book will help students to read fourteenth-century literature with an eye and ear better able to realize the significance of its subject matter, and to recognize the subtleties of stylistic experiment. Dr Coleman discusses in detail many of the standard texts of medieval literature (including works by Gower and Langland), presenting complex and unfamiliar ideas in a lively and engrossing way.