The canterbury tales

"The Canterbury Tales" are a series of stories written in verse. The framework which serves to connect them is a pilgrimage to Canterbury. The distance from London to Canterbury is 60 miles, but in those days there was no straight road to go by.

Pilgrimages of every kind were extremely common in Chaucer's time. Such j6urneys were no doubt very valuable as means by which to break the monotony of life in days when there were no newspapers, no printed books, nor any theatres. Many people looked forward to them as to pleasant holiday excursions. The months for these pilgrimages were April and May, because spring is the best season in the British Isles.

The most popular English pilgrimage was to Canterbury. Second Canterbury was the town of Chester where people could see plays based on Bible stories performed in the churches: Pilgrimage town were Wood with ^nas and churches. Bells were constantly ringing. Some tyWehes had relics of the saints, .and people believed these had the 'miraculous power to cure diseases. Other people were attracted by the ^tifal monuments. At Canterbury Cathedral there is the shrine

Thomas Becket, a bishop of the 12th century, whostruggjed against tor the independence of the Church. He was murdered by 'King Henry, and later made a Catholic saint.

. The pilgrimage was a “democratic institution", which means that co and poor, noble and peasant rode side by side and stopped at the inns.

Chaucer opens his work with a prologue to the whole work.

The prologue

In the prologue thirty men and women from all ranks of society pass before our eyes. Chaucer draws arapid portrait of each traveller, thus showing his character.

There was a brave knight who loved truth, honour and generosity. He had been in armed expeditions in the Mediterranean, had travelled in the North and had even been to Russia. His son was a young squire with curled hair. His clothes were "as gay as a meadow with white and red flowers" and he had long white sleeves. He had been on « cavalry raids in France and had fought well "in hope to win his Lady's grace Their servant was a yeoman dressed in the clothes of a forester.

They were followed by two nuns and three priests. One of the nuns was a prioress, the head of the nunnery. She had a long face and a small mouth and wept easily: "A mouse in a trap would make her cry". She could sing all that was sung in churches and spoke French as it was spoken in England, for "French in the Paris style she did not know". She had very good manners at table. She never let a crumb fall from her lips and never dipped her fingers deep in the sauce. "And she was dressed with graceful charm."

There was a fat monk who loved hunting and a good dinner better than prayers. His hood and his sleeves were decorated with fine fur and his greyhounds and horse were of the best. Another monk, though not so rich, also liked to have a good time:

"He knew the taverns well in every town and every innkeeper and barmaid too".

A student of Oxford in a shabby cloak rode a lean horse. He was thin and pale:

"Whatever money from his friends he took, he spent on learning and another book". There was another woman in the company, the wife of a burgess (merchant). She was merry and strong, though no longer young, and little hard of hearing. She tiad red cheeks and red stockings on her fat legs, and her hat was as broad as a shield. She came from the town of Bath and was mounted on a good horse. She liked to talk other youth and her five husbands.

Then we see other townsfolk: a merchant with a forked beard "always talking about his profits but telling nobody of his debts"; a man of law "who was less busy than he seemed to be".

Then came a poor priest and his brother, a ploughman, riding a mare. The ploughman was a hard worker with a true heart, and the priest was one of those who never talked much and who did all he could to help the poor. He was "the doer of the word before he taught it".

A very stout fellow with red hair and a broad red beard trotted beside them. "His mighty mouth was like a furnace doer." This disagreeable man was a miller. His language was very rude. Dishonest in his work, "his was a master-hand at stealing grain".

Not far behind them rode some other servants of the Church. One of them had'greedy eyes and yellow hair "that thinly fell like rat-tails one by one. He sold relics: pigbones in small glass cases, which he said were the bones of saints. He also sold "pardons", "hot from the Court of Rome" (that is to say. he sold papers signed in advance by the Pope, and those who bought them had their sins pardoned). "He got more money in a day than a peasant in two months."

Several other professional men and some tradesmen of the time were there too: a tax-collector, a physician, a carpenter and a shipman, even a provisioner and a cook, Finally we see Chaucer himself and a certain Harry Bailly the host (owner) of a London inn, from which they all started on the journey.

Harry Bailly wished to accompany them. On the night before, he had proposed the following plan: each pilgrim was to tell two stories on the way to the shrine and two on the way back, and he, the host, would be their guide and would judge their stories He who told the est story was to have a fine supper at the expense of the others. , 'Before each new story begins, there is a short prologue in which we host speaks to the story-teller. He wants the stories to be inter­esting. He also takes care that the friendship which has grown up amon,.' the pilgrims should not change to hostility. Chaucer keeps all his char acters alive in these conversations with the host.

he spirit of the day is felt best in the only story based on events typical of Chaucer's time. This is the tale of the canon's yeoman. It deals with the secret of the philosopher's stone and shows what science was like at that time.