The Medieval Period and The Canterbury Tales

1. The Medieval Period and The Canterbury Tales Ms. Mathews English 10H

2. William the Conqueror and Feudalism • Feudalism: a caste system based on religious hierarchy

3. How Feudalism Worked • For safety and for defense, people in the Medieval Period formed small communities around a central lord or master. • Most people lived on a manor, which consisted of the castle, the church, the village, and the surrounding farm land. • These manors were isolated, with occasional visits from peddlers, pilgrims on their way to the Crusades, or soldiers from other fiefdoms.

4. Feudalism and Knighthood • Knights did not hold land. • Boys above the serf class were trained early (age 8+), usually in someone else’s home to be sure the training was strict. • Dubbing was originally a hard, testing blow, but is now a ceremonial shoulder tap. • Knighthood was grounded in the feudal idea of loyalty. • Knighthood included a complex system of social codes. • The idea of chivalry stems from this code of behavior for knights and gentlewomen.

5. No Voice, No Choice! • Women during the Medieval Period were not soldiers and had no political rights. • Women were subservient to their men (husbands, brothers, fathers) • Peasant women lived in ceaseless childbearing, housework, and hard fieldwork.

6. Courtly Love • Courtly love developed partly out of the cult of the Virgin Mary, which elevated women. • The object of love was to be worshipped from afar as an ideal. • Love was supposed to be an ennobling influence, and only noble people were worthy of love. • Several influences built up to acceptance of courtly love.

7. What led to the acceptance of courtly love? • Marriages of convenience in the 8th-16th centuries made adultery a way of life. • Men had shorter life spans than women. Women could inherit and, thu,s gain control of wealth. • Men went to war, leaving women in control, as they went on Crusades to clear the holy land of infidels, starting in 1095. • The belief that the lady should be treated as infinitely desirable was fostered by women and by poets. • The way of life portrayed in metrical romances influenced real expectations and behavior. • When courtly love turned physical, there was a breakdown in society, i.e. Lancelot and Guinevere.

8. The Crusades • A series of wars waged by European Christians against Muslims. • Jerusalem was the prize. • The Europeans lost, but benefited enormously from contact with higher Middle Eastern civilizations.

9. Why did the knights fight in the Crusades? • Pope Urban appealed to knights’ religious convictions. • He said Muslim Turks were robbing and torturing Christian pilgrims journeying to the holy land. • The war offered knights a chance for glory and wealth. • Urban suggested the knights fight Muslims instead of continuing to fight one another.

10. The Canterbury Tales • Shows readers the true Medieval World • 14th century England • Is a frame story about an unrelated group of twenty-nine pilgrims traveling together on a pilgrimage. • Pilgrimage – a long journey to a holy site or shrine taken by those who are devout • This pilgrimage is a trip to a cathedral in Canterbury upon the death of the beloved Thomas a Becket (Archbishop of Canterbury) in the 1100s

11. Thomas a Becket • Archbishop of Canterbury • Assassinated in 1170 • Resulted in a backlash against the English monarchy • Thomas was martyred; he became St. Thomas. • Chaucer’s pilgrims are on their way to visit his shrine in The Canterbury Tales.

12. The Canterbury Tales • The poem is a frame story, a story about stories • Each person on the pilgrimage tells a story • Insight into romances, comedies, etc. of the time • Crude humor • Comedies • Religious mysteries • Social commentary • Chaucer's original plan for The Canterbury Tales projected about 120 stories, two for each pilgrim to tell on the way to Canterbury and two more on the way back. • Only 24 of the 120 tales were completed

13. Motifs • Romance: high adventure romance and other romance as well • Fabliau/Fabliaux: a tale marked by comic or ribald/bawdy treatment of worldly themes • The Miller’s Tale

14. Themes • Courtly Love • Importance of Company • The Corruption of the Church

15. Genre: Estates Satire • Shows the three estates (classes) in the Medieval Period and makes fun of them • Those who fight • Those who labor • Those who pray • Gives an analysis of society in terms of hierarchy, social function, and morality • The aim of satire is to reform society by pointing out folly or vice • Optimistic assumption…if you know what is good/right, you will do it

16. The Prologue • Gives the reader insight to the Medieval society • Indirect Characterization: • External appearance is a sign of intangible qualities of a person…still a factor today (aka dressing the part) • Can tell something about morality, rank, etc. from external features • Pilgrims are individuals, not groups, but they are known by their professions • Individualizing details are rare; most details that are given are included only to show what that particular pilgrim ought—and yet fails—to do • Pay attention to what Chaucer does NOT say • Prioress no mention of God

17. The Prologue continued • Narrator meets 29 others at the Tabard Inn, located in a suburb of London • Challenge by Harry Bailey, Innkeeper – Each pilgrim must tell two stories on the way to Canterbury and two on the return trip • Best Tale » entitled to a feast • The stories suit the teller – The Knight tells a romance, the Wife of Bath tells about marriages, etc.