Middle English vs. Old English
I've been under the impression that Chaucer and Shakespeare are classified as middle english, but I've recently heard them referred to as old english. I think this is wrong, but there is some disagreement surrounding the classification.
This leads me to three questions:
1. What are the specific years distinguishing one era from the other?
2. What other eras of english lit. exist (aside from-- or subunits of-- the 2 mentioned above?)
3. What are examples of authors from each period?