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Chaucer’s England (ca. 1340-1400)

Chaucer’s England (ca. 1340-1400). Social background. Social structure: God Pope King __________________________________________ Three estates: Noblility (military, defends the body politic) Clergy (looks out for population’s spiritual welfare)

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Chaucer’s England (ca. 1340-1400)

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  1. Chaucer’s England(ca. 1340-1400)

  2. Social background Social structure: God Pope King __________________________________________ Three estates: Noblility (military, defends the body politic) Clergy (looks out for population’s spiritual welfare) Laborers / peasants (does the work and produces necessities)

  3. Social turmoil and change • Three estates: by late 14th century, estates are not so separate. Birth, wealth, profession, personal ability all determine one’s status. • Rising merchant / middle class allows individuals to ascend to higher ranks than those to which they are born… through wealth and connections, they can achieve power in the church or the court (Chaucer is among them). • The Plague • 3 outbreaks in England: 1348 (largest), 1361, 1369 • After the 1348 “Black Plague,” England lost a fifth of its population • After all three outbreaks and by 1400, half of the population was gone; England also hit by severe drought and famine… how might this change the status of the worker?

  4. Social and Political Unrest • 1337: beginning of 100 Years War between England and France. Constant and continuous warfare. Wearisome and wasteful. • 1381: Peasants’ Revolt against unfair taxation by Richard II. • 1391: Richard II overthrown by Henry Bolingbroke. See Shakespeare!

  5. Literary Change • People attempted to recreate the events and conditions of the reign of King Arthur, indulged in literature of courtly love… escapism? Idealism? “the good old days”? • 1350: English vernacular becomes the language taught in schools • Chaucer puts English on the map… he “rescues” and justifies writing poetry in the vernacular. Similar trend occurs earlier in Italy, when Dante writes his epic Divine Comedy in vernacular.

  6. Geoffrey Chaucer’s literary contributions • Born to a wine merchant, soon begins working in the royal court as accountant and diplomat; within three generations, his progeny are members of the aristocracy. • Travels widely, masters French, Italian, Latin • Translates the French “Romance of the Rose,” • While in Italy, encounters works of Boccaccio (The Decameron), Dante (The Divine Comedy) Petrarch; incorporates them into his own poetry • Translates Boethius’s “The Consolation of Philosophy” from Latin to English

  7. The Canterbury Tales Frame story (see “The General Prologue”): a group of 29 pilgrims (including “Chaucer”) assemble at the Tabard Inn in Southwerk on pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral. Host Harry Bailly proposes a game: each pilgrim will tell 4 tales en route and the teller of the best tale wins a free meal when they return. In full, The Canterbury Tales would have been a collection of 120 stories; alas, Chaucer only finished 22. Chaucer’s pilgrims are picked from a wide spectrum of ranks and occupations… expect some tension!

  8. Pilgrimage What is a pilgrimage? “The Way is both God and man– God as the goal and man as the means to reach it”– Augustine, City of God

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