Developing a written standard is one of the most fundamental institutional achievements of a society. On the threshold to the Modern Era the vernaculars massively gained ground in writing throughout Western Europe. They soon underwent regularization and eventually standardization. In England, however, the situation was quite different from that of the continent: well into the 14th century the literate space was filled mainly by Latin and French. For a long time Chaucer has been regarded as having brought about the victory of English. But recent research calls for a broader perspective...