Textbooks inform readers that the precursor of Standard English was supposedly an East or
Central Midlands variety which became adopted in London that monolingual fifteenth century
English manuscripts fall into internally-cohesive Types and that the fourth Type dating after
1435 and labelled 'Chancery Standard' provided the mechanism by which this supposedly Midlands
variety spread out from London. This set of explanations is challenged by taking a multilingual
perspective examining Anglo-Norman French Medieval Latin and mixed-language contexts as well
as monolingual English ones. By analysing local and legal documents mercantile accounts
personal letters and journals medical and religious prose multiply-copied works and the
output of individual scribes standardisation is shown to have been preceded by
supralocalisation rather than imposed top-down as a single entity by governmental authority.
Linguistic features examined include syntax morphology vocabulary spelling letter-graphs
abbreviations and suspensions social context and discourse norms pragmatics registers
text-types communities of practice social networks and the multilingual backdrop which was
influenced by shifting socioeconomic trends.
