Medieval Career Corner
(Circa 1066-1485)
Knight
Must live by chivalric code:
Squire
Candidate for knighthood
Yeoman
Servant to the Knight and Squire
Nun, Prioress
Has made the monastic vows of poverty, obedience and chastity
Monk
Has made the monastic vows of poverty, obedience and chastity.
The monk led a cloistered life of work, study, and prayer.
Benedictines took an additional vow never to leave the lands of
the monastery without the express permission of their superior.
Friar
Spent his life out in the world preaching and administering to the
poor. This friar is a (mendicant) licensed to beg
Merchant
Sales
Oxford Cleric
A cleric is any person in the holy orders or an ecclesiastical
student. The medieval university was originally founded to train
young men for church.
Serjeant at the Law
The most eminent members of the legal profession in Medieval
England: at the time that Chaucer wrote, there were only about
twenty in the entire country.
The Franklin
The Franklin is a country landowner. In Chaucer’s day, a franklin
was a man of some substance, ranking just below the gentry in the
social order.
The Five Guildsmen
(Haberdasher, Dyer, Carpenter,
Weaver, and a Carpet-maker)
Guilds are societies to regulate prices and standards. The first
people to form guilds were the merchants. A craftsman’s guild
became a type of extended family of friendship and support.
The Cook
Servant to the guild-fraternity and their wives.
The Skipper
A captain of a ship.
Doctor
Doctors would often treat patients according to the laws of
astrology and the medieval theory of humors. The health of the
body was thought to be determined by the condition and balance
of four humors: blood (hot and moist), choler or yellow bile (hot
and dry), phlegm (cold and moist), and melancholy or black bile
(cold and dry).
Wife of Bath
Remember that the church discouraged remarriage.
The Parson
The Parson was a village clergyman or a parish priest.
The Plowman
The plowman is the common laborer, at the bottom of the feudal
scale.
The Miller
A miller buys and sells grains.
The Manciple
A manciple was a steward or servant who purchased provisions for
a college or, in this case, for one of the Inns of Court, the four
ancient law schools in London.
The Reeve
A reeve served as the superintendent of an estate.
The Summoner
Summoners were employees of the ecclesiastical courts, sent by
the justices to summon those suspected of offenses against
Church law. By Chaucer’s day summoners had become notorious
for blackmailing people by threatening to have them called into
court.
The Pardoner
Pardoners were members of the church authorized to pardon the
sins of the people. The tricks and abuses of privilege by pardoners
were widely known in Chaucer’s day. Pardons were not for sale. In
order for an individual to be absolved from sin, three conditions
had to be met:
1. Contrition in one’s own heart
2. Confession to a priest who then gave absolution
3. Penance to remove temporal guilt.
In addition, Pardoners were not licensed to sell relics
(religious artifacts).
The Host
There is substantial evidence that the host actually is Harry Bailey,
the operator of a tavern in Southwark during Chaucer’s time.