The Renaissance Period, Chaucer, and The Canterbury Tales
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Renaissance Period – 1350 – 1600’s
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Renaissance = Rebirth
Believed to be the start of modern thought
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The Black Plague
o Originated in northern India during the 1300’s
o Affected much of Asia by the mid-1340’s
o In an attempt to halt Italian trade routes through Asia, Mongol-Tartar
armies purposely infected Italy with the Black Plague by catapulting dead
bodies of the infected over the walls of Italian fortresses.
o Struck Spain and France in 1348; Europe in 1349
o Canterbury Tales published in 1400
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The Crusades
o Christians from Europe invaded the Middle East in an attempt to chase
Muslims out of the holy land
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The Hundred Years’ War
o England vs. France
Geoffrey Chaucer
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Date of Birth (uncertain) – 1340-1345
Date of Death – October 25, 1400
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Financially secure family/owned ample wine vineyards/held no title
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Brilliant scholar
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Grew up in London
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1357 – rose in society by taking position in the royal court of Elizabeth, Countess
of Ulster
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1359 – Joined the army to fight in the Hundred Years’ War
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Captured and ransomed the following year
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1367 – was the valet for the King of England
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1367 – married Philippa de Roet
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Sent of several diplomatic missions, giving him a rare opportunity to see Italy and
France
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Titles:
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Comptroller of taxes on wools, skins, and hides (1347)
Comptroller of petty customs (1382)
Justice of the Peace for the County of Kent (1385)
Knight of the Shire (1386)
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Denied all political influence in 1386
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It is assumed that during this period Chaucer began writing The Canterbury Tales
(left unfinished after his death in 1400)
The Canterbury Tales
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14th Century London – center of commerce and culture
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Kings and nobles control politics
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Catholic Church controls religion
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“The Peasants’ Rebellion” – 1381, Reaction to enforced poverty
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Chaucer gives readers his view of life in London through the Tales
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Chaucer, Pilgrims, and Hygiene
o Nun praised for keeping grease out of the wine cup
o Sharing of beds
o Pardoner mentions the black death in his story
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Influences
o Ovid and Virgil
o Augustine and Boethius
o French poet Descartes
o Italian poets Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio