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Canterbury Tales. How did religious institutions shape the politics, society, and culture of Europe in the Middle Ages?. About Canterbury and the setting. Takes place in 14 th century England Middle Ages are from 5 th century to 15 th century
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Canterbury Tales How did religious institutions shape the politics, society, and culture of Europe in the Middle Ages?
About Canterbury and the setting • Takes place in 14th century England • Middle Ages are from 5th century to 15th century • Renaissance from 14th century to 17th century • Pilgrimages to see Saint Thomas a Becket buried in the cathedral at Canterbury, England
Canterbury Cathedral • The interior of the cathedral was meant to awe and inspire one to a life of piety and tithing. One’s gaze was directed Heavenward so that one forgot the toil of this earth, but not the importance of the church clergy in helping the sinful gain entrance to the hereafter. A hefty sum was extracted from the faithful in the form of “indulgences” which allow the clergy to maintain lavish lifestyles.
About the Tales • Chaucer originally set out to write 120 tales, four for each of his original thirty characters. • The tales end after only 24 because then he died (1400) • In 1387, each character was to tell two stories on the way to the cathedral, and two stories on the way back. • The pilgrim who told the best tale would be rewarded with a fine supper at Tabard’s Inn, the place where all set out.
Frame Story First story - frame Inner tales • Defined as a story told within another story • One of the first frame stories recorded • The first was the Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio in 1351. • This work opens with a description of the Bubonic Plague (Black Death) and leads into an introduction of a group of seven young women and three young men who fled from Plague ridden Florence for a villa outside of the city walls – telling stories as they traveled.
The Themes • pilgrimage – journey to a holy place for penance, to ask for a miracle or healing, to travel and see places/meet people. • company – during a pilgrimage, all kinds of people meet and become friends. • courtly love – fight for an unattainable lady, always be pure and honest, defend the poor and oppressed, loyalty to a king (and usually to God) • Arthurian romance – knights and ladies, round table (sharing power and responsibility)
Themes • Corruption of the Church – wealth in the Catholic church, also lust and gluttony, selling pardons • Fabliaux – comical and often grotesque stories in which the characters most often succeed by means of their sharp wits – bawdy tale. • Physiognomy – a science that judged a person’s temperament/personality on their anatomy and how they look.
About Geoffrey Chaucer – the writer • Canterbury Tales was written by Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400). • Chaucer was an only son born to wealthy parents. • He became a page to the Countess of Ulster (her husband was King Edward III son) • He then became the Controller of the Customs of hides, skins, and wools. • He served in the Hundred Years War between England and France. • He married Philippa Roet and had two sons.
Middle English and Poetry • Old English – 5th century to 11th (Beowulf) • Middle English – 11th century to 14th (Canterbury Tales) • Modern English – 15th century to now (Shakespeare) • In 1378 Chaucer began to develop his vision of English poetry that would be accessible to the common people (vernacular) as well as the court (not just in French, Italian, or Latin). • About and for the middle class instead of nobility • Canterbury Tales is a poem - decasyllable line (10 syllables) heroic meter (iambic)
