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
