Christianity and The Canterbury Tales in Medieval England

1
Christianity and The Canterbury Tales in Medieval
England

• Sr. Amelia Breton
• Ms. Michele L. Hanna

2
British Events of the Early Medieval Period

• 1066 Saxons defeated at Hastings by Normans
• 1073 Canterbury becomes Englands religious
  center
• 1170 Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury,
  is murdered by King Henry IIs men
• 1386 Chaucer begins writing The Canterbury Tales
  

3
Political Atmosphere in Medieval England

• Introduction of the French political and economic
  system of feudalism as a result of the Norman
  invasion
• King - center of government
• Lords/Overlords landowners that owed military
  service to the King
• Barons/Vassals sublet land from Lords
• Knights given smaller manors by barons in
  exchange for military service
• Commoners or serfs - the lowest class of Medieval
  society provided the physical labor for the land
  in exchange for food and protection
• Geoffrey Chaucers The Canterbury Tales
  incorporates all main levels of Medieval society
  the Church, the Court, and the common people

4
Social Atmosphere in Medieval England

• Chivalry code of knightly behavior
• Three ideals
• God
• King
• Lady
• A period of cultural refinement through the
  discovery of luxuries from exotic lands
• The founding of Oxford and Cambridge gave rise to
  a broadening of intellectual horizons
• Life is centered around the castle

5
Religious Atmosphere in Medieval England

• During middle ages the church was the main focus
  of community life.
• The Parish Priest was assigned by the manor and
  was obliged to keep up the church and provide
  hospitality to travelers.
• The priest was a commoner by birth. Serfs were
  not allowed to become priests because they were
  tied to the land.

6
Parish Income

• The priest earned his living from the income for
  parish lands, fees for services, and the tithe
  money. Tithing was obligatory and it was divided
  between the priest, the church maintenance, the
  poor, and the bishop.
• Peasants had little money so they paid with what
  they produced seeds, grain, etc.

7
The Churchs Wealth

• The church had great control over the people. The
  peasants worked for free on the church land. What
  the church collected was kept in tithe barns
  where a lot of the stored grain would be eaten by
  rats.
• If the peasants failed to tithe they were told by
  the church that their souls would go to Hell.

8
Churchs Wealth Continued

• People had to pay for baptisms, marriages and
  burials. This is one of the reasons why the
  church was so wealthy.
• This picture now a museum, was a tithe barn in
  Kent.

9
Monks Faults and Contributions

• In the 12th and 13th centuries there were many
  monasteries where monks or nuns lived a simple
  life of prayer and work. They were criticized for
  their laxity and involvement in worldly affairs.
• Monks printed and preserved many books.
• They kept ancient literature sometimes at a great
  cost to themselves.

10
1170 Murder of Thomas a Becket

• 1073 Canterbury Cathedral becomes Englands
  religious center
• Henry II appointed his friend Thomas a Becket as
  Archbishop of Canterbury
• Henry appointed Becket hoping that he would
  overlook some of the Kings abuses of power
• When Becket did not go along with the King, some
  of Henrys more zealous knights murdered Becket
  in the cathedral at Canterbury
• In order to atone for Beckets murder, Henry made
  a pilgrimage, a holy journey, to Beckets tomb at
  Canterbury
• Thereafter, a pilgrimage to Beckets shrine at
  Canterbury became a common English means of
  showing religious devotion
• Geoffrey Chaucer, in The Canterbury Tales, uses
  the vehicle of the pilgrimage to bring together
  people from the 3 main segments of Medieval
  society

11
Geoffrey Chaucer 1343? - 1400

• In his own lifetime he was considered the
  greatest poet, and he is currently considered, by
  many, second only to Shakespeare in achievements
• He began as a page for one of King Edward IIIs
  households, served in the army and held key
  government positions throughout his lifetime
• He married a lady-in-waiting to the Queen
• He began to write in his twenties and continued
  to do so for the rest of his life
• He was the first person to be buried in what is
  now the Poets Corner of Westminster Abbey

12
The Canterbury Tales Facts

• Written in Middle English verse
• It is a frame story a story that includes, or
  frames, another story or stories
• Chaucers frame is the pilgrimage, which he
  originally planned as a round trip but remains
  incomplete
• Within this frame are 24 individual stories the
  pilgrims tell
• It is a series of verse stories told by different
  pilgrims, from many walks of life, on their
  pilgrimage to St. Thomas a Beckets shrine at
  Canterbury Cathedral
• It is the most accurate depiction of the life and
  values of people in Medieval 14th Century England

13
Satire in The Canterbury Tales

• Satire writing that shows the folly or evil of
  something through the use of wit and humor a
  literary device employed to ridicule public or
  private abuses
• Chaucer uses satire to ridicule the corruptness
  of the Church in England in the Medieval Period

14
The 5 Main Religious Characters in The Canterbury
Tales

• Prioress - the nun ranking just below the abbess
  in an abbey
• During the Medieval Period, this position was
  usually bought by women of the nobility
• Monk religious men that secluded themselves
  from society to perform religious and
  intellectual duties
• Friar a part of the clergy that used to beg for
  the poor
• Most friars were corrupt and surrounded by
  scandal in the Middle Ages
• Pardoner one who sells papal pardons which were
  believed to take some time off of ones stay in
  Purgatory
• There was an epidemic of illegitimate pardoners
• Parson a priest in a rural village
• Considered the bottom of the social ladder

15
The Prioress

• She is the first character to be gently satirized
  because she does things that nuns are not
  supposed to do
• At the time, nuns were not supposed to go on
  pilgrimages
• She dresses fashionably and nuns are supposed to
  dress conservatively
• Her veil was gathered in a seemly way
• Her mannerisms (the way she speaks, eats, etc)
  are characteristic of the noble class
• She had a courtly kind of grace
• Overall, she is gently satirized because she is
  rebellious in matters of discipline and not moral
  matters

16
The Monk

• He is also gently satirized because he is
  neglectful of discipline but not of moral matters
• He considers the rules for monks old-fashioned
  and out-dated
• He took the modern worlds more spacious way
  and the Rule he tended to ignore
• He is a hunter, however, monks are not allowed to
  hunt
• hunters are not holy men
• He is on a pilgrimage but monks were supposed
  remain in seclusion at their monastery
• He didnt believe that a monk uncloistered is a
  mere Fish out of water
• He dresses elaborately but monks were supposed to
  dress the same, in minimalist clothing
• his sleeves were garnished at the hand With fine
  gray fur, the finest in the land

17
The Friar

• Strongly satirized because he is corrupt and goes
  against morality
• He only hears the confessions of the rich so he
  can charge them and also use their confessions as
  grounds for future blackmail
• By only dealing with the rich a profit might
  occur
• He engages in behavior unfit of a Friar
• He knew the taverns well in every town
• He keeps, for himself, most of the money he
  collects for the poor
• He makes a decent living

18
The Pardoner

• Also strongly satirized for despicable behavior
• He is an illegitimate pardoner who gets rich by
  selling fake religious relics and pardons to
  those wanting to atone for their sins
• His wallet lay before him on his lap, Brimful of
  pardons come from Rome all hot
• Even Chaucers physical description of him is
  harsh
• In driblets fell his locks like rat-tails
• He even sells fake relics to poor up-country
  parsons who are fellow clergymen

19
The Parson

• He is a true shepherd of the people in his poor
  rural community
• He is considered to be at the bottom of the
  religious ladder, however he is at the pinnacle
  of the spiritual ladder
• He was poor but rich in holy thought and work
• He, unlike the other religious figures in lofty
  positions, believes in all his teachings and
  follows them
• He truly knew Christs gospel and would preach
  it but followed it himself before
• He is poor because he gives all of his money and
  goods to his people, instead of becoming rich off
  of them

20
Works Cited

• Babusci, Roger, ed., et al. Prentice Hall
  Literature The English Tradition. New Jersey
  Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1989.
• Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales.
  Prentice Hall Literature The English Tradition.
  Ed. Roger Babusci, et al. New Jersey
  Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1989.
• http//classroomclipart.com
• http//members.easyspace.com/Brig/mca/clips.html
• http//www.britainexpress.com/History/TheMedievalC
  hurch.htm
• http//www.godecookery.com/clipart
• http//www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medieval_chur
  ch.htm
• http//www.thelmaslibrary.com/classical/overview.h
  tml
• Other pictures were sent via email from Miss
  Parmigiani.
• Some material was obtained from notes taken in
  Dr. Patricia Michaels British Literature I class.