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

ELIZABETHAN PERIOD

Historical Context

The second half of the 15 century and the 16" century were a turbulent age in English history.

In the 15 century The Wars of the Roses, the rivalry between two aristocratic houses, of York and of
Lancaster, ended with the victory of the Lancaster family, when their distant cousin, Henry Tudor,
claimed the throne.

He was crowned as Henry VII, starting the Tudor dynasty. Throughout the Tudor reign, England
constantly fought with its continental neighbors.

■The old aristocracy lost most of its wealth and power in the Wars of the Roses, so Henry VIII in the
16 cent, began giving titles to people from the middle class, making the new aristocracy, faithful to the
king above all else.

The middle class was growing richer and more powerful. The communications revolution, started with
the printing press, resulted in the fact that in 1600 nearly half of the population had some kind of
minimal literacy.

The spirit of the Renaissance began to show in England. The rising middle class had access to
education, could read and write in their mother tongue, instead of Latin, and was becoming aware of
endless possibilities for wealth and success that lay in trade and the New World.

In the 1530s, Henry VIII broke with Rome. So in the 16"century, there happened 3 influential
historical developments: the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the emergence of England as a
maritime power.
The English Literary Renaissance - from the ascent of the House of Tudor to the English throne to
1660.

Elizabethan Age

The reign of Elizabeth I was also a turbulent period, but she successfully coped with all the difficulties.
England was threatened by the superpowers of the age - France and Spain. Elizabeth was
excommunicated by the Pope in 1570. She was in constant fear for her life. Nevertheless, English
ships beat the Spanish Armada in 1588. Elizabeth managed to maintain a relative peace between the
protestants and the Catholics. She tried to unite her people, by insisting that they are all English. This
worked well most of the time, and the people developed a sense of national pride.

Elizabethan Literature

The English Literary Renaissance consists of four subsets: The Elizabethan Age, the Jacobean Age,
the Caroline Age and the Commonwealth Period.

The Elizabethan era saw a great flourishing of literature, especially in the field of drama. The other
major literary style was lyric poetry. Many of the most important dramatists of the period were also
excellent poets.

Elizabethan Poetry

Before and during the Elizabethan Age, medieval tradition blended with Renaissance spirit of
optimism and freedom.

■The two poets who introduced novelties into lyric poetry before the Elizabethan Age were Sir
Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey.

SONNET - the dominant form of poetry of the Elizabethan Age

- Origins: Italy 13 c. - Petrarch (14" c.), Canzoniere (Laura), established the sonnet as one of the
major poetic forms: love poem; devotion to the Lady who is usually unattainable; 14 lines -

Brought to England in the early 16th century by Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard Earl of Surrey;
they adapted the form to the English language

At the time, the writing of poetry was part of the education of a gentleman. Sonnets were very popular
among the upper classes, and collections of sonnets and lyrics were often published. Aristocrats who
did not write poetry themselves were usually patrons to other poets, giving them financial support.

W. Shakespeare was one of these poets, since his collection of sonnets (1609) is dedicated to his
patron, a young man of good family. Scholars are not certain when each of the 154 sonnets was
composed, but evidence suggests that Shakespeare wrote sonnets throughout his career for a private
readership.

☐ One of the best lyrical poets of the Elizabethan Age was Edmund Spenser. In 1579 he produced a
poem in 12 books, called The Shepherd's Calendar.

It is significant for experimenting in meter and form, and the subject matter is diverse, but mainly
pastoral.
■ Spenser's greatest work is another long poem, The Fairie Queene. Spenser invented a special
meter for it, called the 'Spenserian Stanza', which has often been used since.

His best works also include poems Epithalamion, Prothalamion, and a collection of sonnets, Amoretti.