The Middle Ages

and
The Canterbury Tales
 Table of Contents
1. Estates in medieval society
2. Norman Invasion
3. Feudalism
4. Chivalry/women
5. Languages
6. The Crusades
7. Thomas a Becket
8. Magna Carta
9. Hundred Years’ War
10. Black Death
11. OE/ME
12. Romance
13. Chaucer
14. CT structure
15. CT contents
 Norman Invasion…Why?
• The invasion of England by William was triggered by an event that took
place in the year 1051. During this year, William met his cousin the English
king, Edward the Confessor in England. The Norman history illustrates that
during this meeting,
• Edward being childless gave William his word to make him his legal heir.
However, while breathing his last the king ended up granting permission of
kingship to Harold Godwine who belonged to an extremely powerful noble
family.
• The death of King Edward in January 1066 and the subsequent
announcement of Harold Godwine as the king set off a conflict between King
Harold II and William, who desired his rightful claim to the English throne.
However, even before King Harold could defend his thrown from William, he
was defeated by his own brother Tostig and was forced to leave the English
Channel.
• The King finally managed to take control of the situation on 25th September
1066 by killing both King Harold III and Tostig at Stamford Bridge.
Medieval society made up of 3 “estates”:
1. nobility—rulers (hereditary)
2. church—spiritual welfare of society
3. everyone else—mass of commoners who
did work to provide for physical needs
Feudalism
This code was central
to medieval social
values.

Women were always

subservient to men;
her value depended
on the value of the
land she brought to a
marriage.
 3 languages spoken at this time:

French (nobility)

Latin (church, businesses, scholars/schools)

English (common people)

 The Crusades
• 1095-1270
• The Catholic church sponsored a series of
military expeditions to the Middle East to
win Jerusalem and the Holy Land from
Muslims.
• Ultimately failed, but contributed to
weakening feudalism.
 Thomas á Becket
Under feudalism, the king appointed
bishops and gave them land; some
held high positions in the
government. People began to
complain about government control
of the church and church control in
nonreligious matters.

•King Henry II appointed Thomas a Becket (priest) as Archbishop of

Canterbury (head of RC Church in England).
•Becket opposed to king’s attempts to establish royal rights over the church
(especially the right of the king’s courts to punish church officials who
committed crimes).
•Henry once angrily exclaimed, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?”
•Four knights took him literally and murdered Becket in Canterbury Cathedral,
where he was praying.
•Murder shocked Christians of Europe, Becket was made a saint.
•Shrine dedicated to Becket is the destination in The Canterbury Tales.
Magna Carta
• Barons (lowest member of
British nobility) were taxed
excessively to pay for
military campaigns/wars
(like the Crusades).

• Barons finally fed up, in

1215 revolted against taxes
and forced the king to sign
the Magna Carta (placed
king under the law to
protect citizens).
 The Hundred Years’ War

• 1337-1453
• Series of wars between England and
France; England lost all of its remaining
territory in Europe
• After this, less French influence on
English culture. English became the
language of the nobility, courts,
parliament, etc
 The Black Death
• During Hundred Years’ War; first hit England in
1348

• Epidemic of bubonic plague; spread by the bite of

infected fleas carried by rats**

• Painful swellings, high fever, body aches; death

within five days of contraction.

• Called Black Death because of the way victims

looked in final stages: as respiratory systems
failed, bodies turned dark purple and developed
soft black swellings.

• Killed about 1/3 of England’s people

• The plague still exists! Small outbreaks have

occurred as recently as 1994; scientists have
developed vaccines and antibiotics to stop future
outbreaks.

• Caused a labor shortage, so workers could demand

more money and peasants could demand lower
rent on their land. Landlords lost money; this
meant more and larger cities, more people moved
there; feudalism broke down even more
**Recently, scientists have found inconsistencies that
they say prove the Black Death was NOT the bubonic
plague; instead, it may have been an early ancestor of
 Old English/Middle English
By 1300s, Middle English spoken
– Old English literature spoke for the nobility;
spoke with one dignified voice
– Middle English literature spoke for everybody;
spoke with many voices, wide variety of topics

By late 14th century, large and prosperous

middle class was emerging (Chaucer born
into this middle class).
 Romance
Romance became the most popular type/genre of literature:
• Describes the adventures of a legendary knight; celebrates
chivalry and emphasizes courtly love
• Courtly love: a man’s love for one idealized (nearly perfect)
woman makes him a better person; ideally nonsexual; wore
her colors in battle, inspired by her, but she’s always out of
reach
• Heroes are admirable men who share weaknesses and
feelings of ordinary humans (OE heroes seemed like
superheroes; impossibly perfect)
• Many romances were about King Arthur and the knights of
the Round Table.
 Geoffrey Chaucer

• The greatest English writer of the Middle Ages; well-known government official
(like a presidential adviser)
• Son of prosperous wine merchant
• In early teens, was placed as a page in an aristocratic household
• Held many administrative posts—was a hardworking civil servant
• His wife, Philippa, was daughter of a knight (she was of a higher rank than her
husband)
• Probably wrote most of his poetry in French (language of art and literature), but he
also spoke Italian and could read Latin
• Born into upper middle class, but attained rank of “esquire” (gentleman) because he
associated with aristocracy and served them; he came into contact with both
commoners and aristocracy but was not securely anchored in either world
 CT Structure
Canterbury Tales written
in late 1300s

• Collection of stories told

by people making a
religious pilgrimage
(journey) to shrine of
St. Thomas a Becket in
Canterbury

• Chaucer introduced
iambic pentameter
(each line = 10 syllables,
one stressed, one
unstressed); most
widely used meter in
English poetry

• frame story—provides
a means for telling other Originally intended to include 122 stories (2 for each
stories within the story; pilgrim on the way, 2 each on the way back). Only
frame = pilgrimage completed 22 stories. Pilgrims never get to
Canterbury.
 CT Characters
29 diverse pilgrims; meet at an inn, decide to tell stories to pass the time
Pilgrims represent medieval life and society (Chaucer commenting on societal
conditions):

• Feudal system—
knight, squire,
yeoman, franklin,
plowman, miller, reeve

• Religious life—
nun, monk, friar,
cleric, parson,
summoner, pardoner

• Trades/professions—
merchant, sergeant at
the law, five
tradesmen, cook,
skipper, doctor, wife of
bath, manciple, host