Chaucer and the Middle Ages

• Introduction• Characteristics of the Middle Ages

– Social Structure– War and Politics– The Black Plague

• Chaucer• The Canterbury Tales

Introduction

• What do you think of when you hear the term Middle Ages?

• While many of the following characterize The Middle Ages, some of the ideas and traditions still continue to exist and fascinate us today.

• What movies, books, or TV shows recently have been based on the Middle Ages?

The Middle Ages: General Info.

• Dates: 1066 – 1485– Follows the Anglo-Saxon period after the invasion of

Normandy.

• English has evolved– Old English - Middle English– Ex. Whan that the Knyght had thus his tale

ytoold,                                       In al the route ne was ther yong ne ooldThat he ne seyde it was a noble storie,And worthy for to drawen to memorie;5 And namely the gentils everichon.

- Chaucer, Miller’s Tale Prologue

Characteristics of the Middle Ages

• Social Structure– Feudalism– Chivalry

• Religion and Politics– Women– The Crusades– Magna Carta

• The Black Death

* Each of these areas not only had an important effect on the daily lives of the people during the Middle Ages, but also on us today.

Social Structure: Feudalism

• Not only a social system– God is on top – God gave power to the kings– Lowest would be knights without

land and serfs– Everything circles around the

manor– Feudalism’s core: chivalry

• Because of the dependency on the manor . . . – Cities and towns formed– Creation of low, middle, and high

class– Middle class

• Merchants with money to spare

Social Structure: Chivalry

• Chivalry– Strict code of conduct

or manners to live by– Obligations to defend:

• God/Christianity• King• Noble

- Code instructed about how to treat women, help others, and rules of war

- Chivalry and Women

Religion and Politics:Women

• Church: women were inferior to men

• Status of husband, father, brother determined status of the woman

• Functions of Women– Peasant class– High class

Religion and Politics:Crusades and the Catholic Church

• Series of wars against Muslims for Jerusalem and the Holy Land– Contact with the Middle East brought important advances in

scholarship, technology and art• Catholic Church (the Pope) was in charge

– Controlled most of the world’s leaders– Thomas A Beckett appointed archbishop of Canterbury– Beckett “betrayed” King Henry V – This is the VERY CATHEDRAL the characters in The

Canterbury Tales are making their pilgrimage too– Corruption of the church – another of the themes in Chaucer’s

themes

Religion and Politics:The Magna Carta and Hundred Years’ War

• 1215; Return to older democratic tendencies• Written by aristocrats and nobles protecting their

own interests• Guaranteed rights such as trial by jury and

legislative taxation• Hundred Years’ War (1337 – 1453)

• First national war by England • Two English Kings claiming they had the right to the throne of

France• Militarily unsuccessful but created a national consciousness –

England’s heroes were not knights in shining armor, but landowners with his longbows

• Landowners important became dominant force in new society

The Black Death

• Bubonic Plague (1348 – 1349)– Reduced the nation’s population by 1/3– Lower class advantage– Awareness of death and fragility of life

• Led to “seize the day” attitude• Indulgence in the vices: another theme Chaucer

uses in CT.– Middle Ages ended with the fall of feudalism

• 1486

Significance of the Middle Ages Today:

• Norman conquest created a powerful Anglo-Saxon entity and brought England into the mainstream of European civilization.

• Feudalism centralized military, political, and economic power• Roman Church transcended national boundaries and fostered

cultural unity among Europeans• Rise of towns and cities freed people to pursue commercial and

aesthetic interests.• Church’s hold over politics was weakened by the Magna Carta,

which would also be the foundation for democracy and constitutional law in the future.

• Contact with Eastern civilizations through the Crusades broadened Europe’s intellectual horizons.

• Ideals of chivalry improved attitudes toward, but not the rights of, women.

• Bubonic plague led to labor shortages that contributed to the end of feudalism and the ending of the Middle Ages.

Intermission

– Music, movies, games, telling stories . . .

• When you have to travel a long distance, how do you pass the time?

Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales

• Geoffrey Chaucer – Middle Ages poet, ~ 1340 -– Wrote in Middle English– Most Important work is The Canterbury Tales

• The Canterbury Tales (~1387)– Over 17,000 lines long and is not even finished– Begins with “Prologue”– Group of pilgrims travel from London to Thomas

Beckett’s Cathedral in Canterbury• Tell stories to pass the time

Importance of The Canterbury Tales:

• The project itself• Each character represents a specific class or

role in 14th Century English life:– Characters represent their specific class in Middle

Age society• Ex. “The Knight’s Tale” – represents the ideal of knighthood

and the chivalry code.• Some roles are portrayed more highly than others.

– Tales teach about the attitudes and customs of the times regarding LOVE, MARRIAGE, RELIGION, ETC.

Chaucer and the Seven Deadly Sins

• Chaucer used the seven deadly sins as characteristics for the characters in CT

• Keep track of the sins each character commits as Chaucer presents them

• The Seven Deadly Sins– Gluttony: overindulgence– Pride: arrogance and self-importance– Wrath: anger, revenge– Greed: avarice, selfishness– Sloth: laziness, idleness– Lust: uninhibited sexual desire– Envy: jealousy

• Modern day examples?