I learned that this is actually a bit of a coincidence. English started to in effect be standardized by the publishing of the first English dictionaries shortly

I learned that this is actually a bit of a coincidence. English started to in effect be standardized by the publishing of the first English dictionaries shortly after Shakespeare (esp standardizing spelling - which even in Shakespeare is a bit all over the place) Not totally sure how much that plays into it. Would be curious to hear from someone that knows more