A Royal Introduction to Medieval
Literature

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Son of a prosperous London wine merchant
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Worked as a page for the King’s son’s wife
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Chaucer’s introduction to Aristocracy
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Soldier in the English Army
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Married the queen’s lady in waiting
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Son was also a great success
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Buried in Westminster Abbey’s Poet’s Corner

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Well known in his time
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Greatest English poet
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Early works include French translations
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Culture of the English upper class was predominantly French
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Another popular work Troilus and Criseyde
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Frequently studied
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Shakespeare drew on Chaucer’s poem for his play
Troilus and Cressida

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Society – strictly ordered
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King, nobles – political power
Catholic Church – spiritual power
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Expansion of trade and commerce
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Gave rise to the middle class
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Population mostly agrarian
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Looked to the Church for consolation/defense
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Clergy became landowners - abuse and corruption

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The Plague
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Killed 1/3 of the population of England
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Labor shortage
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The Peasants’ Rebellion – 1381
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Chaucer – Controller of the Custom
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Witnessed the rebellion literally outside his window
Lived among/dealt with many different classes

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People and classes of London
Classical writers – Ovid, Virgil
Christian apologists – Augustine, Boethius
French poetry
Italian poets – Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio
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Uses well-known models and sources

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Frame story
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Many tales united by the journey
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Written in English
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Serious writing was in Latin or French
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Well-received
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Given a second printing in its time
Has never been out of print

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Narrator and 29 travelers happen to meet at the
Tabard Inn in Southwark, London.
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60-mile, four-day religious journey to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket at the Cathedral in
Canterbury
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Blessing and forgiveness to those who made pilgrimage;
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Relics of the saint were enshrined there, miracles had been reported by those who prayed before the shrine.
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Chaucer's pilgrims are not all traveling for religious reasons.
Many of them simply enjoy social contact or the adventure of travel -mixed reasons to attend.

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Innkeeper Harry Bailey suggests a game
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A story-telling contest - dinner to the winner
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Each pilgrim four stories: two on the way to
Canterbury, and two on the return trip = 120 stories!
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Narrator observes characters arriving and getting acquainted
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Chaucer didn’t finish ; very few stories; ends almost as soon as it starts
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Travelers a cross-section of fourteenth-century
English society

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Completely original in concept and method
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Range and variety
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Different classes of people
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Different genres
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Romances – tales of chivalry
Fabliaux – short, bawdy, humorous
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Religious – saints, sermons, allegories
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Pilgrimage serves as dramatic device
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Tales are set each other off and throw light on the characters
Life in the 14 th century – even life itself

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Clergy
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The Prioress
The Monk
The Friar
The Nun
The Priest
The Cleric
The Parson
The Canon
The Summoner
The Pardoner
All levels are represented
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Nobility
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The Knight
The Squire
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The Middle Class
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The Merchant
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The Man of Law
The Franklin (possibly minor nobility)
The Haberdasher
The Carpenter
The Weaver
The Dyer
The Tapestry
The Shipman
The Physician
The Wife of Bath
The Miller
The Manciple
The Reeve
The Host
Each Pilgrim tells a tale consistent with their character
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Peasants
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The Yeoman
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The Cook
The Plowman
The Canon's Yeoman

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Roman Catholic
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Religious – member of a religious order
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Nun (prioress), Monk, Friar
Secular – clergy that governs the diocese
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Parson, Summoner
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Disputes between religious and secular
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MONEY

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Prowess: Seek excellence in all endeavors expected of a knight, martial and otherwise, seeking strength to be used in the service of justice, rather than in personal aggrandizement.
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Justice: Seek always the path of 'right', unencumbered by bias or personal interest.
Recognize that the sword of justice can be a terrible thing, so it must be tempered by humanity and mercy.
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Loyalty: Be known for unwavering commitment to the people and ideals you choose to live by.
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Defense: Defend your liege lord and those who depend upon him. Seek always to defend your nation, your family, and those to whom you believe worthy of loyalty.
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Courage: Choose the more difficult path, the personally expensive one. Be prepared to make personal sacrifices in service of the precepts and people you value. Seek wisdom to see that stupidity and courage are cousins. Take the side of truth in all matters, rather than seek the expedient lie. Seek the truth whenever possible, but remember to temper justice with mercy, or the pure truth can bring grief.

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Faith: Have faith in your beliefs, for faith roots you and gives hope against the despair that human failings create.
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Humility: Value first the contributions of others; do not boast of your own accomplishments, let others do this for you. Tell the deeds of others before your own, according them the renown rightfully earned through virtuous deeds.
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Largesse: Be generous in so far as your resources allow; largesse used in this way counters gluttony. It also makes the path of mercy easier to discern when a difficult decision of justice is required.
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Nobility: Seek great stature of character by holding to the virtues and duties of a knight, realizing that though the ideals cannot be reached, the quality of striving towards them ennobles the spirit, growing the character from dust towards the heavens. Nobility also has the tendency to influence others, offering a compelling example of what can be done in the service of rightness.
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Franchise: Seek to emulate everything I have spoken of as sincerely as possible, not for the reason of personal gain but because it is right. Do not restrict your exploration to a small world, but seek to infuse every aspect of your life with these qualities. Should you succeed in even a tiny measure then you will be well remembered for your quality and virtue.

Canterbury Tales Literary Terms
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Define the following and give examples from
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. All information found in your Glossary of Literary Terms textbook:
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Beast Fable:
Exemplum:
Fabliau:
Folk Tale:
Rime Riche:
Frame Story:
Medieval Tragedies:
Allegory:

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Draw straws to see who will tell the first tale.
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The Knight draws the shortest straw.
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Long romantic epic about two brave young knights who both fall in love with the same woman and who spend years attempting to win her love
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A real crowd-pleaser

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Romance / Epic Romance
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Inspired by Boccaccio’s “Teseida delle nozze di Emilia”
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Features Pagan Gods
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Planets are gods’ names
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Determine who you are
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Palamon prays to Venus
Arcite prays to Mars
Emily prays to Diana
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Ethical system without being Christian

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Boethius – 6 th Century Christian Philosopher
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Consolation of Philosophy
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Philosophy = unity of self leads to true happiness
Reflects on how evil can exist in a world governed by God, and how happiness can be attainable amidst fickle fortune, while also considering the nature of happiness and God.
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Boethius writes the book as a conversation between himself and Lady Philosophy
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Boethius engages questions such as the nature of predestination and free will, why evil men often prosper and good men fall into ruin, human nature, virtue, and justice.

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Drunk
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Intended to be comic
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Tale of a student who lives with a carpenter and his much younger wife
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Student and wife have affair
All are made fools by end of story
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Offends the Reeve (he, himself, is an aging carpenter), who had a young wife
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He says that he, like all old men, is motivated by boasting, anger, lying, and covetousness.
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The Reeve promises to get even with the
Miller

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Fabliau
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Central character – a Miller
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Looks like the Miller on the pilgrimage – presented in the most unflattering light possible
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Dishonest in his dealings
Has a wife, a beautiful and desirable young daughter of marriageable age, and an infant still in the cradle
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In the Miller’s Tale, the carpenter is cuckolded
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In The Reeve’s Tale, the miller is cuckolded
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And must suffer the further indignity of having his virgin daughter deflowered

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Food and supplies buyer
Story of mythological
Phoebus, a jealous husband.
Had a white crow that could speak the language of humans and could sing beautifully
Crow discovers Phoebus' wife unfaithful
Phoebus plucks and curses crow.
Why crows are black and sing in an unpleasant tone.

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Assistant/ Attendant
Canon and his Yeoman join the group
Conversation reveals these men are outlaws but they are made welcome and invited to participate in the storytelling.
Canon rides off in a fit of anger, and the Canon's
Yeoman relates a tale about a cheating
“alchemist” (the Canon).
Yeoman disloyal to former companion.

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High-ranking Nun
Prioress relates a short legend about a little schoolboy who is martyred and through whose death a miracle takes place .
In today’s world tale seems anti-Semitic

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Monk seems fun-loving but his tale is about famous figures who are brought low by fate.
So dreary that the
Knight stops him
Harry Bailey berates him for lowering the morale of the party.
Monk refuses to change his tone.

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Member of one of four orders: a clergyman
Tells tale about a
Summoner.
Friar says that everyone knows there is nothing good to say about
Summoners (serves summons to church courts) and tells a story which proves his point.
Summoner enraged by
Friar’s tale

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Issues fines and summons to sinners
Begins with scatological joke about Friars in hell
Tale attacks friars and their habit of asking for donations.
Host Bailey “donates” to the friar at the end in a scatological way.

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College Student
Tale of cruel Walter of
Saluzzo who tested his poor wife unmercifully
Pretends to kill their children, divorce her, and sends her away naked.
She endures all.
Moral: Patience is a virtue for women .

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Merchant
Has unhappy marriage and his story reflects his state. Young wife is unfaithful to older husband.
It is yet another tale of a bold, unfaithful wife in a marriage with a much older man

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Knight’s aide
Incomplete tale about a mysterious knight gives King magical, mechanical horse
Gives King’s daughter a magic mirror and ring
Tale ends abruptly

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Lawyer
Long-winded
Story of noblewoman who suffers patiently and virtuously through a great many terrible trials.
In the end she is rewarded for her perseverance .

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Wealthy Landowner
Tries to imitate the
Squire’s eloquence
Tale of knight and his wife. Wife agrees to affair with another man if he can ensure safe return of knight/husband.
Knight returns and tells her to keep affair promise.
Other man declines her offer.
Which man behaved most honorably ?

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Skilled craftsmen but of the working class
Small goods maker
Dyer
Carpenter
Weaver
Wives were social climbers
No real tales

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Cook
Drunk
Another humorous adventure about a thieving, womanizing young apprentice.

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Doctor
Set in ancient
Rome and concerns a young virgin who prefers death to dishonor.

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Woman of experience
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Prefaces her tale with a long discourse on marriage
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Tale about the marriage of a young and virile knight who dishonors a young woman
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Punished by marrying an ancient hag
He must answer “What do women want?”
Answer: Not to be subservient to husbands

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Sells Papal pardons to sinners
Reveals his own corruption
But ends asking to travelers to pay him for pardons!
Host confronts him

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Sea Captain
Tale of merchant who demands wife repay a debt she owed him.
Monk who stayed with them agrees to pay the sum for her in return for having affair with him.
She consents and Monk gets money from the merchant!
Merchant figures it out.
Wife repays husband privately .

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Preaches a two-hour sermon on penitence and the Seven Deadly
Sins
Reveals his own corruption
Chaucer ends with retraction
Asks offended to blame his rough manner and lack of education, his intentions were not immoral
Asks unoffended to give credit to Christ.