Writing and Rhetoric
| Literary History
| General Historical Background
| Anglo-Saxon Beginnings
| Beowulf
| Arthurian Romance and Gawain
|
Chaucer
| Early Modern (Renaissance) Background
|
Shakespeare
| Metaphysical Poets
| Milton
CSULA's "A Brief Guide to Online Resources for College Writers"
Luminarium: background and texts
Anthology of Middle English Literature: subpages of Luminarium (be prepared for period music!)
Middle English Lyrics (Luminarium)
British Population Animation from Roman Occupation to the Present (BBC animation)
Housesteads Roman Fort Virtual Reality Tour (BBC online)
Interactive History Games (BBC online)
A History of British Architecture (BBC online)
The Cathedrals of Britain (BBC online)
The
Bayeux Tapestry a 250 foot long
textile history of the Norman Invasion in 1066. The Middle Ages
- an interactive introduction to the culture (Annenberg/CPB Exhibits
Collection) (very broad but helpful to the novice) The
Labyrinth—Resources for Medieval Studies (Georgetown
University) Medieval
Women at the Labyrinth (Georgetown University) Early
Christianity Consult
these two Catholic organizations: American
Catholic and the New Advent Catholic
Encyclopedia. Both have information about saints, rituals, history, and more. For
the Reformation, there's Hanover College's page of
links to primary sources Viking
Women (BBC online) What
Did the Normans Do For Us? (BBC online) Regia
Anglorum: Anglo-Saxon, Viking, Norman and British Living History The
Exeter Book with a photograph of the folio containing "The
Wanderer." The
British Museum's collection of artifacts from Sutton Hoo "Why
Read Beowulf?": An essay on the history of the poem
and its manuscript (an MS Word .doc file)
Legends:
Beowulf: links to online resources for students of Old English Course
in Old English, including sound files of Readings
from Beowulf (Peter S. Baker) Audio
files: Seamus
Heaney reads from his translation. Sir
Gawain Website (Pace University) Luminarium:
Sir Gawain and The
Green Knight
Gawain
in medieval and modern literature and art (UR Camelot Project)
King
Arthur: Romancing Politics (Norton Topics Online)
The
Camelot Project at the University of Rochester: a fabulous general
site for all things Arthurian. Sir
Thomas Malory (Luminarium)
Chaucer
Pages (Harvard)—an excellent resource "Teach
Yourself to Read Chaucer's Middle English" (Harvard
University) An
Electronic Edition of "The General Prologue" of The
Canterbury Tales (Edwin Duncan, Towson
University) Study
notes, original illustrations, and bibliography on The
General Prologue (Harvard) Study
notes, original illustrations, and bibliography on The
Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale
(Harvard) Pronunciation
Guide for Chaucer (Harvard) Historical
Background The
Black Death and Social Change (BBC online) "Medieval
Estates and Orders" on the companion web site to The Norton
Anthology of English Literature. The
Reign of Richard II (BBC online) Early Modern (Renaissance) Background
Renaissance
Image Gallery (Rebecca Bushnell, University of Pennsylvania)—a
collection of pictures from the Renaissance.
Poverty
in Elizabethan England (BBC online) The
Gunpowder Plot (BBC online) What
If the Gunpowder Plot Had Succeeded? (BBC online) Elizabeth
I: An Overview (BBC online) Elizabeth's
site—A terrific portrait gallery! (TudorHistory.org) Elizabeth's
Spy Network (BBC online) London:
Brighter Lights, Bigger City (BBC online)
Christopher
Marlowe
Christopher
Marlowe (1564-1593) (Luminarium)
The
Magician, the Heretic, and the Playright: Faustus, Marlowe, and the
English Stage (Norton Topics Online)
Mr.
William Shakespeare and the Internet—An excellent site with
searchable texts, biography, criticism, and background resources.
Open
Source Shakespeare—Shakespeare's
complete works along with tools for searching and sorting through it all.
The
Shakespeare Home Page—Several Shakespeare-related links, including
frequently asked questions.
Shakespeare's
Globe—The official web site of the New Globe, including a virtual
tour (under Education and Distance Learning) and information on the
rebuilding of the theatre (under Information and Online Reference
Library).
Selections
from Shakespeare's
Sonnets read by Sir John Gielgud. John
Donne's love poems read by Academy Award winning actor Richard Burton. Donne,
Holy Sonnets 10
and 14 read by Walter Rufus Eagles. John
Donne (Luminarium)
George
Herbert (Luminarium)
Andrew
Marvell (Luminarium)
Lady
Mary Wroth (Luminarium) Paradise
Lost Study Guide (summaries, questions and answers, texts, biblical
references, and criticism)
Milton-L
Home Page (best web resource for research on Milton)
John
Milton (Luminarium)
Paradise
Lost: Texts and Contexts (Norton Anthology site)
A
treasure trove of Paradise
Lost illustrations. Dissent,
Doubt, and Spiritual Violence in the Reformation (Norton)