Bede/Canterbury Tales Notes

Pg. 74-82 Bede

.Bede generated his history of Britain through the monastery he was part of and used all the resources around him such as books and other monks.

.Britain being isolated from Europe still contained very fertile land and had bountiful resources such as precious metals and sea life.

.There were only 4 major nations including the English, British, Scots, and Picts.

.There was five languages spoken in Britain.

.The Scottish had their own land but eventually aligned themselves with the British.

.The Picts wanted to settle with the Scots but were not allowed since the Scots thought there wasn't enough room for the both of them.

.The Picts were forced to settle with the British and they took Scottish wives in order to have kings of royal blood.

.The British were the first to colonize.

.The Vikings were split between East Anglia and Northumbria and took ships to attack the English.

.The killed many of their thanes, ealdorman in Kent, and even raided Wessex with ash-ships.

.The English eventually constructed naval longboats in order to combat the Vikings.

.Eventually a peace treaty with East Anglia and Northumbria was created to stop the raiding.

Author

.Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400) late-fourteenth-century English poet. Little is known about Chaucer’s personal life, and even less about his education, but a number of existing records document his professional life. Chaucer was born in London in the early 1340s, the only son in his family. Father of modern English and used techniques to describe fault in characters without actually saying it in which he made the reader form their own opinion against the characters such as in Caesar with Mark Anthony’s speech at Caesars funeral.

The Canterbury Tales: The Prologue pg. 94-115

. At the Tabard Inn, a tavern in Southwark, near London, the narrator joins a company of twenty-nine pilgrims.

. The pilgrims, like the narrator, are traveling to the shrine of the martyr Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury.

. The narrator begins his character portraits with the Knight. In the narrator’s eyes, the Knight is the noblest of the pilgrims, embodying military prowess, loyalty, honor, generosity, and good manners. The knight doesn’t just exemplify these things he loves them.

. The squire a 20 year old son of the knight who is a strong, beautiful, curly-haired young man dressed in clothes embroidered with dainty flowers, the Squire fights in the hope of winning favor with his lady. He is also devoted to love just a different kind and server very well to his father.

. Yeoman or freeborn servant. The Yeoman wears green from head to toe and carries an enormous bow and beautifully feathered arrows, as well as a sword and small shield. His gear and attire suggest that he is a forester.

. Prioress, named Madame Eglentyne. Although the Prioress is not part of the royal court, she does her best to imitate its manners. She also is very passionate for the feeling of animals such as the car of her dogs.

. The Monk is  extremely handsome, he loves hunting and keeps many horses. He is an outrider at his monastery. The Monk is aware that the rule of his monastic order discourages monks from engaging in activities like hunting, but he dismisses such strictures as worthless. The narrator says that he agrees with the Monk. The fat, bald, and well-dressed Monk resembles a prosperous lord.

. Friar a member of a religious order who lives entirely by begging. This friar is jovial, pleasure-loving, well-spoken, and socially agreeable. He hears confessions, and assigns very easy penance to people who donate money. He resembles a well dress upper classman.

. The white-bearded Franklin is a wealthy gentleman farmer, possessed of lands but not of noble birth. His chief attribute is his preoccupation with food.

.The Chef who is a skillful Cook, whom Chaucer would praise fully were it not for the ulcer on his shin.

. The taffeta-clad Physician bases his practice of medicine and surgery on a thorough knowledge of astronomy and the four humors. He has a good setup with his apothecaries, because they make each other money.

. Slightly deaf Wife of Bath who is a keen seamstress is always first to the offering at Mass, and if someone goes ahead of her she gets upset. She has had 5 husbands over her time around the world and protruding gaps in her teeth otherwise she is just a jolly woman.

. A gentle and poor village Parson is described next. Pure of conscience and true to the teachings of Christ, the Parson enjoys preaching and instructing his parishioners, but he hates excommunicating those who cannot pay their tithes.

. The red-haired Miller loves crude, bawdy jokes and drinking. He is immensely stout and strong, able to lift doors off their hinges or knock them down by running at them with his head. He steals from his customers and plays the bag pipes.

. The Manicple stocks an Inn of Court or school of law with provisions. Uneducated though he is, this Manciple is smarter than most of the lawyers he serves.

. The Summoner arraigns those accused of violating Church law. When drunk, he ostentatiously spouts the few Latin phrases he knows. His face is bright red from an unspecified disease. He uses his power corruptly for his own gain.

. The Pardoner, who had just been in the court of Rome, rides with the Summoner. He sings with his companion, and has long, flowing, yellow hair. The narrator mentions that the Pardoner thinks he rides very fashionably, with nothing covering his head. He has brought back many souvenirs from his trip to Rome.

                         Collaboration notes Marcel and Jared Dube