Scottish literature in the Middle Ages Scottish literature in the Middle Ages Scottish literature in the Middle Ages is literature written in Scotland, or by Scottish writers, between the departure of the Romans from Britain in the fifth century, until the establishment of the Renaissance in the late fifteenth century and early sixteenth century. It includes literature written in Brythonic, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, French and Latin. Much of the earliest Welsh literature was actually composed in or near the country now called Scotland, in the Brythonic speech, from which Welsh would be derived. This includes the epic poem "The Gododdin", considered the earliest surviving verse from
England in the Late Middle Ages pilgrims travelled further, either to more distant sites within Britain or, in a few cases, onto the continent. Major shrines in the late Middle Ages included those of Thomas Becket at Canterbury, Edward the Confessor, at Westminster Abbey, Hugh of Lincoln, William of York, Edmund Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was buried at Pontigny Abbey in France, Richard of Chichester, Thomas Cantilupe of Hereford, St Osmund of Salisbury and John of Bridlington. In the 1380s several challenges emerged to the traditional teachings of the Church, resulting from the teachings of John Wycliffe, a member of Oxford University. Wycliffe argued that