Chaucer’s General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales

European Humanities

Fall 2009

 

 

Chaucer’s Pilgrims and The Late Medieval World (c. 1397)

 

 

Here is the essay question:

How does Chaucer’s portrait of English society at the end of the 14th century reveal changes for good and evil overtaking Medieval Europe as it enters the Renaissance?

 

 

           

The Proem

Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote

                      The droghte of March hath perced to the roote

                      And bathed every veyne in swich licour,

                      Of which vertu engendred is the flour;

5                    Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth

                      Inspired hath in every holt and heeth

                      The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne

                      Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne,

                      And smale foweles maken melodye,

10                  That slepen al the nyght with open eye-

                      (So priketh hem Nature in hir corages);

                      Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages

                      And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes

                      To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;

15                  And specially from every shires ende

                      Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende,

                      The hooly blisful martir for the seke

                      That hem hath holpen, whan that they were seeke.

 

Amor v. Amor Dei

Chaucer describes the impregnation of March by April’s sweet showers and the subsequent birth of virtue.

He inverts traditional Church teaching about the nature of Earthly Love and Divine Love. Augustine’s formulation of Original Sin had deemed the earthly realm to be corrupt and utterly separate from the transcendent City of God.

Chaucer suggests that God’s heaven can be found on Earth: in Love. The most perfect expression of God’s love may be in earthly happiness, particularly the passionate love between man and woman best expressed in Holy Matrimony. Chaucer’s God is immanent. Chaucer’s God gives us permission to enjoy life and to revel in our humanity.

  However, Chaucer is not suggesting that all human behavior inspired by Spring is Holy. Rather, the impulse itself is holy- although it can be perverted by man.

  So our task in reading The Canterbury Tales is to use our own critical imagination to play God: we must determine which of the pilgrims will make it into heaven and which will not. And our job is not made easy by Chaucer: he has upset the dogmatic judgments of the Church; instead, we must use our own imagination and determine if the pilgrim is misusing the gifts God has given them or is he or she being true to oneself and thus natural and holy.

Group One: The Nobility

The Knight
 

                      A KNYGHT ther was, and that a worthy man,

                      That fro the tyme that he first bigan

45                  To riden out, he loved chivalrie,

                      Trouthe and honour, fredom and curteisie.

                      Ful worthy was he in his lordes werre,

                      And therto hadde he riden, no man ferre,

                      As wel in cristendom as in hethenesse,

50                  And evere honoured for his worthynesse.

                      At Alisaundre he was, whan it was wonne.

                      Ful ofte tyme he hadde the bord bigonne

                      Aboven alle nacions in Pruce;

                      In Lettow hadde he reysed, and in Ruce,

55                  No Cristen man so ofte of his degree.

                      In Gernade at the seege eek hadde he be

                      Of Algezir, and riden in Belmarye.

                      At Lyeys was he and at Satalye,

                      Whan they were wonne; and in the Grete See

60                  At many a noble armee hadde he be.

                      At mortal batailles hadde he been fiftene,

                      And foughten for oure feith at Tramyssene

                      In lystes thries, and ay slayn his foo.

                      This ilke worthy knyght hadde been also

65                  Somtyme with the lord of Palatye

                      Agayn another hethen in Turkye.

                      And everemoore he hadde a sovereyn prys;

                      And though that he were worthy, he was wys,

                      And of his port as meeke as is a mayde.

70                  He nevere yet no vileynye ne sayde

                      In al his lyf unto no maner wight.

                      He was a verray, parfit gentil knyght.

                      But, for to tellen yow of his array,

                      His hors were goode, but he was nat gay.

75                  Of fustian he wered a gypon

                      Al bismotered with his habergeoun,

                      For he was late ycome from his viage,

                      And wente for to doon his pilgrymage.

 

The Knight

How has Chaucer brought this idealized portrait of a type to full life?
Is Chaucer sad that the Knight's days are drawing to a close, or might he be secretly happy?
 

‘he loved chivalrie, trouthe, honour, fredom and courtesie’ (l.45)
"He was a verray, parfit gentil knyght." (l.72)

A Crusader:

The Knight is an exceptional warrior: a killer who has trained in fighting in armor, with horses, lances, swords and shields. He has fought in fifteen ‘mortal battailles’, an extraordinary number, against infidels (ie Islam) on the Northern, Southern and Eastern borders of Christendom. He has been at Alexandria, Prussia, Lithuania and in Russia, in Grenada at the siege of Algeciras, in Morocco at Ayash and at Atalia, and in the Grete Sea, and atTlemcen and against the heathen in Turkey.

The Crusades: Wars to hold back the Islamic hordes, and hopefully, to spread Christianity… but also to maintain peace at home by sending armed threats overseas.

He has been in ‘lystes thries’: formal duels in which champions of opposing armies fought to the death in lieu of a full scale battle.

The Knight is a superman!

Humility:

‘no vileynye ne sayde/ in al his lyf unto no maner wight.’(70)

He treats all members of society with respect, even those from classes beneath his own. “Villain”: fighting words.

Chaucer's special touch: The Knight's Costume: his horses are of high quality, but he wears a ‘bismotered habergeon’: a spotted, grimy, possibly even bloody coat of mail- indicating that he has only lately returned from his most recent battles. He cares more for his horses than he does for his appearance. He has gone immediately on pilgrimage after battle to give thanks for the preservation of his life and to purge his sins.

Code of Chivalry:

The Church needs a defender of the Faith. They wanted to justify the war so they created a chivalric code: an ideal that justifies violence against the infidel: prowess at arms, courage, honesty. loyalty, generosity, faith, courtesy.

The Knight subscribes to a moral, religious and social code of conduct which emphasized duty to country, to God, and to the service of a lady. The story he tells his fellow pilgrims is about two best friends who both fall in love with the same lady (who is married).

Courtly Love: Unrequited Love Sublimated into Violence. In feudal society, wealth was based on land, and land was primarily transferred through marriage. Therefore, most upper class marriages were arranged. They were not based on love. The Cult of Courtly Love glorified love OUTSIDE of marriage as more virtuous than a married relationship without love. Is Chaucer really celebrating Courtly Love?

Ironically, the code of chivalry developed from Arab origins!  Medieval Spain was the "cradle of chivalry", for the European fostering of chivalric tradition began in al-Andalus. (Wikipedia)

Chaucer’s Knight exemplifies the ideals of chivalry, but he does so in a realistic way. He is no knight in shining armor but a real, living breathing person with the qualities of humility, faith, and courage that make him fit to be a king, the leader of Medieval society.

vs. Sir Galahad's Grail Quest, Sir Lancelot's love for Queen Guinevere , or Sir Tristan's love for Iseult

 Problems:

To what degree does the Knight help hold in place in a social system which is fundamentally unjust? The idealization of his character may not conform to the real social practice which held 97% of the population in serfdom, condemned to short, impoverished existences.

 

The Squier
 

                      With hym ther was his sone, a yong SQUIER,

80                  A lovyere and a lusty bacheler;

                      With lokkes crulle, as they were leyd in presse.

                      Of twenty yeer of age he was, I gesse.

                      Of his stature he was of evene lengthe,

                      And wonderly delyvere, and of greet strengthe.

85                  And he hadde been somtyme in chyvachie

                      In Flaundres, in Artoys, and Pycardie,

                      And born hym weel, as of so litel space,

                      In hope to stonden in his lady grace.

                      Embrouded was he, as it were a meede,

90                  Al ful of fresshe floures, whyte and reede;

                      Syngynge he was, or floytynge, al the day,

                      He was as fressh as is the monthe of May.

                      Short was his gowne, with sleves longe and wyde.

                      Wel koude he sitte on hors, and faire ryde.

95                  He koude songes make, and wel endite,

                      Juste, and eek daunce, and weel purtreye and write.

                      So hoote he lovede, that by nyghtertale

                      He slepte namoore than dooth a nyghtyngale.

                      Curteis he was, lowely, and servysable,

100                And carf biforn his fader at the table.


The Squier

How did the chivalric tradition transform the conception of Romantic Love? How has Chaucer taken the stereotype of the medieval troubadour and brought him to full life?
 

‘a lovyere and lusty bacheler’ (80) 

A Troubadour Bachelor:

troubadour:

One of a class of lyric poets, wandering minstrels and jongleurs, who lived from the 11th to the 13th centuries and helped invent the notion of romantic love.

bachelor:

not only an unmarried man, but a young man who has worked his way up to the first degree of knighthood… To move up the ladder he must do grace to a lady faire by distinguishing himself in battle. He has ‘born hym weel’ in a calvalry expedition against the French in Flanders (100 Years War) ‘in hope to stonden in his lady grace’

The Squier's Costume:

 an expensive embroidered tunic; his hair is worn in ‘lokkes crulle’. He is the height of fashion, youth and gaiety. He is a singer, a poet, a dancer and a troubadour. He loves to play the flute, and he is irresistable to the ladies!  

So hoote he lovede, that by nyghtertale
He slepte namoore than dooth a nyghtyngale.
Curteis he was, lowely, and servysable,
And carf biforn his fader at the table. (l. 97-100)

The most perfect expression of God’s Love is the love between a man and a woman in marriage. This Squire goes off at night to sing for his girl. He loves her passionately. He hopes that his songs, his poetry, his looks, his dress and his tales of valor in France will win her to be his wife.

Marriage for LOVE, not MONEY or LAND

His desire for love could easily be corrupted into an appetite for sensual gratification. Chaucer's Special Touch is that the Squier honors his father by carving before him at the table. Does this detail indicate to you that the Squier has enough respect for doing the right thing that he will fulfill Chaucer's model of the lover in a healthy way?

The Trouvères and the Troubadours

Popular music, usually in the form of secular songs, existed during the Middle Ages. This music was not bound by the traditions of the Church, nor was it even written down for the first time until sometime after the tenth century.  The subject of the overwhelming majority of these songs is love, in all its permutations of joy and pain. One of the most famous of these trouvères known to us (the great bulk of these melodies are by the ubiquitous "Anonymous") is Adam de la Halle (ca. 1237-ca. 1286). Adam is the composer of one of the oldest secular music theater pieces known in the West, Jeu de Robin et de Marion (1284)

 

The Yeoman

                      A YEMAN hadde he and servantz namo

                      At that tyme, for hym liste ride soo;

                      And he was clad in cote and hood of grene.

                      A sheef of pecok arwes, bright and kene

105                Under his belt he bar ful thriftily,

                      (Wel koude he dresse his takel yemanly:

                      Hise arwes drouped noght with fetheres lowe)

                      And in his hand he baar a myghty bowe.

                      A not heed hadde he, with a broun visage,

110                Of woodecraft wel koude he al the usage.

                      Upon his arm he baar a gay bracer,

                      And by his syde a swerd and a bokeler,

                      And on that oother syde a gay daggere

                      Harneised wel and sharpe as point of spere.

115                A Cristopher on his brest of silver sheene.

                      An horn he bar, the bawdryk was of grene;

                      A forster was he, soothly, as I gesse.

 

The Yeoman

 

'A Cristopher on his brest of silver sheene.’ (115)

Traveling by road during the Middle Ages was dangerous. Highwaymen and thieves waylaid unprotected travelers, so a party of armed men accompanied most nobles. The Knight travels with only one servant: no ostentatious show, just what is necessary. And he has no reason to fear: he has a killing machine at his side.

The knight's sidekick is a yeoman, a free born servant, not a serf tied to the land. The yeoman is armed to the teeth: he carries a longbow, a sheaf of arrows, a sword and buckler, and a dagger and horn.

The 100 Years War

This man has fought beside the Knight in all his battles, and he shares in the Knight's glory. He carries the English longbow, a weapon which changed the strategy of warfare during the 100 Year War. (A series of wars between England and France fought over claims to French territory by the descendants of William the Conqueror. The famous Battle of Crécy was a complete disaster for the French, largely due to English longbowmen.)

Stories told about the great heroes of the fighting in the 100 Year War became legend for both the English and the French. The exploits of the Black Prince and later of Henry V served later leaders who used their popularity as a foundation for English nationalism. The French as well turned the story of Joan of Arc into a founding myth of their own nation state.

This yeoman, though, may be weary of battle, yearning to return to his life as a forester and hunter: he wears a St. Christopher medal, which protects travelers from sudden death. The detail humanizes Chaucer's portrait of this killing machine. Here is a soldier who longs for home, the woods, where his talents can be put to their best use, as a hunter and craftsman.

 

Group Two: The Clergy


The Prioresse

 

                      Ther was also a Nonne, a PRIORESSE,

                      That of hir smylyng was ful symple and coy;

120                Hir gretteste ooth was but by Seinte Loy;

                      And she was cleped Madame Eglentyne.

                      Ful weel she soong the service dyvyne,

                      Entuned in hir nose ful semely,

                      And Frenssh she spak ful faire and fetisly,

125                After the scole of Stratford-atte-Bowe,

                      For Frenssh of Parys was to hir unknowe.

                      At mete wel ytaught was she with alle:

                      She leet no morsel from hir lippes falle,

                      Ne wette hir fyngres in hir sauce depe;

130                Wel koude she carie a morsel, and wel kepe

                      That no drope ne fille upon hir brist.

                      In curteisie was set ful muche hir list.

                      Hire over-lippe wyped she so clene

                      That in hir coppe ther was no ferthyng sene

135                Of grece, whan she dronken hadde hir draughte.

                      Ful semely after hir mete she raughte.

                      And sikerly, she was of greet desport,

                      And ful plesaunt, and amyable of port,

                      And peyned hir to countrefete cheere

140                Of court, and been estatlich of manere,

                      And to ben holden digne of reverence.

                      But, for to speken of hir conscience,

                      She was so charitable and so pitous

                      She wolde wepe, if that she saugh a mous

145                Kaught in a trappe, if it were deed or bledde.

                      Of smale houndes hadde she, that she fedde

                      With rosted flessh, or milk and wastel-breed.

                      But soore weep she if oon of hem were deed,

                      Or if men smoot it with a yerde smerte;

150                And al was conscience, and tendre herte.

                      Ful semyly hir wympul pynched was,

                      Hire nose tretys, hir eyen greye as glas,

                      Hir mouth ful smal, and therto softe and reed;

                      But sikerly she hadde a fair forheed;

155                It was almoost a spanne brood, I trowe;

                      For, hardily, she was nat undergrowe.

                      Ful fetys was hir cloke, as I was war;

                      Of smal coral aboute hir arm she bar

                      A peire of bedes, gauded al with grene,

160                An theron heng a brooch of gold ful sheene,

                      On which ther was first write a crowned A,

                      And after Amor vincit omnia.

 

The Prioresse: 
 

‘a prioresse/that of her smylyng was ful symple and coy’ (l.118-19) 

 

‘[M]adam Eglentye’ is the head of a priory, a nunnery attached to an abbey of a Benedictine order. Her responsibility is to help conduct the choral music for the nunnery’s divine services (‘entuned in her nose ful semely’) that punctuate the day from early morning until nightfall. She must also preside at the priory’s meals, maintaining order and the priory’s sacred decorum.

 

Yet, Chaucer focuses upon her physical beauty, her refined manners and sophisticated sensibility: characteristics of of her upper class status. Her name is borrowed from the realm of romance stories popular at the time. He gives her a face with ‘nose tretys. Her eyen greye as glas,/ her mouth ful smal, and thereto soft and redde/ But sikerly she hadde a fair foreheed;’ (152-54) This face was the model of beauty in Chaucer’s society (and a nun’s forehead was never supposed to be visible beneath her habit!) 

 

She travels with ‘smale houndes’ that ‘she fedde/ With rosted flessh, or milk and wastel-breed.’ Her dogs are better fed than most peasants would have been! Eglentyne is fluent in the French learned in Stratford (which is very classy but her French would have been incomprehensible in Paris!) She is very aristocratic and sophisticated. This style probably would have grated against the English commoner, and Chaucer is writing a poem celebrating a national identity! 

 

Her table manners are impeccable! Not a crumb falls from her lip, she doesn’t wet her fingers in gravy, doesn’t slobber, or reach- she makes every effort to use good ‘curtesie’ ie. she practices courtly manners. Compared with the typical table manners of a medieval man, her style is remarkable! 

 

She possesses a delicately refined conscience: ‘she wolde wepe, if that she saugh a mous/ Kaught in a trappe’ (144-45) What form of conscience should we expect from a nun who has devoted her life to a sacred purpose?

 

Her Costume: her nun’s habit is ‘ful fetys’, very elegant; she wears a bejewelled, coral string of rosary beads from which hangs a gold brooch engraved with the letter ‘A’ and the maxim,“Love conquers all.” Such jewelry is hardly appropriate to a nun and is certainly a decoration that would have been out of dress code!

 

Yet the narrator is obviously charmed by Eglentyne's whole manner. She is indeed made for love. What has Chaucer done to our stock expectations of the leader of a nunnery in the midst of a holy era? What is Eglentyne's great talent? Will she realize it in a nunnery? Can you infer the type of reforms that Chaucer would like to see in the medieval church?

 

 

The Monk
 

                      A MONK ther was, a fair for the maistrie,

                      An outridere, that lovede venerie,

                      A manly man, to been an abbot able.

                      Ful many a deyntee hors hadde he in stable,

                      And whan he rood, men myghte his brydel heere

170                Gynglen in a whistlynge wynd als cleere

                      And eek as loude, as dooth the chapel belle.

                      Ther as this lord was keper of the celle,

                      The reule of Seint Maure, or of Seint Beneit,

                      By cause that it was old and somdel streit

175                This ilke Monk leet olde thynges pace,

                      And heeld after the newe world the space.

                      He yaf nat of that text a pulled hen,

                      That seith that hunters beth nat hooly men,

                      Ne that a monk, whan he is recchelees,

180                Is likned til a fissh that is waterlees,-

                      This is to seyn, a monk out of his cloystre

                      But thilke text heeld he nat worth an oystre;

                      And I seyde his opinioun was good.

                      What sholde he studie, and make hymselven wood,

185                Upon a book in cloystre alwey to poure,

                      Or swynken with his handes and laboure,

                      As Austyn bit? How shal the world be served?

                      Lat Austyn have his swynk to him reserved!

                      Therfore he was a prikasour aright:

190                Grehoundes he hadde, as swift as fowel in flight;

                      Of prikyng and of huntyng for the hare

                      Was al his lust, for no cost wolde he spare.

                      I seigh his sleves purfiled at the hond

                      With grys, and that the fyneste of a lond;

195                And, for to festne his hood under his chyn,

                      He hadde of gold ywroght a curious pyn;

                      A love-knotte in the gretter ende ther was.

                      His heed was balled, that shoon as any glas,

                      And eek his face, as it hadde been enoynt.

200                He was a lord ful fat and in good poynt,

                      Hise eyen stepe, and rollynge in his heed,

                      That stemed as a forneys of a leed;

                      His bootes souple, his hors in greet estaat.

                      Now certeinly he was a fair prelaat;

205                He was nat pale as a forpyned goost.

                      A fat swan loved he best of any roost.

                      His palfrey was as broun as is a berye,

 

The Monk


  ‘a manly man… an outridere that loved venerie’ (166)

The Monk is another senior cleric with the Benedictine order, but he clearly does not follow type. Instead of withdrawing from the busy world into the monastery where he should be living a quiet life of prayer, study, and manual labor, this monk embraces the world and revels in its pleasures.

He’s a big enough man to be an abbot! He owns many horses and rides with a jangling bridle whose bells ring as loud as the chapel bells of his monastery. So you can hear him coming from a mile away! He has let the old habits pass and ‘heeld after the newe world the space’ (176): a very modern monk indeed! He thinks little of the monastic rules laid out a thousand years before by St. Augustine. ‘He yaf not of that text a pulled hen.’ (177) ‘Let Austyn have his swynk to him reserved!’ (188) 

Instead this monk is a ‘prikasour aright’: a hunter of hares (double entendre?) He spares no price to own a pack of the best greyhounds. 

One reason why people like this Monk wound up in the clerical estate was because of the law of primogeniture. To keep the land and property of noble families together, the oldest son would inherit everything. Younger sons were offered lucrative positions in the church to placate them. So high church positions, such as the one this rich monk possesses, frequently went to people who had little interest in the church’s religious mission.

The Monk’s cloak is hardly the appropriate garb for a devout Benedictine monk. It is finely sewn: his sleeves are trimmed with grey squirrel fur, and his hood is fastened with a gold pin shaped like a ‘love-knotte’! His bald head shines as if ‘enoynt’ with holy oil (it is really perspiration)! He wears supple leather boots and rides a beautiful horse.  He must have cut a dashing figure!

Chaucer’s final touch? The monk loves to eat roasted swan- hardly the typical fare of an ascetic who should deny himself the pleasures of the flesh! What is Chaucer doing to our typical notions of this holy stereotype? What vision of the medieval world in 1380 is emerging?

What is this Monk's great talent? How can he realize it?

 

 

The Friar
 

                      A FRERE ther was, a wantowne and a merye,

                      A lymytour, a ful solempne man.

210                In alle the ordres foure is noon that kan

                      So muchel of daliaunce and fair langage.

                      He hadde maad ful many a mariage

                      Of yonge wommen at his owene cost.

                      Unto his ordre he was a noble post,

215                And wel biloved and famulier was he

                      With frankeleyns overal in his contree,

                      And eek with worthy wommen of the toun;

                      For he hadde power of confessioun,

                      As seyde hymself, moore than a curat,

220                For of his ordre he was licenciat.

                      Ful swetely herde he confessioun,

                      And plesaunt was his absolucioun:

                      He was an esy man to yeve penaunce,

                      Ther as he wiste to have a good pitaunce.

225                For unto a povre ordre for to yive

                      Is signe that a man is wel yshryve;

                      For, if he yaf, he dorste make avaunt,

                      He wiste that a man was repentaunt;

                      For many a man so harde is of his herte,

230                He may nat wepe, al thogh hym soore smerte;

                      Therfore in stede of wepynge and preyeres

                      Men moote yeve silver to the povre freres.

                      His typet was ay farsed ful of knyves

                      And pynnes, for to yeven yonge wyves.

235                And certeinly he hadde a murye note:

                      Wel koude he synge, and pleyen on a rote;

                      Of yeddynges he baar outrely the pris.

                      His nekke whit was as the flour-de-lys;

                      Therto he strong was as a champioun.

240                He knew the tavernes wel in every toun

                      And everich hostiler and tappestere

                      Bet than a lazar or a beggestere;

                      For unto swich a worthy man as he

                      Acorded nat, as by his facultee,

245                To have with sike lazars aqueyntaunce.

                      It is nat honeste, it may nat avaunce,

                      For to deelen with no swich poraille,

                      But al with riche and selleres of vitaille.

                      And over al, ther as profit sholde arise,

250                Curteis he was, and lowely of servyse.

                      Ther nas no man nowher so vertuous.

                      He was the beste beggere in his hous;

                      (And yaf a certeyn ferme for the graunt

                      Noon of his brethren cam ther in his haunt;)

255                For thogh a wydwe hadde noght a sho,

                      So plesaunt was his "In principio"

                      Yet wolde he have a ferthyng, er he wente;

                      His purchas was wel bettre than his rente.

                      And rage he koude, as it were right a whelp.

260                In love-dayes ther koude he muchel help,

                      For there he was nat lyk a cloysterer

                      With a thredbare cope, as is a povre scoler,

                      But he was lyk a maister or a pope;

                      Of double worstede was his semycope,

265                That rounded as a belle out of the presse.

                      Somwhat he lipsed for his wantownesse

                      To make his Englissh sweete upon his tonge;

                      And in his harpyng, whan that he hadde songe,

                      Hise eyen twynkled in his heed aryght

270                As doon the sterres in the frosty nyght.

                      This worthy lymytour was cleped Huberd.

 

The Friar:

 

‘a lymytour, a ful solempne man… So muchel of daliaunce and fair langage’ (211)

The Friar is, supposedly, a member of the Franciscan order, missionaries who have taken a vow of poverty and chosen to live humbly, begging money in the streets to aid the poorest of the poor. They imitate the life of St. Francis of Assisi, a 12th century Italian nobleman who gave up all his wealth to serve lepers and ease the suffering of the homeless.

Chaucer's friar could not be more different. He is a South London street hustler! This guy is one sweet talker, an expert at ‘daliaunce and fair langage’. Under his expert influence, he has arranged the ‘marriages’ of many of the impoverished girls living in his begging district to his friends: free born commoners who are landowners and quite wealthy.  ‘Unto his ordre he was a noble post.’ (214) (a bit of Chaucerian bawdry?)

It sounds good, but the fact of the matter is that The Friar is a pimp. He uses the power of the confessional booth to befriend homeless women in his district… and he gives an easy absolution to those who are ‘penitent’. What is this rogue’s scam? ‘in stedye of wepynge and preyeres/ Men moote yeve silver to the povre freres.’ (231-32) Hard cash shows repentance as well as tears! And the girls? What must they give in return?

What does the monastic order to which he belongs think of this behavior? ‘He was the beste beggar in his hous’ (251) Don't ask; don't tell. They are happy as long as they receive their cut of his profits.

His cloak is stuffed with knives and pins which he peddles on the street to ‘faire wyves’. He knows the bartenders and waitresses in his district better than he knows the lepers and beggars. (According to him it would not be right to be seen with such riff-raff! He’d rather spend his time with rich merchants and victuallers.) He is a good fighter and holds on to his territory aggressively! A talented beggar! He can get a farthing out of a shoeless widow! 

Chaucer's Friar is also a great expert on ‘love-days’, those special legal holidays when  poor disputants without the money to afford an attorney can resolve financial suits in impromptu street courts. (ala Judge Judy) There he holds forth like the pope!

His Costume: a double woven cloak, round as a bell from the mold of his belly; he purposely lisps when he talks, to sweeten his speech; his eyes twinkle like stars! And his name is “Huberd”!

Wow! How does Chaucer portray these representatives of the organized Church? What is this guy's talent? How could it be used properly?

Group Three:

                The Merchant:

                      A MARCHANT was ther with a forked berd,

                      In mottelee, and hye on horse he sat;

                      Upon his heed a Flaundryssh bever hat,

275                His bootes clasped faire and fetisly.

                      His resons he spak ful solempnely,

                      Sownynge alway th'encrees of his wynnyng.

                      He wolde the see were kept for any thyng

                      Bitwixe Middelburgh and Orewelle.

280                Wel koude he in eschaunge sheeldes selle.

                      This worthy man ful wel his wit bisette;

                      Ther wiste no wight that he was in dette,

                      So estatly was he of his governaunce

                      With his bargaynes and with his chevyssaunce.

285                For sothe, he was a worthy man with-alle,

                      But, sooth to seyn, I noot how men hym calle.

 

Feudal social theory had no room for non-military laymen who were neither manual laborers nor skilled tradesmen. However, merchants were increasingly visible, asserting a powerful influence on the London economy. Bankers alone had enough money to finance the king’s ambitious foreign wars. Chaucer’s father had been a wine merchant who made a fortune selling foreign vintages to the upper class. Chaucer himself was the comptroller of customs in 1370, responsible for regulating trade and collecting excise taxes on wool, furs and hides. The merchant in Chaucer’s day was often satirized for his secrecy in business deals and for his dubious financial dealings. The Catholic Church regarded usury as blasphemous. (Usury is the lending of capital at an interest. As we discovered in the recent financial meltdown, without credit our whole economy came to a standstill.)

Chaucer describes his merchant’s costume first: he wears motley (the fool's garb at court), a fashionable, very expensive beaver fur hat, and good boots. The narrator can say little about this man because the merchant doesn’t have much to say. When he does speak, he only refers to matters pertaining to business: ‘th’encrees of his wynning’, the safety of the seas between England and Holland, the current value of currency, and his upstanding reputation as a businessman free from debt. Can you put together the various hints Chaucer gives us and explain why this merchant has gone on a pilgrimage at this particular moment? 

The narrator looks back, and come to think of it, no one remembers his name! Why not? 

What is Chaucer’s portrait of the emerging merchant class in England at the end of the 14th century? Can you draw conclusions about his moral judgment of capitalism?  

 

 

The Clerk
 

                      A CLERK ther was of Oxenford also,

                      That unto logyk hadde longe ygo.

                      As leene was his hors as is a rake,

290                And he nas nat right fat, I undertake,

                      But looked holwe and therto sobrely.

                      Ful thredbare was his overeste courtepy;

                      For he hadde geten hym yet no benefice,

                      Ne was so worldly for to have office.

295                For hym was levere have at his beddes heed

                      Twenty bookes, clad in blak or reed,

                      Of Aristotle and his philosophie,

                      Than robes riche, or fithele, or gay sautrie.

                      But al be that he was a philosophre,

300                Yet hadde he but litel gold in cofre;

                      But al that he myghte of his freendes hente,

                      On bookes and on lernynge he it spente,

                      And bisily gan for the soules preye

                      Of hem that yaf hym wherwith to scoleye.

305                Of studie took he moost cure and moost heede.

                      Noght o word spak he moore than was neede,

                      And that was seyd in forme and reverence,

                      And short and quyk, and ful of hy sentence;

                      Sownynge in moral vertu was his speche,

310                And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teche.

 

The Clerk

 

'ful thredbare was his overeste courtepy’ 

The Clerk is a college student at Oxford, reading for religious orders: the Trivium (grammar, logic and rhetoric) and Quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music.)

Devoted to his studies, the Clerk rides a lean horse and wears a threadbare cape. He looks ‘holwe’ to the narrator. The Clerk has not yet gotten his benefice: the ecclesiastical position that will enable him to earn a living ala the Monk or the Friar. He has not yet taken his vows of chastity. However, he’d rather read Aristotle than the Bible. He wants to become a teacher, not a priest: his twenty books are more valuable to him than rich robes, music or a ‘psalterie’ (An ancient and medieval stringed instrument, more or less resembling the dulcimer (OED)). 

He is a philosopher, but he cannot earn any money at such a profession. He only prays for the souls of those who contribute to his education. The Clerk speaks no more than necessary and when he does, his speech is ‘short and quyk and full of hy sentence’. He loves learning and wants to teach. 

Humanism:

  • Humanism stressed the dignity of humanity and shifted intellectual emphasis from theology and logic to the study of human wisdom.
  • studia humanitatis: the educational disciplines outside of theology and natural science. Humanism was opposed to the particular brand of logic known as Scholasticism, whose intent was to reconcile the revealed truth of Christianity with Greek reason.
  • The Curriculum: the trivium (grammar, logic, rhetoric) and the quadrivium (geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, music).
  • Students had to master both Latin and Greek to acquire a thorough grounding in the works of Cicero, Plato, and Aristotle. (Cicero was considered the model citizen: eloquent, wise and committed to the service of the state. All students carefully studied his speeches and imitated his style.)

What vision of the changing place of education and classical learning is suggested by Chaucer’s depiction of the Clerk? Why isn’t there a job for him in this society?  What kind of priest would he make?

 

The Sergeant of Law
 

                      A SERGEANT OF THE LAWE, war and wys,

                      That often hadde been at the Parvys,

                      Ther was also, ful riche of excellence.

                      Discreet he was, and of greet reverence-

315                He semed swich, hise wordes weren so wise.

                      Justice he was ful often in assise,

                      By patente, and by pleyn commissioun.

                      For his science, and for his heigh renoun,

                      Of fees and robes hadde he many oon.

320                So greet a purchasour was nowher noon:

                      Al was fee symple to hym in effect,

                      His purchasyng myghte nat been infect.

                      Nowher so bisy a man as he ther nas,

                      And yet he semed bisier than he was.

325                In termes hadde he caas and doomes alle

                      That from the tyme of Kyng William were falle.

                      Therto he koude endite and make a thyng,

                      Ther koude no wight pynche at his writyng;

                      And every statut koude he pleyn by rote.

330                He rood but hoomly in a medlee cote

                      Girt with a ceint of silk, with barres smale;

                      Of his array telle I no lenger tale.

 

Sergeant of Law


‘Nowher so bisy a man as he there was,/ And yet he semed bisier than he was.” 

A lawyer for the crown, the Sergeant at Law possesses the highest legal rank in society. In this position, he serves as a circuit judge and barrister on the porches of St. Paul’s Cathedral, the location of the king’s legal court. As justice at the court of assizes, he would issue patents with the full authority of the crown. He is therefore in a position to rake in a lot of bribes on top of his percentage of the fees assessed on business dealing. 

Common Law had become the highest authority in England after King John was forced to sign the Magna Charta in 1215. He acknowledged that even a King was not above the law. Prior to the establishment of this legal tradition, nobles had been able to rule arbitrarily in the criminal cases and business disputes that had come before them. In those days trial by jury did not exist. Citizens could request a trial by ordeal to appeal the decision of a judge, but most people elected not to as this sort of trial involved holding a smoking hot iron bar with your bare hands or being dunked in a pond for minutes at a time! The rise of English Common Law ranks as one of the most important social achievements in our history because judges and juries had to be bound by the legal precedents established over time. In this way a fairer legal process could be guaranteed any citizen…. As long as the system avoided corruption.

Chaucer’s Seargeant of Law exercises the full power of the crown. His word has become law. No one can say anything about his judgments…because he knows inside out all the legal precedents and statutes established since the time of William the Conqueror. He seems busier than he really is. Why?

This guy is rich but he is not ostentatious. He wears simple cloth of dyed wool, (but it is lined with silk!)

What point is Chaucer making about the law and the legal profession of his time? 

 

The Franklin
 

                      A FRANKELEYN was in his compaignye.

                      Whit was his berd as is a dayesye;

335                Of his complexioun he was sangwyn.

                      Wel loved he by the morwe a sope in wyn,;

                      To lyven in delit was evere his wone,

                      For he was Epicurus owene sone,

                      That heeld opinioun that pleyn delit

340                Was verray felicitee parfit.

                      An housholdere, and that a greet, was he;

                      Seint Julian was he in his contree.

                      His breed, his ale, was alweys after oon,

                      A bettre envyned man was nowher noon.

345                Withoute bake mete was nevere his hous

                      Of fissh and flessh, and that so plentevous,

                      It snewed in his hous of mete and drynke,

                      Of alle deyntees that men koude thynke.

                      After the sondry sesons of the yeer,

350                So chaunged he his mete and his soper.

                      Ful many a fat partrich hadde he in muwe,

                      And many a breem and many a luce in stuwe.

                      Wo was his cook, but if his sauce were

                      Poynaunt and sharp, and redy al his geere.

355                His table dormant in his halle alway

                      Stood redy covered al the longe day.

                      At sessiouns ther was he lord and sire;

                      Ful ofte tyme he was knyght of the shire.

                      An anlaas and a gipser al of silk

360                Heeng at his girdel, whit as morne milk.

                      A shirreve hadde he been, and a countour.

                      Was nowher swich a worthy vavasour.

 

The Franklin
 

‘Wel loved he by the morwe a sop in wyn’ 

Traveling with the Sergeant of Lawe is his good friend the Franklin. A franklin was a free born provincial land holder, yet he was born into a commoner. He is a provincial country squire, but he is friendly with this wealthy and influential nobleman. Chaucer’s point?

Chaucer describes the franklin as of ‘sangwyn complexioun’. According to the medieval medical theory of the humours, a sanguine temperament is caused by the suffusion of blood in the body. Psychologically, a sanguine man possesses great optimism and good humor. Chaucer depicts the franklin as ruddy of face, of good digestion and as ‘Epicurus’ owne sone’. An Epicurean lives for nothing but pleasure. (Bring on wine, women and song, for tomorrow we die!) This franklin lives for pleasure, particularly in food. Like St Julian, he is a great patron of hospitality. At his dinners, ‘it snewed of mete and drinke’. In his house he always keeps the traditional hospitality table (from which all visitors can help themselves) full of roast birds, meat and fish.

The Franklin serves as the district judge ‘at sessiouns’ in his neighborhood. He has also been elected the ‘knight of the shire’ or member of Parliament for his region. Since the days of the Magna Carta, English kings had been forced to rely upon the compliance of a council of nobles whnever they wanted to raise taxes. During the reign of Edward I in the century prior to Chaucer’s birth, Parliament had begun admitting elected representatives from citizens around the country. These electors exercised considerable influence over land policy.

How did Chaucer’s franklin become so rich?

Costume: He wears a dagger and carries a silk purse (gipser)- just like a nobleman. 

What point is Chaucer making about the changing composition of medieval society? How is society also becoming more secular in its focus?

 

 

The Shipman
 

                      A SHIPMAN was ther, wonynge fer by weste;

                      For aught I woot, he was of Dertemouthe.

                      He rood upon a rouncy, as he kouthe,

                      In a gowne of faldyng to the knee.

                      A daggere hangynge on a laas hadde he

395                Aboute his nekke, under his arm adoun.

                      The hoote somer hadde maad his hewe al broun,

                      And certeinly he was a good felawe.

                      Ful many a draughte of wyn had he ydrawe

                      Fro Burdeux-ward, whil that the chapman sleep.

400                Of nyce conscience took he no keep.

                      If that he faught, and hadde the hyer hond,

                      By water he sente hem hoom to every lond.

                      But of his craft, to rekene wel his tydes,

                      His stremes, and his daungers hym bisides,

405                His herberwe and his moone, his lodemenage,

                      Ther nas noon swich from Hulle to Cartage.

                      Hardy he was, and wys to undertake;

                      With many a tempest hadde his berd been shake.

                      He knew alle the havenes as they were,

410                From Gootlond to the Cape of Fynystere,

                      And every cryke in Britaigne and in Spayne.

                      His barge ycleped was the Maudelayne.

 

 

The Doctor of Physik
 

                      With us ther was a DOCTOUR OF PHISIK;

                      In al this world ne was ther noon hym lik,

415                To speke of phisik and of surgerye,

                      For he was grounded in astronomye.

                      He kepte his pacient a ful greet deel

                      In houres, by his magyk natureel.

                      Wel koude he fortunen the ascendent

420                Of his ymages for his pacient.

                      He knew the cause of everich maladye,

                      Were it of hoot, or coold, or moyste, or drye,

                      And where they engendred, and of what humour.

                      He was a verray parfit praktisour:

425                The cause yknowe, and of his harm the roote,

                      Anon he yaf the sike man his boote.

                      Ful redy hadde he hise apothecaries

                      To sende him drogges and his letuaries,

                      For ech of hem made oother for to wynne-

430                Hir frendshipe nas nat newe to bigynne.

                      Wel knew he the olde Esculapius,

                      And Deyscorides and eek Rufus,

                      Olde Ypocras, Haly, and Galyen,

                      Serapioun, Razis, and Avycen,

435                Averrois, Damascien, and Constantyn,

                      Bernard, and Gatesden, and Gilbertyn.

                      Of his diete mesurable was he,

                      For it was of no superfluitee,

                      But of greet norissyng, and digestible.

440                His studie was but litel on the Bible.

                      In sangwyn and in pers he clad was al,

                      Lyned with taffata and with sendal;

                      And yet he was but esy of dispence;

                      He kepte that he wan in pestilence.

445                For gold in phisik is a cordial,

                      Therfore he lovede gold in special.

 

The Wife of Bath
 

                      A good WIF was ther, OF biside BATHE,

                      But she was somdel deef, and that was scathe.

                      Of clooth-makyng she hadde swich an haunt,

450                She passed hem of Ypres and of Gaunt.

                      In al the parisshe wif ne was ther noon

                      That to the offrynge bifore hire sholde goon;

                      And if ther dide, certeyn so wrooth was she,

                      That she was out of alle charitee.

455                Hir coverchiefs ful fyne weren of ground;

                      I dorste swere they weyeden ten pound

                      That on a Sonday weren upon hir heed.

                      Hir hosen weren of fyn scarlet reed,

                      Ful streite yteyd, and shoes ful moyste and newe.

460                Boold was hir face, and fair, and reed of hewe.

                      She was a worthy womman al hir lyve:

                      Housbondes at chirche dore she hadde fyve,

                      Withouthen oother compaignye in youthe, -

                      But therof nedeth nat to speke as nowthe.

465                And thries hadde she been at Jerusalem;

                      She hadde passed many a straunge strem;

                      At Rome she hadde been, and at Boloigne,

                      In Galice at Seint-Jame, and at Coloigne.

                      She koude muchel of wandrynge by the weye.

470                Gat-tothed was she, soothly for to seye.

                      Upon an amblere esily she sat,

                      Ywympled wel, and on hir heed an hat

                      As brood as is a bokeler or a targe;

                      A foot-mantel aboute hir hipes large,

475                And on hir feet a paire of spores sharpe.

                      In felaweshipe wel koude she laughe and carpe.

                      Of remedies of love she knew per chaunce,

                      For she koude of that art the olde daunce.

 

The Wife of Bath

“She was a worthy womman al hir lyve:/ Housbandes at chirche she hadde fyve”

This merry widow comes from Bath, renowned throughout England as a center for the production of finely woven fabrics. On her head she displays delicately woven cloth (covering a metal rig that must weigh ten pounds!) She is a walking advertisement for her weaving business and her widowhood (which may be one and the same). The Wife of Bath is filthy rich! At the cathedral in Bath she is furious if someone else deigns to approach the offertory before she does! 

Beneath her fine mourning garments, she wears fine scarlet stockings! She has a bold red face and reddish hair. Chaucer mentions that she has had five husbands at church. (That doesn’t count the ‘oother compaignye’ she had in her youth.) 

She has been to Jerusalem three times! (A journey of several months in Chaucer’s day!) She’s been on many pilgrimages to shrines in Rome, Bologna, Cologne, and even Saint James at Compastella (in Spain), the most famous shrine in Christendom outside Jerusalem. This list is fabulous, possibly unbelievable! Has she made these pilgrimages out of holy devotion to God?

“She koulde muchel of wandyrnyge by the weighe.” 

How has the Wife of Bath earned such a highly lucrative living? Where does she meet her prospective husbands? ‘Gat-tothed was she, soothly for to sey.’ What did medieval superstition say about gap-toothed women? She wears a huge hat, a huge overskirt, and on her supple boots she wears ‘sharpe spurs’! She loves to laugh and talk and have fun, and she knows many remedies for venereal diseases! 

What is Chaucer’s purpose in his depiction of the Wife of Bath? How does this outrageous, larger than life character seem to jump off the page and into our lives directly from the Middle Ages? What is the measure of Chaucer’s genius as an artist? 
 
Group Four: The Foundation of the Medieval Order

The Parson
 

                      A good man was ther of religioun,

480                And was a povre PERSOUN OF A TOUN,

                      But riche he was of hooly thoght and werk.

                      He was also a lerned man, a clerk,

                      That Cristes gospel trewely wolde preche;

                      His parisshens devoutly wolde he teche.

485                Benynge he was, and wonder diligent,

                      And in adversitee ful pacient,

                      And swich he was ypreved ofte sithes.

                      Ful looth were hym to cursen for his tithes,

                      But rather wolde he yeven, out of doute,

490                Unto his povre parisshens aboute

                      Of his offryng and eek of his substaunce.

                      He koude in litel thyng have suffisaunce.

                      Wyd was his parisshe, and houses fer asonder,

                      But he ne lefte nat, for reyn ne thonder,

495                In siknesse nor in meschief to visite

                      The ferreste in his parisshe, muche and lite,

                      Upon his feet, and in his hand a staf.

                      This noble ensample to his sheep he yaf,

                      That first he wroghte, and afterward he taughte.

500                Out of the gosple he tho wordes caughte,

                      And this figure he added eek therto,

                      That if gold ruste, what shal iren do?

                      For if a preest be foul, on whom we truste,

                      No wonder is a lewed man to ruste;

505                And shame it is, if a prest take keep,

                      A shiten shepherde and a clene sheep.

                      Wel oghte a preest ensample for to yive,

                      By his clennesse, how that his sheep sholde lyve.

                      He sette nat his benefice to hyre

510                And leet his sheep encombred in the myre

                      And ran to Londoun unto Seinte Poules

                      To seken hym a chaunterie for soules,

                      Or with a bretherhed to been witholde;

                      But dwelt at hoom, and kepte wel his folde,

515                So that the wolf ne made it nat myscarie;

                      He was a shepherde and noght a mercenarie.

                      And though he hooly were and vertuous,

                      He was to synful men nat despitous,

                      Ne of his speche daungerous ne digne,

520                But in his techyng discreet and benygne;

                      To drawen folk to hevene by fairnesse,

                      By good ensample, this was his bisynesse.

                      But it were any persone obstinat,