Opprobrious language and the development of the vernacular in fifteenth-century England

This thesis is concerned with how the development of the social and political status of the vernacular in the fifteenth century amplified concerns about the disruptive capacity of opprobrious language. Using a range of religious, moral and political literatures composed in English, it identifies the vocabularies used to represent opprobrious language, who was using them, and for what purpose. It examines how the widening use of English took place against a backdrop of social transitions and increasing disorder which tested both the definition and boundaries of acceptable language. In particular, the thesis argues that the growth of the political consciousness of the common people and their acquisition of literacy complicated the way that opprobrious language was officially identified and proscribed. As such, the capacity of contemptuous words to collapse social boundaries and undermine authority was not only deemed a threat to stability, but was also recognised as a means to acquire power and influence and assert new identities. The simultaneous proscription and exploitation of opprobrious language by different social groups thus identifies how the boundaries of what could and could not be said shifted in relation to the politics of language change.