American Quotations by William J. Federer 2024

Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1342-October 25, 1400) was known as the "Father of English Poetry." He was honored as an English poet-laureate. The son of a vintner, he was born in London; rose to being a page to the Countess of Ulster, 1357; captured while fighting in France; and ransomed by Edward III, 1360. In 1385, Chaucer became a knight of the shire for Kent and a Justice of the Peace. He was supported by his steady patron, John of Gaunt (1340-1399), to whom he was related through marriage. At his death, he was buried in Westminster Abbey. Chaucer's works include: The Book...

John Wycliffe (c.1330-December 31, 1384) was a professor at Oxford University, England. He became one of the greatest English religious reformers, writing under the protection of John of Gaunt (1340-1399). His most outstanding achievement was being the first to translate, along with his followers, the Holy Scriptures from the Latin Vulgate into the English language. Known as the "Morning Star of the Reformation," John Wycliffe wrote in the General Prologue of his 1384 translation of the Bible: <The Bible is for the Government of the People, by the People, and for the People.> 1330JW001 -- American Quotations by William J....

Declaration of Arbroath (April 6, 1320) during the reign of Robert the Bruce as King of Scotland, the yoke of English oppression was released from the land. The English, under Edward II had been defeated at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, and expelled from Scottish soil with the recapture of Berwick in 1319. But the English and Pope John XXII still refused to recognize Scotland as an independent country. In response, many of Scotland's leaders sat down in 1320 to write a plea of recognition to the Pope for Scotland. The document was eventually successful, and is now named...

Magnus Eriksson, II (1316-1374) was a king of Sweden, Norway and Skaane. He commissioned an Icelandic judge, Paul Knudsen, to lead an expedition to Greenland in 1354: <Magnus, by the grace of God, King of Norway, Sweden and Skaane, sends to all men who see or hear this letter good health and happiness. We desire to make known to you that you [Paul Knudsen] is to take the men who shall do in the knarr [royal vessel]; whether they be named or not named,..from my bodyguard, and also from among the retainers of other men, whom you may wish to...

Thomas Aquinas (c.1224-March 7, 1274) was a Catholic philosopher and theologian, who wrote Summa Theologica, using Aristotelian logic to reconcile faith with reason, proving the existence of God as the logical uncaused cause. His works rank with Saint Augustine in importance. In Pange, Lingua, a hymn for Vespers on the Feast of Corpus Christi, Thomas Aquinas wrote: <Sing, my tongue, the Savior's glory, Of His Flesh the mystery sing; Of the Blood, all price exceeding, Shed by our immortal King.> 1224TA001. In Verbum Supernum Prodiens, a hymn for Lauds on Corpus Christi, Thomas Aquinas wrote: <O saving Victim, opening wide,...