Marie deFrance (Lays and Fables)

Wace (Brut).
The Book of Margery Kemp, the first autobiography in English, 
Julian of Norwich's Showings, a series of mystical and theologically rich visions, and the
works of Marie de France.

“Scottish Makars” William Dunbar, Robert Henryson, and Gavin Douglas

"sumer is i-cumen in cycle of nature
"Adam Lay a-bunden" religious reflections
1347 and 1350, a plague, commonly called
"The Black Death" ravaged the whole of Europe
Geoffrey Chaucer Canterbury Tales 
 John Gower. Confessio Amantis
Giovanni Boccaccio Decameron
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales narrates the journey of a group of travellers who are going
from London to Canterbury on pilgrimage. Along the way, they have a story telling contest,
and so each of the 29 pilgrims is supposed to tell their own kind of tale.
Each is a collection of tales united by a frame narrative.
Courtly Love a literary trend that flourished especially among the French nobility. This
genre exalted an idealized code of chivalry, in which a knight vows undying loyalty to his
lady, who may bestow favor upon him, but who never (in theory) takes him as a lover—
though this last aspect was often subverted in literature as well as in life
Troilus and Criseyde one of the finest examples of the genre which adapts the story of the
Fall of Troy to a Courtly Romance sensibility.
John Lydgate, Thomas Hoccleve, and John Skelton—such authors helped solidify
Chaucer’s position as “Father of English Poetry”, which is, of course, a contestable title,
given how much poetry came before Geoffrey.named John Wycliffe, who promoted the
translation of the scriptures into plain English.
John Wycliffe, who promoted the translation of the scriptures into plain English.
Those who held such opinions came to be called Lollards, and they were often
considered radical enemies of the faith, subversive to the authority and unity of the
Church.
William Langland vividly portrays the spiritual concerns of the day.
Piers Plowman, which he revised several times over the course of his life, is an
extended series of allegorical dream visions in which the narrator goes on a spiritual
journey to find Truth.
Lollardry and other such movements can be seen as the first stirrings of a social movement
that would later give way to the Reformation.
The Pearl Poet, so called because his works are anonymous, left us with two poems
considered the crowning achievements of the Alliterative Revival.
Gawain and the Green Knight tells an Arthurian tale, but alters it by telling it in a
deliberately archaic form highly reminiscent of Anglo-Saxon poetry.
Pearl, an intricately wrought and deeply moving dream vision that chronicles a father's
struggle to cope with the loss of his great, now buried in his garden (this is often read as an
allegory for the loss of a daughter named Marguerite).
Romance. This is a type of narrative that is focused on a knight's quests and adventures in
the service of his lady. Such tales, wildly popular with the nobility, are notable for their
narrative innovation (they read much more like modern novels than previous literature) and
for their fantastic material.
Dragons, unicorns, giants, wizards, lions, and even robot-like automata are among the
obstacles to be overcome by knights on such quests.
These tales are often centered upon the adventures of the court of Arthur at Camelot and
the exploits of his knights.
The invention of the printing press (by Johannes Gutenberg in 1455) and its importation to
England(by William Caxton, ~20 years later) was a major game changer for literature.
Among the earliest printed works was Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur, a lengthy
chronicle-style account of Arthur's life story and many adventures (including the famous
quest for the Holy Grail).
Roger Bacon, scientifically progressive work of
John Trevisa major historical/encyclopedic translations.
Early on, this form consisted of two major types: Morality Plays and Mystery Plays.
Famous examples include the plays Everyman and Mankind.
The latter include the York Cycle of plays, held yearly for the summer Feast of Corpus
Christi in the northern city of York.

Le Morte d'Arthur tells the story of King Arthur and his Knights at the Round Table. Arthur,
who is son of King Uther Pendragon but was raised by another family, takes his rightful
place as king when, as a boy, he is able to pull the sword called Excalibur from the stone.
Although he rules wisely and is counseled by Merlin the magician, Arthur makes enemies of
other kings and is often at war.

When Arthur marries Genevere, her father gives Arthur the Round Table, at which 150 men
can sit. Genevere, who is often present at the convening of the Round Table, acts as a
moral compass for the knights, rewarding knights who behave well and chastising those who
choose poorly. Malory specifically relates the stories of Sir Gawain, Sir Tor, and Sir Pellanor
as a means of introducing the concept of chivalry.

Arthur is nearly betrayed by his sister Morgan le Fay, but he is helped by Nineve, a
sorceress who learned her magic powers from Merlin before killing him. Arthur then fights
the Romans when Emperor Lucius of Rome demands that Arthur bow to him. Although the
war requires several battles, Arthur and his knights win and return to Guinevere and the
other wives. Soon after, Launcelot establishes himself as the greatest knight in all the world
by his virtue, loyalty, and bravery. At the same time, Sir Gareth, Gawain's brother, proves
valiant in his adventures.

Tristam (also known as Tristan), who is son of King Melyodas de Lyones and the sister of
King Mark of Cornwall, is then introduced, and his adventures unfold. He kills Sir Marhault to
free his uncle from a debt owed to King Angwyssh of Ireland, and then falls in love with
Isode (also known as Isolde), Angwyssh's daughter. Isode marries Tristam's uncle Mark, but
Tristam and Isode remain lovers. Tristam is exiled by Mark, which means he can no longer
use his true identity; thus, he fights as The Knight with the Black Shield. Tristam duels and
beats many of Arthur's knights, but is eventually thrown in prison and becomes ill. He
escapes and eventually meets and fights Launcelot in a duel predicted by Merlin. They
become the best of friends.

Launcelot, who is in love with and completely loyal to Guinevere, rides one day in search of
adventure. He kills a dragon, sees the Grail, and is tricked into lying with Pellas' daughter
Elayne, with whom he has a son, Galahad. Guinevere, upon hearing of the affair, has
Launcelot banished from court; Launcelot then wanders from place to place in his grief.
Elayne, through her father, heals Launcelot through the Grail, and he eventually returns
joyously to Camelot and the Round Table.

Launcelot introduces his son, Galahad, to the court, and Galahad takes the Sege Perilous,
the seat at the Round Table that no knight has been worthy enough to fill. Galahad also
draws the sword from the floating stone, establishing him as the best knight in the world, but
also accepting the sword's curse — that it will later cause a grievous wound.

Most of the knights then set out separately on Grail Quest. During the Quest, Launcelot,
Percival, and Bors experience deep religious conversion, while Ector and Gawain are told by
a hermit that they are not pure enough to achieve the Grail Quest. Galahad, Percival, and
Bors meet up and continue the Grail Quest, but they are briefly parted. Launcelot and
Galahad continue to the Grail at Castle Corbenic, where Launcelot is shown to be unworthy
of the Quest. When Sir Evelake dies after his embrace with Galahad, Galahad is identified
as the knight who will achieve the Grail Quest. Galahad is made a king who dies shortly
thereafter, while Percival becomes a hermit. Bors returns to King Arthur's court.

Launcelot also returns to the court and continues his love for Guinevere. After a series of
trials, Guinevere is convinced of Launcelot's love for her. Although Arthur knows of the affair
and overlooks it, he is prompted by Aggravain and Mordred (Arthur's son by Lot's wife) to
take action; Guinevere is sentenced to be burned at the stake. Launcelot rescues her and
takes her to his castle, Joyous Gard, but in the battle, Launcelot kills Gareth and Gaheris,
who are at the execution but are unarmed. Launcelot returns Guinevere to Arthur, but
Launcelot is banished, along with his followers. Gawain swears vengeance for the death of
his brothers and insists that Arthur attack Launcelot. Arthur agrees, but while Arthur and
Gawain are away, Mordred makes himself King of England, claims Guinevere as his wife,
and attacks Arthur's army. Gawain is mortally wounded and warns Arthur in a dream not to
continue the battle. Through a misunderstanding, however, the battle continues; Arthur kills
Mordred but is mortally wounded by him, as Merlin has prophesied.

Launcelot and Guinevere both die of illness soon after, and Constantine becomes king. The
Round Table is disbursed.

The Knight’s Tale,

In the tale the cousins Palamon and Arcite both fall in love with Emelye, sister of
Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, who is married to their captor Theseus. A
tournament is held in which the two rivals compete for Emelye’s hand. Although Arcite wins,
he is thrown from his horse and dies. After a period of mourning, Palamon and Emelye
marry.

The Reeve’s Tale

The old Reeve (bailiff), a woodworker, tells this bawdy tale in response to “The Miller’s Tale”
of a cuckolded carpenter. The story tells how two student clerks, speaking broad
Northern dialect, avenge themselves on a dishonest miller.

The Cook’s Tale,

This 58-line fragment of a tale of “harlotrie,” as the poet described it, tells of a womanizing,
gambling apprentice cook who is dismissed from his job. He moves in with a fellow reveler
and his wife, a shopkeeper by day and prostitute by night.

The Man of Law’s Tale

The story describes the sufferings of Constance, daughter of a Christian emperor. When
she marries a Syrian sultan who has converted to Christianity, his evil mother conspires to
kill all the Christians in the court, including the sultan. Constance alone survives and is cast
adrift. Landing in Northumberland, she converts her host’s wife (then is falsely accused of
killing her convert), is saved by divine intervention, marries the king, is set adrift by yet
another nasty mother-in-law, and, after further misfortunes, reaches Rome, where she is
reunited with her husband and her father

The Wife of Bath’s Tale

Before the Wife of Bath tells her tale, she offers in a long prologue a condemnation of
celibacy and a lusty account of her five marriages. It is for this prologue that her tale is
perhaps best known. The tale concerns a knight accused of rape, whose life shall be
spared if in one year he discovers what women most desire. He eventually turns to an ugly
old witch who promises him the answer that will save his life if he will do the first thing she
asks of him. The answer—that it is “maistrie,” or sovereignty over men, that women desire—
is accepted in court, and the witch then demands that the knight marry her. In bed she asks
him if he would wish her ugly yet faithful or beautiful and faithless. He insists the choice
must be hers. This concession of her mastery restores her youth and beauty, and they live
happily ever after.

The Friar’s Tale,

The summoner befriends a bailiff, who is the devil in disguise, and the two agree to
share the proceeds of their extortions. In one of several humorous scenes, the summoner
hears a frustrated man mutter, “The devil take all, cart, horse, and hay in one!” and urges the
devil to take up the offer, but the devil declines, explaining to his overeager friend that it was
not meant as a literal request. When the summoner tries to extract a bribe from a poor
widow, and she too asks for the devil to carry him away, the devil asks her if she really means
it. When she agrees, he whisks the summoner off to hell.

The Summoner’s Tale,

The angry man offers the friar a gift on the condition that he divides it equally among his
fellows. The friar agrees and is instructed to reach under his patron’s buttocks,
whereupon he is rewarded with a fart. The friar is aghast—and perplexed as to how
best to divide the gift among his 12 colleagues. A squire wins a coat from him by suggesting
that the friars assemble around a wheel, with the benefactor at the hub, so that all could
share equally in the flatulent offering.

The Clerk’s Tale

A marquis marries beautiful low-born Griselde (Griselda) after she agrees to obey
his every whim; he then subjects her to a series of cruelties to test her love. He
abducts their children, telling Griselde they must die. Years later, he asks her to
leave, and later calls her back to decorate his chambers, supposedly for his new wife.
Griselde amiably agrees, as she has patiently endured all her previous indignities. At last the
marquis relents, proclaiming his love for Griselde; instead of a new wife, the young woman
who arrives is Griselde’s grown daughter, and both she and her brother are restored to their
mother as a reward for her constancy.

The Merchant’s Tale

Old Januarie is deceived by his young wife, May, and her lover, Damyan, after
Januarie suddenly goes blind. The lovers sneak up to the branches of a pear
tree above Januarie’s head and begin to make love. An enraged Pluto instantly
restores the old man’s sight, but Proserpina allows May to outwit him by explaining that she
was fighting with Damyan in the tree because she had been told that doing so would cause
Januarie’s sight to be restored.

The Squire’s Tale

The Squire relates an incomplete tale of the Tartar king Cambyuskan (Cambuscan), who
receives four magical gifts: a brass horse that can fly anywhere safely but at astonishing
speed, a sword that can penetrate armour and heal wounds, a mirror that tells of future
dangers, and a ring that enables its wearer to understand the speech of birds and to know the
medicinal properties of every plant.
The Franklin’s Tale
The tale told by the Franklin centres upon the narrative motif of the “rash promise.”
While her husband, Arveragus, is away, Dorigen is assiduously courted by a squire, Aurelius.
She spurns him but promises to return his love if he can accomplish the task of removing
every rock from the coast of Brittany so that her husband may have a safe return from sea.
With a magician’s help, Aurelius creates the illusion that the rocks have disappeared.
Dorigen’s husband insists that she fulfill her promise. But Aurelius, moved by her love for
her husband, releases her from her obligation with a noble farewell.

The Second Nun’s Tale

relates the story of St. Cecilia, who on her wedding night tells her husband,
Valerian, that an angel has instructed her to remain celibate. Valerian converts to
Christianity and has a vision of the angel; awestruck, he persuades his brother to convert.
The three perform miracles and convert others until they are tried and executed by Roman
authorities.

The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale

~A humorous description of a roguish canon and alchemist, as told by his assistant,

the tale pokes fun at both alchemy and the clergy. After describing failed alchemical
processes in detail, the canon’s yeoman tells his tale of a canon who swindled a priest by
selling him powders to transmute mercury into silver, then escaped before his scheme was
discovered.

The Physician’s Tale

It concerns the lust of the evil judge Appius for the beautiful, chaste Virginia. Plotting a
strategy by which he can possess her, the judge instructs his servant to swear in court that
Virginia is a slave whom her father abducted. Her father, seeing through the plot, kills her
to save her honour and delivers her head to Appius. Although Appius gives an order
for the father’s execution, the townspeople rise against the judge and throw him in prison,
where he kills himself.

The Pardoner’s Tale

His tale relates how three drunken revelers set out to destroy Death after one of
their friends had died. An old man tells them that Death can be found under a particular
oak tree in a grove, but when they arrive at the tree, they discover only a pile of gold florins.
Two of the men plot to kill the third so as to have more of the treasure for themselves.
However, after they kill their friend, they drink some wine that he had poisoned earlier, and
they too die.

The Shipman’s Tale

In the tale told by Chaucer’s Shipman, the wife of a rich merchant convinces a young monk
that her husband refuses to pay for her clothes and asks him to lend her 100
francs. Smitten, he agrees. The monk then asks the husband to lend him 100 francs to
buy cattle, and the monk gives the sum to the wife, who thanks him by taking him to bed.
When the merchant later returns from a journey, the monk says that he has repaid the debt
by returning the money to the wife. The wife admits that this is so but says that she thought
it was a gift and that she used it to outfit herself as becomes the wife of a successful
merchant. She then offers to repay her husband with her “jolly body.”

The Prioress’s Tale

The Prioress describes how a widow’s devout young son is abducted by Jews, who are
supposedly prompted by Satan to murder the child to stop him from singing the
hymn “O Alma redemptoris” to the Virgin Mary. One of the Jews slits the boy’s
throat and casts his body into an open sewer. Miraculously, the boy is still able to sing and
does so until his mother and a group of Christians find him. A provost condemns the guilty
Jews to be executed, and before he dies the boy explains how the Virgin enabled him to
continue singing after his throat was slit.
The Tale of Sir Thopas
the poet tells of Sir Thopas’s search for the Elf Queen and of his encounter with the
giant Sir Olifaunt. Before Chaucer can finish the story, however, the host of the Tabard
Inn interrupts, begging him to stop the wretched doggerel.
The Tale of Melibeus
Long (over a thousand lines) and—despite the host’s earlier entreaties for something lively—
dull, it is essentially a moral debate between Prudence and her husband Melibeus, with
occasional comments by his friends, on the subject of vengeance. Prudence urges her
husband to forgive the enemies who have assaulted and wounded their
daughter. Her advice is couched largely in proverbs, and both sides quote liberally from
such various moral authorities as the biblical figure Job, St. Paul, St. Augustine, Ovid,
Seneca, and Cicero. Melibeus eventually agrees to make peace with his enemies, but only
after he has rebuked them.

The Monk’s Tale

The brawny Monk relates a series of 17 tragedies based on the fall from glory of
various biblical, classical, and contemporary figures, including Lucifer and
Adam; Nero and Julius Caesar; Zenobia, a 3rd-century queen of Palmyra; and several
14th-century kings. After 775 lines of lugubrious recital, the Knight and the Host interrupt,
bored by the list of disasters.

The Nun’s Priest’s Tale

The protagonist of this mock-heroic story is Chanticleer, a rooster with seven wives,
foremost among them the hen Pertelote. Pertelote dismisses Chanticleer’s
dream of being attacked and tells him to go about his business. A fox soon
approaches and flatters him, recalling the exquisite song of Chanticleer’s
father. The vain rooster is thus tricked into closing his eyes and crowing, only to be seized
by the fox and carried off. As Chanticleer’s owners and the animals of the barnyard run after
them, Chanticleer suggests that his captor yell to tell them to turn back. When the fox opens
his mouth, the rooster escapes. The tale ends with a warning against flattery.

The Manciple’s Tale

The Manciple, or steward, tells a story about the origin of the crow, based on the myth of
Apollo and Coronis as told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Phebus (Phoebus) kept a snow-
white crow that could mimic any human voice. The bird witnesses Phebus’s wife
with her lover and informs his keeper. Phebus kills his wife in a jealous rage. Later,
feeling remorseful, he blames the crow for his madness, plucks out its feathers, turns the bird
black, and commends it to the devil.

The Parson’s Tale—The tale is a lengthy prose sermon on the seven deadly sins. Chaucer
may have intended this tale, with its plethora of pious quotations, as a fitting close to the
stories of the religious pilgrims. After reviewing the sins of Pride, Envy, Anger, Sloth,
Avarice, Gluttony, and Lechery and their remedies, the Parson urges confession and
satisfaction (that is, atonement through such acts as almsgiving, penance, and fasting