Medieval
England
and The
Canterbury Tales
Middle Ages: 1066-1485
• 1066: Norman Conquest
– William of Normandy asserted rule of England
at the Battle of Hastings
– William created English feudal system
• 1485: End of the Wars of the Roses
– Henry VII assumes throne
Historical Events
• Crusades (1095-1270)
– Contact with Middle Eastern cultures
• Martyrdom of Thomas a Becket (1170)
– Reduced monarchy’s authority
• Magna Carta (1215)
– Limited king’s power
• Hundred Years’ Wars (1337-1453)
– England vs. France; fight for throne
Middle Ages: Feudalism
King
Provide money Grants land to…
and knights to
Vassals
Provide protection Grant land to…
and military
service to
Knights
Provide food and Grant land to…
services on
demand Serfs
GOD Divine right of
the king
King
Provides money Grants land to…
and knights to
Barons
Provide protection Grant land to…
and military
service to
Knights
Provide food and Grant land to…
services on
demand Serfs
Population
• Population grew in
cities
• Growth in middle
class
– More merchants and
artisans
– More money for art
and education
– Less power for
landowners!
The PLAGUE
• Circa 1348
• Reduced population of
Europe by one-third
– Mostly poorest people
• Caused a labor shortage
– Peasants compete for wages
– Get more money
– Get more power!
• Apocalyptic
Peasants
• Paid taxes (tithes) to
church
• Obeyed lord who
owned land
• Followed Church
leaders in everything
• ―nasty, brutish, and
short‖ lives
Nobility
• Castles were
the centers of
defense for the
feudal lords
• By 1300s, this
social structure
was collapsing
Code of Chivalry
• Followed by knights
and immortalized in
literature and songs
• Loyalty and
brotherhood
• Bravery
• Duty and honor
• Virtue and Christianity
• ―Courtly love‖
Courtly Love
―Love is a certain inborn
suffering derived from the
sight of and excessive
meditation upon the
beauty of the opposite sex,
which causes each one to
wish the embraces of the
other and by common
desire to carry out all of
loves precepts in the
other’s embraces‖
How to be a Courtly Man
• Know how to talk in the
presence of a lady
• Be mildly flirtatious
• Have a lady mentor
• Worship the lady from afar to
replicate the relationship with
the Virgin Mary
• Participate in stylized warfare
in the name of a woman
How to be a Courtly Woman
• Remain aloof
• Resist sexual
advances
• Follow courtly
manners and
behavior
• Deign to give tokens
of affection
Role of Women
• No political rights
• Subservient to men
• Mostly uneducated
• But…
– Gained power through
courtly love tradition
– Could have power as
a merchant, healer,
Church leader (nun),
or wife of an important
man
The Power of the Church
• Centers of
communities
• Church officials were
civic leaders
• Church court
• Heresy: having ideas
different from church
doctrine
Monastery Life
• Monasteries were the
centers of learning
• Monks created
illustrated
manuscripts of the
Bible and other
historical documents
Illustrated Manuscripts
• Monks copied the
Biblical texts (in Latin)
and meticulously
decorated the pages
The Church Was Important, but…
• Not everyone went into church
occupations for pious reasons.
• Corruption was widespread.
• Many groups had begun to openly criticize
the Catholic Church.
• England is a LONG way from Rome.
Literature of the Middle Ages
• Mystery or miracle plays
– Based on Biblical stories—
saints’ lives, conversions,
etc.
– Performed in churches as
part of worship
• Morality plays
– Secular allegories that
showed the right way to live
Literature of the Middle Ages
• Ballads
– Songs of folk heroes
• Romances
– Adventure stories of
kings, knights, damsels
– Quests and battles
• Pageants and masques
– Folk entertainment, such
as carnivals and
sideshows
– Often farcical, even
when based on the Bible
Geoffrey Chaucer
―The Father of
English Poetry‖
Chaucer the Conservative
• Part of king’s court
• Diplomatic emissary
• Politically
conservative
• ―Keeper of the Forest
of Kent‖
Chaucer the Literary Revolutionary
• Wrote in English
• Wrote an epic that
was set in
contemporary times
• Wrote about English
people
The Canterbury Tales
Overview
• Pilgrimage from London to St. Thomas a
Becket at Canterbury Cathedral
– Pilgrimages were religious quests and vacations
– 29 other pilgrims (30 including Chaucer)
The Canterbury Tales
• Host suggests a contest
– Each pilgrim tells two tales on the way there and
two on the way home (approx. 120!!!)
– Host looks for ―best sentence and moost solaas‖
– The winner gets a celebration supper
– Rule-breakers have to pay travel costs
OR ?
The Pilgrims: by Economics
Upper Middle Lower
•Knight •Clerk •Parson
•Squire
•Man of Law •Plowman
•Canon & Yeoman
•Franklin •Miller
•Nun
•Monk •Guildsmen (5) •Manciple
•Friar •Cook •Reeve
•Merchant •Shipman •Summoner
•Prioress
•Physician •Pardoner
•Priest
•Wife of Bath
•Second Nun
The Pilgrims
• Knight: just back from Crusades; virtuous and
wise
• Squire: Knight’s son; ―a lover and a lusty
bachelor‖
• Yeoman: servant of knight; carries weapons
• Monk: a fat and bald outdoorsman; does not
take religion seriously
• Friar: money-hungry, greedy, drunken
• Merchant: opinionated and possibly crooked
• Prioress: genteel, sophisticated lady, but
pretentious
The Pilgrims
• Clerk: poor but moral student/philosopher
• Man of law: self-important, high-ranking lawyer
• Franklin: vibrant country gentleman; fond of food
• Guildsmen: hat-maker, carpenter, dyer, tapestry-maker,
and weaver; trying to improve their position in society
• Cook: good cook but has an open wound
• Shipman: basically a pirate
• Physician: follows astrology instead of the Bible; has lots
of money
• Wife of Bath: brash and semi-deaf wife of 5 husbands
(and she’s looking for number 6)
The Pilgrims
• Parson: Christlike leader of his parishioners
• Plowman: self-sacrificing brother of the Parson
• Miller: huge ex-wrestler, tells dirty stories, dishonest
• Manciple: accountant-type who takes advantage of his
employers
• Reeve: skinny and sickly old man who embezzles
• Summoner: calls people to trial; blackmailer
• Pardoner: corrupt…but tells a great sermon
• Host: the leader of this motley crew--a complex
character, he insists on order but seems to incite
arguments
Themes
• Bitter debates among pilgrims (revealing the
range of values in human nature)
– Criticism of the Catholic Church and its leaders
– The war between the sexes (and the proper role of
women)
– Power and authority
– The value of the chivalric code
– ―Book learning‖ vs. common sense
– ―Cupiditas‖ (greed and lust) vs. ―charitas‖ (charity)
What Is The Canterbury Tales?
• Allegory
– The pilgrims and the characters in the stories
represent human virtues and vices.
• Great stories
– The pilgrimage is a framing device for plots.
• Satire
– Chaucer critiques individual people, the
Church, society, and literature.
• All of the above?
Why Should We Read It?
• To gain a picture of medieval English life
• To appreciate Chaucer’s talent as a writer
• To track the development of English as a
language
• To see the emergence of English literary forms
(iambic pentameter, heroic couplets)
OR
Why Should We Read It?
• Because these are terrific stories that have
stood the test of time
• Because Chaucer can tell both a dirty joke
and a moral lesson at the same time
• Because reading The Canterbury Tales is
a rite of passage
• Because the pilgrims are just like people
you and I know
BALLADS
• Four line stanzas in which the second and
fourth lines rhyme
• Repeated phrases or sections, called a
refrain
• Dialogue
• Sometimes use dialect
• Author unknown
Chaucer’s Life
• Spoke French, Latin, English, and Italian
– But wrote in vernacular English!
• Traveled to Italy and was influenced by
Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio
• 1387—began The Canterbury Tales
– Never finished
• First poet to be buried in Poet’s Corner of
Westminster Abbey