The Age of Chaucer

1349-1400
I. Major Historical Events
A. 1348 the bubonic plague spreads in England
1. between one third and one half of the island population
died within 18 months
2. fostered a positive English nationalism, abetted by
mounting hatred of France during the Hundred Years’ War
(1337-1453)

B. Loosening of ties between England and the Roman church

C. Division of parliament into House of Lords and House of

Commons

D. Laboring population becomes a scarce commodity

1.formerly despised worker finds nobility bidding against
each other
2. English labor realizes worth and demands economic
freedoms and reforms
E. new patterns of manufacture and trade emerged
1. money was replacing labor service and barter
2. individualism was replacing cooperative
communities

F. reaction to religious and moral ideals (2 diametrically

opposed reactions)
1. some abandoned pretext of piety (clerics
brazenly ignored their vows, some assaulted and
murdered who announced the merrymaking)
2. others explored more profoundly than ever the
depths of faith and the religious life
 II. Cultural Conditions

A. secularization of English Life

1. first time in over 700 years the most intelligent and creative minds of England
were electing a secular rather than a religious career
2. Churchmen were almost as infected by a new materialism as were the people
3. except for the Parson, every ecclesiastical figure among Chaucer’s pilgrims is
gross in all appetites except that of self-denying faith
B. Chaucer’s age was the first to manifest a
distinctly national expression (English historians
frequently refer to the Age of Chaucer as “The
End of the Middle Ages”)
1. called “The Father of English Poetry”
2. portrayal of uniquely English characters and
attitudes
3. kinship with the modern world
a. mockery of outworn chivalry
b. his scorn of most previous English writings
c. love of ancient pagan myth and story
d. pragmatism and skepticism
e. dislike for tyrannical monarchs
f. curiosity for science
g. his warm love for humanity
C. a large and prosperous middle class was beginning
to play important roles in church and state,
blurring traditional class boundaries
 III. Language
A. until end of 13th century writers using English
appear apologetic, often have prologues justifying
the use of the “ignorant vernacular”
B. tone changes early in 14th century – everybody
knows and uses English
C. in 1362 parliament ordered all lawsuits to be
conducted in English (rather than French)
D. Royalty resisted abandoning French, the language of
prestige
E. Richard II addressed mob during Peasants’ Revolt in
English and had to listen to the order in English that
deposed him
F. speeches of Henry IV claiming the throne were
delivered in English
G. by Chaucer’s day French in England had become
outmoded
IV. Chaucer (1340-1400)

A. first great poet of English literature

1. one of the greatest love poems in any
language, Troilus, would have secured
him a place among the major poets.
B. not captive of any special moral or
political or social ideas, or of any set of
manners
C. rarely gave way to judgments or
condemnations
D. Chaucer’s Canterbury pilgrims present
realistic gallery of individualistic
competitors in a money-haunted society
E. Chaucer product of a mercantile class
1. a page to the wife of the king’s son
2. captured in France and ransomed a year later
3. became squire in king’s household, traveled
extensively
a. brought him into direct contact with the Italian
Renaissance, probably acquired manuscripts of
works by Dante Petrarch, and other new verse
forms
4. became responsible for maintenance of royal palace
and other properties
5. buried in Westminster Abbey, since ringed by graves
of later English writers, known as the Poets’
Corner
 The Canterbury Tales
I. Framework
A. Pilgrimages to Canterbury
1. As early as the 3rd century, pious Christians journeyed to the Holy Land for
spiritual reinforcement

2. medieval travel limited the number of palmers (wore a sprig of palm to show they
had journeyed to Palestine)

3. holy places were sought within western Europe and in England, most famous shrine
was that of Canterbury, contained the relics of St. Thomas a Becket
a. Becket was 12th century French cleric who rose to a high secular position
under Henry II, becoming chancellor of England, then Archbishop of
Canterbury
b. became a vigorous supporter of the church against the monarch
c. 10-year struggle reached apex with a Christmas Day sermon in 1170, in
which Becket condemned and excommunicated many of king’s supporters
d. Henry II bitterly reproached his followers saying “Not one will deliver me
from this lowborn priest!”
e. four knights took statement as a royal command, embarked for
England, invaded the cathedral, and slaughtered the archbishop in the midst of a
service
f. the blood of the martyr was reported to produce miraculous cures
4. by Chaucer’s time pilgrimages had become scandalous
to some, medieval man likes the variety and
excitement of travel, but expense and difficulties of
travel prevented tourism, except when a pilgrimage
was the reason

5. medieval pilgrimage frequently buried its religious

purpose under gaiety

6. Most of Chaucer’s band seem to be enjoying the April

release from winter bondage, original pious purpose
shines in Parson, Plowman, and Knight

7. Chaucer conducts 2 fictions simultaneously, that of the

individual tale, and that of the pilgrim to whom he
has assigned it
II. The Prologue

A. Chaucer gives number of pilgrims, including himself, as thirty

(with “preestes thre,” perhaps a later scribal error,
accompanying the Prioress,, actually gives a count of 32)

B. En route pilgrims overtaken by the Canon’s Yeoman, who

relates a story and would make the total 33

C. Chaucer intended a total of 120 stories, but wrote only 24, 4

unfinished

D. innkeeper, acts as master of ceremonies, purposes the plan of

each pilgrim recounting two stories on the way, and two on
the return, the best raconteur then being treated to a meal

E. Harry Bailly, “oure hooste,” appears to have been a real

person, the others unclear, but strongly probably were living
models
F. Pilgrims widely representative of class and occupation
1. peasants (majority of population, seldom could afford to leave land) –
Plowman
2. royalty and hereditary lords, highest rank of society – the Knight and
the Squire
3. regular clergy, rank just below the Knight’s class – the Prioress, the
Nun’s Priest, the Monk
4. secular clergy – Parson
5. landed gentry – Franklin
6. learned professions – Man of law, Doctor of Physic
7. mercantile class – Merchant, the five Guildsmen, and in a way, the
Wife of Bath
8. student – Clerk of Oxford
9. Minor officialdom – the Reeve, Manciple, Summoner
10 contemporary soldier – the Yeoman
11. the seaman – the Shipman
12. specialized trade – Cook, Miller
13. scoundrelly Pardoner rounds out the group
The Canterbury Tales

 The Canterbury Tales is Chaucer’s most famous work.

 It is a collection of tales told by fictional characters.
 It begins with a general prologue and then each
character has his or her own prologue and tale.
However, a few characters do not have a prologue.
 The pilgrim’s facial features, the clothes they wear, the
work they do, the stories they tell are all ways for the
reader to understand their moral and spiritual
standings.
 On a larger scale, we are able to understand what
middle age society might have been like.
Setting up the frame story…
 The Tales begin with a general
Prologue, which introduces the
pilgrims
 The poet-pilgrim narrator starts out
at the Tabard Inn in Southwark (south
of London)
 The host of the inn suggests that the
pilgrims exchange tales to pass the
time along the way to Canterbury and
back to London.
 The frame story is the main story of
the pilgrimage that includes within it
each pilgrim’s story
 In the Prologue, Chaucer describes the

pilgrims by…
Their jobs
 The type and color of their clothing
 Their “accessories” (jewelry, pets, other portables)
 The way they act
 Their incomes
 Their “secrets”
 Their status in society as a whole
 The way they speak / their slang or accent
 Their modes of transportation
The fact that Chaucer wrote in
English (Middle English), rather
than French or Latin like many of
his fellow writers, meant that
ordinary folk could enjoy The
Canterbury Tales and their vivid
characters.