The Middle Ages, Geoffrey Chaucer,

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TheMiddle Ages,Geoffrey Chaucer,The
Canterbury Tales
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The Structure

• Its a frame story! This means, stories or a
  story within an overall story. Can you think of
  some?
• 1001 Arabian Nights
• The Princess Bride
• Bocaccios Decameron
• The frame is the outside narrative, the portrait
  is each pilgrims tale

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Who? Pilgrims (travelers going to a site
associated with a saint). 29ish 1 narrator
the host
Where? To Canterbury, about 80 miles SE of London
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(No Transcript)
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why go to Canterbury?
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One Answer Religion

• Canterbury has always been an important religious
  center in England.
• St. Augustine (seen in stained glass from the
  Canterbury Cathedral) was sent by Pope Gregory
  the Great to establish the Catholic faith in the
  country
• Religion played an important part in medieval
  life, so some of these pilgrims are going to show
  religious devotion

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Why was religion important?

• Its the Middle Ages
• Bubonic plague
• Hundred Years War
• High infant mortality rate
• Short life expectancy
• and if you were a peasant (the old-school 99),
  you lived your entire life in harsh conditions
• About the best thing that you had to look forward
  to was dying and going to heaven
• Its interesting that w/all this going on,
  Chaucer didnt really write about the plague or
  the war

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England was divided among very strict
class/economic lines

• Thus, heaven was often described as a shining
  white castle in the sky.

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England was divided among very strict
class/economic lines
Thus, heaven was often described as a shining
white castle in the sky.
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Canterbury was a Pilgrimage Site

• People of all classes went on pilgrimages to holy
  sites to ask for help with medical, financial, or
  other problems. It was believed holy relics had
  healing properties. So some are going to be
  healed of their ailments.

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The starting point is the Tabard Inn. Where do
most holy journeys begin?
The Tabard is in the Red Light Districtwhat does
that tell you?
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So, again, why go to Canterbury? What happened
there thats worth this trip?
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The Shrine of St. Thomas à Becket
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Becket was a trusted adviser and friend of King
Henry II.Henry named Becket Archbishop of
Canterbury.
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Beckets outspoken style angered the King. One
day, Henry complained, Will no one rid me of
this meddlesome priest? In December 1170, four
knights rode to Canterbury where they found
Becket at the altar of Canterbury Cathedral.
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Becket was murdered at the altar.
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The death of Becket angered the peasants who felt
his Saxon heritage made him one of them.
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Public outrage led to devotion, and the
Canterbury Cathedral became a site for pilgrims
to offer prayers to St. Thomas the Martyr.(the
holy blissful martyr)
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Today, a modern cross made from swords marks the
site of the martyrdom.
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In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer wrote about the
people he met in his various jobs and journeys.
If Chaucer were writing his tales today, think
about the variety of types of people he might
know and/or encounter
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Some characteristics/style/structure

• A prologue followed by a series of stories and
  linking dialogues and commentaries between
  pilgrims on a journey
• Each character tells two stories going and two
  stories coming home
• Uhcoming home from WHERE?
• Canterbury, of course.
• Many of the tales are derived from previously
  known tales. And they are not all very nice.
  There are rivalries. The Miller and the Reeve
  hate each other, so their tales make fun of each
  other. Look at the motivations for the
  characters journey and their tale. Each is
  supposed to somehow represent the teller.

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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. Writing in the language people speak
is called the vernacular.
Tales of the people
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Miracle of the VirginTales in which the Virgin
Mary aids a followerExemplumTales intended to
inspire moral conduct in the listenerBeast
FableAnimals with human characteristics involved
in clever moral talesFabliauxStories of the
lower classes based on clever tricks, usually
involving infidelityBreton LaisTale, often set
in Brittany region, of courtly love, magic, and
folkloreSecular SaintInspirational tale in
which a character triumphs after much adversity
due to faith in GodChivalric RomanceNon-scholarl
y narrative of love, chivalry, and
adventureMock-HeroicRidicules or satirizes the
chivalric romance by parody
Genres of the Tales (you will get a handout of
these genres)
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Class Hierarchy of the Tales
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Class Hierarchy of the Tales
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Chaucers Biography Early Life

• Born in 1340
• Son of a prosperous wine merchant
• His name means shoemaker
• In his teens, Chaucer was placed in the service
  of the Countess of Ulster to be schooled in court
  and society life
• Thus, he would have learned Latin and some Greek
  as well as perhaps some French and Italian

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Early Life (cont.)

• In, 1359 he was captured by the French at the
  siege of Reims during the Hundred Years War he
  was ransomed by King Edward III a year later. So
  in a way, he was a POW.
• Chaucer joined the royal household and became a
  trusted messenger and minor diplomat

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As a Royal Messenger

• Chaucer was frequently sent to the continent on
  secret business for the King.
• Some of these trips were to Italy where he became
  acquainted with the works of the great Italian
  authors Boccaccio, Dante, Petrarch
• These were the greatest Italian writers of the
  early Renaissance period

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Other Jobs Chaucer Heldand Learned From...

• Controller of Customs on Wools, Skins and Hides
  for the Port of London
• Here he would meet many types of businessmen,
  sailors, travelers city folk and common laborers
• Clerk of the Kings Works
• In charge of construction and repairs affecting
  royal residences required interaction with
  guildsmen as well as court officials
• Deputy Forester of the Kings Forests
• Away from the city, Chaucer met peasants,
  foresters, local clergy and other country folk
• Representative of the Shire of Kent in Parliament
• Government position working with influential,
  upper-middle class and higher-ranking church
  officials

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Other Chaucer Fun Facts

• In 1368 married a lady of the court, Phillipa de
  Roet. She was a lady-in-waiting to Edward III's
  queen.
• Those diplomatic trips to Italy changed/greatly
  influenced his own writing, and even tho hes
  Medieval Englands greatest poet, there is
  influence from the Renaissance.

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More Chaucer Fun Facts

• He wrote in Middle English, which was odd b/c all
  great works of the time were in French or Latin.
• He speaks to and satirizes all class levels and
  genres, from nobility to peasants and from
  sermons to fabliaux to beast fables to chivalric
  romance
• But he believed in courtesy, loyalty, honor

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Even More Chaucer Fun Facts!

• That image you see to the left is from the
  Ellesmere illustrated version of Chaucers
  Talesguess where it is???
• Mr. Powers has a tie w/all the characters in
  this stylehe claims that picture of Chaucer to
  the left is going to be his tattoo

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Biography continued

• Chaucer dies in 1400(?) and is buried in Poets
  Corner in Westminster Abbey, where most English
  Monarchs have been crowned since William the
  Conqueror
• He was buried there not because he was an awesome
  poet, but because he was a tenant of the Abbey
  grounds.

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The late fourteenth century world was still very
much one of the spoken word. Books were copied by
hand and were a rare luxury until the advent of
the printing press 70 years later. The educated
elite could read, but they preferred to hear
texts read out loud for entertainment. The
Canterbury Tales, with its authentic voices,
earthy humor and vivid dialogue, was a runaway
success.
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So, lets travel back to London, to the area
called Southwark, and stop at the Tabard Inn