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Home , The Canterbury Tales

Masaryk University Brno

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

Department of and Literature

Tomáš Juránek

English and Englishness in Tales

Bachelor Thesis

Brno 2015

Supervisor: Mgr. Jaroslav Izavčuk

Declaration

Hereby I declare that I have worked on my thesis independently and that I have used only the sources listed in the Bibliography

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Declaration

I would like to thank Mgr. Jaroslav Izavčuk and express my gratitude for his patience and supervision of my thesis

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Annotation

This bachelor thesis discusses the reflection of Englishness in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in medieval and culture in 14th century. Its main aims are to analyse the characters from the English point of view and study the idea of Englishness. It describes the three estates in medieval England and their portrayal in The Canterbury Tales.

Key Words

England, Englishness, Canterbury Tales, Chaucer

Anotace

Tato bakalářská práce zkoumá odraz angličnosti v Chaucerových Canterburských Povídkách odehrávajících se ve středověké Anglii 14.století. Její hlavní cíle jsou analyzovat postavy z Anglického pohledu a studovat teorii angličnosti. Práce popisuje tři statky ve středověké Anglii a jejich popis v Canterburských Povídkách

Klíčová slova

Anglie, Angličnost, Canterburské Povídky, Chaucer

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Table of Contents 1 Introduction ...... 6 2 – Politician, Poet, Englishman ...... 8 3 English nationalism and Englishness in the Middle Ages ...... 10 3.1 The Church of England ...... 11 3.2 The Nobility ...... 12 3.3 The Commoners ...... 14 4 England and Englishness in The Canterbury Tales ...... 17 4.1 Clergymen ...... 17 4.1.1 The Parson’s penitence ...... 17 4.1.2 The hypocritical Friar...... 18 4.1.3 The corrupt Summoner ...... 19 4.1.4 The crooked Pardoner ...... 20 4.1.5 The gluttonous Monk ...... 21 4.2 Members of the court ...... 22 4.2.1 The adventurer – the Knight ...... 22 4.2.2 The Knight’s son, the Squire ...... 24 4.2.3 The Man of Law’s Tale...... 24 4.3 The Commoners of Canterbury Tales ...... 26 4.3.1 The working class stereotype? The Miller...... 26 4.3.2 The Reeve’s tale ...... 27 4.3.3 The Shipman ...... 28 4.3.4 The Wife of Bath’s Tale ...... 28 5 Conclusion ...... 31 Bibliography ...... 32

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1 Introduction

Every country has its national treasure, a symbol of their identity, something to be proud of. To identify such artefact, one needs to search in history and study a nation’s background, influences, and events that shaped each country. England and especially Great Britain is rich in its history and significant episodes that influenced the whole world. The idea of Englishness is different for every citizen of the British Isles as they are from dissimilar countries; Irish and Scots have different point of view on England than English patriots. The question is: What is Englishness for Brits? Is it their language? Kings and Queens? Colonization of distant lands? Shakespeare? This thesis is going to focus on fourteenth century and search for evidence of Englishness in The Canterbury Tales written by the father of English poetry, Geoffrey Chaucer, and compare them with the idea of Englishness in popular culture. It is vital to travel into the past in order to discover the present English anxiety about themselves and recognize the thing that created ideal Englishman and Englishwoman who carried the flag across the world. (Paxman, viii)

To understand Englishness, it is important to look at the environment and values in Chaucer’s era and see which of these persisted until today’s England as well as changes that happened in feudal England – the which wiped out over third of the population, wars that lead to tax increase and peasant revolts, and finally reformation of the Church. In the third chapter, the thesis describes medieval England and its people. It analyses social ranks along with their culture and nationalism. Some say that English thought they possessed some unique gift from God. As Ogden Nash wrote:

“Let us pause to consider the English, who when they pause to consider themselves they get all reticently thrilled and tinglish, because every Englishman is convinced of one thing, viz; That to be an Englishman is to belong to the most exclusive club there is.”

The fourth chapter applies all the facts on the characters from The Canterbury Tales. It is based on findings from literary sources by various authors with different points of view on . It is divided into three parts – The Clergy, The

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Members of the Court, and the Working class. The thesis focuses on reflections of Englishness in characters’ behaviour and motivations.

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2 Geoffrey Chaucer – Politician, Poet, Englishman

He was born in around 1343 to a wine merchant from Ipswich. Although his father was wealthy, he was ‘only’ a merchant. Therefore, Chaucer moved to higher social circles and by the age of 17 public records saw him as a pajettus1 for the Countess of Ulster. Then he joined the army and fought in the Hundred Years War in France and was captured during the Siege of Rheims and eventually released after a ransom of sixteen pounds was paid. It is said that by Edward III himself. Then he moved steadily from court to greater court until, by the age of 27, he became an esquire2 in the court of the king himself.

Since Chaucer was born near the end of a period of vast French influence he would have learnt French and spoken to his parents in both English and French. At this time English was the language of the poor and common folk. Only aristocrats spoke French and Chaucer would not be able to move in ranks without knowing the languages. Chaucer travelled often to France and Italy to fulfil tasks given to him by the King. During these trips, he studied French and Italian poetry. He was especially impressed by the works of Boccaccio. Back in England, poems were either English of French poems (Roman de la Rose3) or plain copies based on French style. At this point, Chaucer started inventing his own style.

It is known that Chaucer did not write at all until he was more stable in his career which was in his thirties. In 1347 he was offered a job as the Port of London Controller of Customs where he was supposed to keep accurate records of the various payments of the export duty on wool, one of England’s most important tax revenues. (CT, 3) And it was not only wool he got in contact. Trading with various luxury fabrics coming to and from London made him well acquainted with clothes and this fact reflected in The Canterbury Tales as he described every character’s clothing in a very detailed manner.

However, this is not his first work and he had plenty of time to practice his writing and style. His first poem was Anelida and Arcite and it was based on Italian epic

1 A page 2 Rank just below a Knight 3 French medieval poem, translated into as „“. The is thought to be Chaucer‘s 8 by Boccaccio – Teseida. Also the Knight’s tale in The Canterbury Tales is based on Teseida. This poem tales the tale of Armenian queen Anelida and her experience at the court of the Grecian Arcite. Lots of Chaucer’s poems written after that, were dream visions. In this genre the narrator is dreaming and relates everything he has apprehended. Such poems are for example , a 2000-line dream vision from 1380, or where the narrator travels to Venus’ temple.

His first great work on Middle English was a poem – a classic tragedy about two doomed lovers. He was able to finish Troilus and Criseyde unlike his other poems including The Canterbury Tales which is his most famous work.

Chaucer did not finish The Canterbury Tales and set it aside around 1390. He died ten years later on 25 October 1400 and as a courtier he got a burial in Westminster Abbey where his tomb, in 1556, was moved to the Poets’ Corner. There he rests with famous poets like Milton or Shakespeare but Geoffrey Chaucer was the first of great English poets.

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3 English nationalism and Englishness in the Middle Ages

Although often described as “Dark Ages”, medieval England is portrayed as the era of chivalrous knights and expansion of cities and faith. It is also the era of “Black Death”, Hundred Years War, and the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 which are also mentioned in The Canterbury Tales. For three hundred years, since the 1066 Norman Conquest, English were introduced to new rulers who eliminated the land owners and clergy from the top class. English had been second to French, the language of the aristocracy, and educated. They spoke only Anglo-Norman although most people were acquainted with English. Basil Cottle mentions a chronicler, Robert of Gloucester, describing the late thirteenth century:

...the Norman could not speak anything then except their own speech, and they spoke French as they had done at home, and had their children taught it, too, so that important men in this country who come from their stock all keep to that same speech that they derived from them; because, unless a man knows French, he is thought little of. But humble men keep to English and their own speech still. I reckon there are no countries in the whole world that do not keep to their own speech, except England only. (16)

When King Edward I. issued warrants for parliament in 1295 he stated that the King of France planned to invade England and eradicate English language.

Henry Lambard, a cleric, who was brought before a court in 1323 to clear himself of charges of theft. He introduced himself in English as a cleric and when asked if he knew any of French, he replied that as an English-born, it is proper to speak his mother tongue. He rejected speaking any languages but English. He rejected to answer the court and was sentenced to suffer peine forte et dure.4

But more people like Lambard and especially Chaucer wanted the English language to be as versatile and aristocratic as French. The English found interest in their native tongue, in this case, Middle English, and since then the language has never been the same.

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3.1 The Church of England

However, Middle English did not get into the circles of clergy. The Bible was still in Latin and any attempts to translate it into English were seen as heresy and were punished in accordance with the law – usually by burning the victim alive.

In Chaucer’s era the Church was weak. It suffered from abuse from inside its sacred wall and from without as well. But it was not only the Church’s fault as there were causes that led to the weakness at that time and were so obvious that were a great influence to Chaucer’s writing: the Black Death, the worldly self-seeking of churchmen, and the Great Western Schism. The Church wanted to become independent and move to the top of the social ladder meaning becoming the top estate in England.

The concept of the three estates led towards the division of the society into clergy, nobles, and common folk. This was an invention of the Church therefore, it is no wonder that the Church constituted the first estate and wanted to be recognized as sovereign institution. Yet, to separate the Church from the state was unthinkable so the Church was strongly anchored in society and government. Jeffrey L.Forgeng on clergy:

“There were to sorts of clergy in the fourteenth century. The secular clergy such as the parish priest, lived in seculo, “in the world.” Their primary responsibility was to attend to the spiritual needs of the laity, nonclerical people of the other two estates. The regular clergy consisted of monks and friars, who were regulated by rules that dictated lives of ascenticism and discipline. In all, the clergy may have accounted for something over one per cent of the population. They were instantly recognizable by their tonsure, or clerical haircut. Their heads were shaven on top, with the rest of hair worn short, and their facial hair was shaven too. In addition, members of the regular clergy wore habits, or special clothing, indicating the order to which they belonged. Secular clergy did not necessarily wear distinctive dress except during religious rituals – moralists railed against clergymen who insisted on wearing the latest immodest fashions. Aside from nuns, the clergy were all male; and aside from the minor orders, they were sworn to a life of celibacy.” (27)

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What is more, nobody was born into clergy unlike the other two estates. People voluntarily entered the nunneries and monasteries to become priests and nuns. Their motives differed; religious reasons, lack of land and consequences of the Hundred Years War, social advancement, or more devious intentions.

The Church had its own hierarchy thus entering an order did not necessarily mean a good position on a social ladder. The prelates were at the top, that is two archbishops and more than a dozen bishops then the abbots of bigger monasteries and priors of larger priories. All these had a steady income and a seat in the House of Lords. On the level below were deans who took care of cathedrals. The clergy on higher levels were usually wealthy and their lifestyle could be compared to one of a lord.

In The Canterbury Tales, there are characters of all ranks with different backgrounds and agendas. Chaucer surely had a negative point of view on the representatives of the Church and their activities. When describing the Monk, who is supposed to be a modest servant living in poverty, he criticized him as a materialistic and fond of hunting. His coats are lined with the finest fur and he is familiar with women. Chaucer did not clearly state they are “liars” but he definitely sees them as deceptive and corrupt. He also describes the hypocrisy of the pilgrims and the way they justify their behaviour through the interpretation of faith and writings. Example of such hypocrisy is the Summoner who sells indulgences under false excuses. All these traits are contrary to the religious vows of poverty and chastity and Chaucer’s humour draws attention in hope that people will rectify these offences.

This kind of poking fun has always been a privilege of the English and people usually connect making fun of authorities with British humour. In modern days it was for example a famous group “Monty Python” who used not to mock but to expose and merely bring attention to some of the wrongs not just in the Church but also politics and other areas.

3.2 The Nobility

The only place in every village where the politics happened was the manor. Villagers and the aristocracy could meet here. The feudal system was characterized by the field system with workers bound to the soil and they had to mill in the lord’s mill. Society

12 was based around the manor, the lord, and his subjects. Serfs could not marry off their off springs without the consent of the lord. Just like clergy, the aristocracy represented about one per cent of total population leaving the 98% of commoners. The economic range of aristocracy spanned from annual income of £30 up to £12000 for the top nobles. To become an aristocrat was simply a matter of receiving the title or being born with “blue blood” meaning that their ancestors were of warrior class.

Such was the purpose of nobility, to fight on behalf of the other two states (clergy and commoners). Their job was war and justice and aristocratic men-at-arms, in cultural sphere, enjoyed a kind of prestige even the richest commoner lacked. (Forgeng and McLean, 21) Although not all nobles lived by these rules, the aristocrats were unified by a set of virtues – prowess and courage which helped to identify them as a class. The nobles were the elite and they fit the description of what would one day become “The Breed”. Paxman says about the Breed:

“They were bold, unreflective, and crashingly pragmatic, men you could trust. It has been the misfortune of the English male that, just as he found himself living in a country different to the one he imagined himself to be living in, so the so-called English ideal excluded most of the population from the identity with which they had been born.”(177-178)

The idea of the Breed can be identified in Chaucer’s Knight’s tale where the Knight represents the highest social rank and his son, the Squire is an aspiring knight as well. The Breed was a mass produced instrument of the nineteenth century England and similarly to medieval knights it was a male only business.

At the top of this class was The King. Although being the ruler of all England appointed by the God his power was not unlimited. Often he needed to protect his throne against rebels, other aristocracy, and powerful commoners. During Chaucer’s era, Edward III had to deal with such rebellion in 1381. Chaucer used this event to ’s poem in The Nun’s Priest’s tale. Otherwise he did not relate to this event since he was a member of the King’s court and it would be politically ill-judged to write about it. King’s income derived from various land taxes, tolls, customs, but was never enough to run England. In this case he had to rely on the nobility to levy taxes.

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The nobility were titled aristocracy who were usually close relatives of the king. These were dukes and there were not many of them. Then there were earls and barons, less wealthy and powerful and they had duties in the Parliament.

The Knights – an aristocratic rank without hereditary title. Knights had to earn this title during their life and they did not pass it on to their children. Earlier, the English knights were men with income high enough to buy a horse and a set of armour. In fourteenth century it was any man who had lands worth £40 a year could become a knight. In fact, the king would him if he did not. (Forgeng and McLean, 22) On the other hand, many who could be knighted declined this honour. Social reputation was not the only benefit of this position; it had its burdens as well. Knights had to attend a lot of duties which were mostly not paid and their lands were under different feudal expenses which commoners avoided.

Forgeng and McLean wrote:

“There were something fewer than 1000 knights in Chaucer’s England. The most important, able to afford to raise substantial retinues to fight under their banner, were called knights banneret, the remainder knights bachelor. The distinguishing symbol of knighthood was a pair of golden spurs, buckled on as part of the knighting ceremony. Also during the ceremony the new knight would be belted with a sword belt, often white in token of purity. The spurs were sometimes worn afterwards on ceremonial occasions, although this does not appear to have been the case with belt. (22)

The knights were not on their own. Often they were accompanied by gentle-born assistants – squires, which means shield-bearer. The term fit the position and is used this way in The Canterbury Tales where the Squire is the son of the Knight. The squires formed the foundation of the English army and in great numbers they were fully armoured horsemen or men-at-arms and could become knights if they desired so. Just like in the case of Chaucer’s Squire, most of them were sons of knights.

3.3 The Commoners

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The differences between the gentry and the commoners were quite clear. The nobles lived in manors and castles in bigger cities whereas the working class stayed in villages or in the countryside breeding livestock and growing crops. There were also merchants, craftsmen, and bureaucrats who were in the middle-class of the trade-based economy.

This demographic distinction divides the commoners into townsmen, labourers, and paupers. Townsmen in Chaucer’s era made up around 20 per cent of population in England, 1.5 per cent in London alone. At that time, London reached the population of about 80000 inhabitants but the bubonic plague caused the drop to around 50000 people. Forgeng and McLean describe the urban populations:

“They were small, but as economic and social hubs, towns exercised an influence beyond their actual populations. Country-dwellers sold their surplus produce and purchased necessary supplies at the local market town, which was usually less than 10 miles from home. Towns also served as markets for surplus labour as well as surplus produce. Those who could not make a living in their village would move to the nearest town, and from there perhaps to a regional centre, an eventually to London. The immigrants were the lifeblood of the towns. Urban health conditions were poor, and death rates in the towns exceeded birth rates. Towns would have been depopulated were it not for a constant stream of immigration from the countryside. (24)

In 1340s, fortified villages or burghs would grow into towns and the Anglo-Saxon term bourgeoisie would define such place. Burghs were often insanitary and suffered from plague however, Chaucer was from London and he wrote about a stunning townswoman:

“Full brighter was she shining of her hewe

That in the Tower the nobel yforged newe.”(The Miller’s Tale)

Towns meant not only living but also social advancement. English symbol of such advancement was Richard Whittington, (in a legend known as Dick Whittington) son of a knight, who did not want to inherit his father’s possessions and moved to London to become a cloth merchant. He pursued his dream and in 1390s, he became a well-known money lender even for people like Richard II or Henry IV.

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Opportunities like this were only possible in towns thanks to their different rules from usual feudal structures as centres of commerce. They had their own social structures and only some citizens had full rights to become town governors. However, citizenship could be bought or acquired by joining a trading guild and becoming a master guildsman. Still, to become an apprentice required sufficient amount of money and other resources. For the less fortunate, the only chance for survival in town was to get a job in a family’s household which was usually a hand-to-mouth work. The situation got better after the Black Death had reduced the number of labourers. Nevertheless this did not mean that people were not in danger of poverty. Old people, disabled, prisoners, widows, orphans were all powerless to endure if they had not find a steady income. Often they relied on the charitable institutions or turned to begging, crime, or prostitution. (Forgeng, McLean, 26)

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4 England and Englishness in The Canterbury Tales

In the late 1380s, Chaucer began his final poetic work. Chaucer finished only a quarter of what was originally planned after spending ten years on this piece. However, it resulted in his most famous poem – The Canterbury Tales. Although some specialists argue that his best literary work is the poem Troylus and Creseyde.

Chaucer’s tale is a study and it views the everyday life of medieval English people. The pilgrims are identified by what they do – clerk, priest, squire, shipman – and by the characteristics of fourteenth century that others connected to different social classes. This was an essential work written in Middle English and in the years before a printing press was invented, it was by far one of the most popular books and all the copies were hand-made. There are still some copies left from Chaucer’s era (none in his handwriting) which proves that this piece was very popular.

The Canterbury Tales is about a group of 31 pilgrims on their way to in order to pay visits to ’s shrine, and martyr assassinated by Kin Henry II’s men. To make this trip more enjoyable, each pilgrim is to tell a tale and whoever is able to tell the best story, gets a free dinner. Chaucer’s first plan was to write 100 tales but he was only able to finish 24.

4.1 Clergymen

4.1.1 The Parson’s penitence

The Parson is one of the clergymen travelling to Canterbury. He lives a simple, poor life without sins and is devoted to the Christian faith. He has all the attributes that the Monk, the Pardoner, the Friar, and the whole English Church in general do not have. Unlike the medieval Church, he is honest, humble, and generous in his teachings but that does not make him any less of an Englishman than the others. Chaucer describes him as an orthodox and worthy Christian by saying he is not a Lollard. These were the only possibilities in Chaucer’s age.

As has been mentioned, he would like to share his vast knowledge with the others. His tale is the very last before Chaucer’s retraction, in which he asks for

17 forgiveness for his coarse language and past works that might have upset people. The Parson’s tale is the longest and is neither a poem nor a story. It is penitence where the Parson preaches about the goal of one’s pilgrimage, that is, heaven and immortality after struggling through life committing as few sins as possible.

On the literal plane of meaning it seems to be offered as an appropriate ending to a pilgrimage before the Saint's shrine is reached. On the allegorical plane, referred to by the Parson when first called upon for a story, it may be deemed a preparation for a last confession to be made on 'that perfect, glorious pilgrimage' that is called the celestial, to the Heavenly Jerusalem. (Coghill 503)

After the Catholic Church became a wealthy institution ruling over England, it showed off its power and wealth by building gold decorated cathedrals, and selling holy whilst hypocritically preaching against greedy life and ignoring the poor at the churches’ doors. The members of the English Church were corrupt, accepted bribes, and lived like nobility. That is when many and stories criticising the Church were written. This concerned Chaucer as well with his vast knowledge of Catholic rules and respect for clergymen who did not abused their positions.

Brewer claims that in modern era, the path to inward life leads inside and down towards the depths of darkness. For Chaucer, this meant to head out and up outside one’s body to avoid all the hardship in this world in order to achieve immortality and resurrection. (163)

That may be, why Chaucer chose the purest of the character to tell his sermon giving instructions to achieve afterlife which naturally leads to the already mentioned retraction. A character who preaches in English and rarely uses Latin words in order to connect with the common Englishmen.

4.1.2 The hypocritical Friar

Other characters representing the Church are not so respectful and honest. This fact basically excludes the honest Parson from the group of the following clergymen. The next man of faith is the Friar who is quite uneasy with the Summoner’s job. This includes bringing people to justice at the ecclesiastical court for the sins committed. The

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Summoner takes advantage of his position, is corrupt, and with his network of eavesdroppers threatens people with excommunication unless they pay. But the Friar is not a saint either. He is interested in the latest mundane matters, hates the poor, and through his well versed preaching he seduces the women in every town. This hypocritical fight between the Friar and the Summoner may seem exaggerated and senseless but Chaucer wanted to depict the corruption of the Catholic Church in England

Thus making the Friar insult the Summoner as “a chap who runs about his summonses for adultery and fornication, gets himself beaten in every town.” (CT, 182) After this insult, the Host warns the Friar but the Summoner calmly asks him to continue for he shall repay him with a story of his own. Throughout the story, the Friar wants to reveal the corrupt side of the Summoner. In the story, the summoner meets a who is on his way from collecting a rent. Riding home they become friends and the Yeoman confesses that he is actually a demon from Hell.

On the way they meet a cart of hay stuck in the mud and the carter yelling at the horses so the Devil may take them. Since this is not his intent, the Devil tells the summoner he will not do the carter’s bidding. They carry on visiting a widow whom the summoner wants to accept bribe from, unjustly. Offended woman damns the summoner and the Devil confirming her intent takes him to Hell.

4.1.3 The corrupt Summoner

After hearing the Friar’s story the Summoner is ready to pay him back although the Friar’s description of his job was quite accurate. The summoners in the 14th century were bound to take advantage of their position. With lacquays to tell them gossip about peasants whom they could blackmail afterwards, this profession along with the Pardoner shows the image of the Roman Catholic Church that many English inhabitants shared in Chaucer’s era.

“High in his stirrups stood the Summoner,

He was so wild with anger at the Friar,

That like an aspen leaf he shook with ire.”(CT, 192)

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The Summoner’s prologue is a bitter insult claiming that all the friars come from the Devils bottom. The source of this longstanding fight is rooted in the professions these men do. Friars were hermits preaching and earning very little by begging. However, the conflict between these two may be because the order of friars was preventing summoners to do their work. If a friar gave absolution after one had confessed to their sins they were free to go and the ecclesiastical court could not summon them for the same sins. This conflict fits the situation in England and the problems with the Church. The Roman Catholic Church and later the CoE (Church of England) wanted to be treated as a sovereign institution so no one could interfere with its business. There is a pattern connected to the English “island mentality” which is to control things around but stay untouchable from the outside world.

Just like in the case of the Miller and the Reeve, Summoner’s tale is about his rival, the Friar. It is set in the county of Yorkshire where a friar is begging for donations until he finds poor, sick Thomas. After hearing about their situation he immediately grasps the chance to preach and make some money out of their misery. He accuses Thomas for splitting his donations for several friars and demands that only he shall be the one receiving money from him. Thomas refuses and tells the friar that he has a gift for him but only if he splits it equally within his brotherhood. The friar eagerly agrees and the gift Thomas is sitting on is just a loud fart. Offended, the friar complains but it is no use and his supervisor sees it as just.

Neither of these tales (the Friar’s and the Summoner’s) leaves them in a good light. Chaucer wrote this as a satire to ridicule the Church which despite preaching about life in poverty was the richest institution in England and whole Europe. This is a common theme in The Canterbury Tales along with the comments on lollardy5 movement.

4.1.4 The crooked Pardoner

Unlike the Summoner, who does his evil deeds in secret and in a very crafty manner, the Pardoner shows no interest in hiding his intentions and plans to gain wealth.

5 political and religious movement led by , theologian of the who was 12 years after his death exhumed and burnt because of heresy, started the reformation of the Church and later transformed into Protestantism 20

In the prologue formed as a confession, the Pardoner is boasting with his certificates, letters, and a bull from the Pope himself. All this to avoid everyone who would try to stop him from doing his dirty business. These are all fake as well as the saint relics he is selling. He claims to have a miraculous shoulder bone of one of Jacob’s sheep which, when dipped in the well, cures all the farm animals’ maladies. He also quite openly confesses that he does his profession solely for the “money, wool, cheese, and wheat” even if it meant letting the poor and the children of widows starve to death. Paradoxically, his motto is: “Radix malorum est cupiditas.” (Greed is root of all evils). On the other hand, he would never choose life in poverty just like the Church suggests.

The Pardoner appears very ambiguous and the question is: Why is he so open about his sinful life yet preaches about life without avarice?

The reasons might be the “jar of malty ale” he drank on the way or simply the fact that the Pardoner is aware of the situation within the English Church and sees it as no use to state his intentions with the listeners of his preaching.

4.1.5 The gluttonous Monk

Like the Friar, the Monk lives in a monastery and all his possible transgressions are hidden within its confined walls. His passion is hunting and fresh game is a regular part of his diet.

“So he rode hard – no question about that –

Kept greyhounds swifter than a bird in flight.

Hard riding and the hunting of the hare,

Were what he loved and opened his purse for.”(CT, 8)

The rules of the monastery also suggest that monks should devote their life to studies and manual labour which the Monk successfully avoids.

His story is a tragedy about seventeen figures among which are Lucifer, Hercules, Adam, and Peter I of Cyprus whom the Knight knows as the leader of one of

21 the crusades. After hearing about the fate of his military commander, the Knight interrupts the Monk which shows his tender side.

It is obvious that has its class system deeply rooted and although it might seem unfair, this has been working for centuries. Speaking either about the three estates in the middle-ages or the strict class division of the Victorian era.

Is Englishness about looking down upon the less fortunate? It may be very much so. Especially in the case of the English Church where the representatives lived like kings yet preached about modesty and devotion to God. Some characters are cunning enough to do it discretely (the Summoner) and some do not care at all and exploit the people with tenacious audacity (the Pardoner). The Church was able to help its followers, for a price.

The English have utter respect for authorities but at the same time they like to ridicule and satirise it. However funny the stories may be, they usually describe specific events or people very accurately. Due to this Chaucer portrayed four out of five clergymen as foul and hypocritical.

4.2 Members of the court

4.2.1 The adventurer – the Knight

The Knight represents the highest social position and is greatly admired by the narrator and the Host, Harry Bailey, as well. A man of many chivalrous qualities and impressive fighting skills. He fought heathens in the East during the Crusades and is the prototype of a medieval knight following the Code of Chivalry. From this, another typical English attribute has risen. And that is to fight for peace all around the world. Ever since the crusades the English have become “the world’s policemen” and they have always had the urge to help others solve their problem. This involves taking part in papal missions, ruling the colonies, anti-piracy acts in the West Indies, or modern day middle-east missions. This is what the English knight represents – passion for duty and justice as well as the need to tell everyone what to do.

“There was a Knight, a reputable man,

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Who from the moment that he started

Campaigning, had cherished the profession

Of arms, he also prized trustworthiness,

Liberality, fame, and courteousness.” (Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, 4)

Regarding the chivalry code, Chaucer’s Knight applies perfectly for the medieval honour system first described in The Song of Roland between 1098-1100. He does not only have the strength and combat skills but is also able to control his aggressive side in order to teach these ways to his son, another pilgrim, The Squire. This can be seen in The Pardoner’s tale where the Knight stopped the fight between the Pardoner and the Host, telling them to kiss and make up. So, despite being an experienced soldier, the Knight does not like any conflict or sign of misfortune. He is a fair and just character.

Example of the knight’s code described in the Song of Roland:

 To fear God and maintain His Church  To protect the weak and defenceless  To respect the honour of women  Never to turn back to a foe  To keep faith  To obey those placed in authority

As for the Englishness in the Knight’s tale, English are a warrior race and the Knight is a perfect example. He is true, righteous and very good at warfare. The English sense for duty and fair play is not something recent but it can be recognized already in the middle-ages, for example, when the crossbows were invented. Everyone in Europe started using them because they were easy to operate. But the English saw it as cheating and unchristian thus staying faithful to bows and arrows which needed skill. This shows the respect for rules and the honour system mentioned in the Knight’s tale.

Geoffrey Chaucer, as a member of the court since the age of 14, was well acquainted with these manners and was able to depict them realistically. According to

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Derek Brewer, The Knight’s tale could have won the competition, but as the pilgrims went further from the court, Chaucer, although being a court member, saw different ways of life and used them as a contrast between different characters. (203)

4.2.2 The Knight’s son, the Squire

The Knight’s apprentice, novice warrior, and an admirer of romance literature on which the story he tells is based. Lacking experience yet eager he tells the tale about the king of Tartary and the feast he holds. The second part deals with Genghis Khan’s daughter, Canace, who takes care of a falcon abandoned by her lover. This romance is based on The Romance of the Rose6.

From the Englishness point of view, the Squire does not fit the type. A common opinion nowadays is that English people are stiff and unable to express feelings. This image may have resourced from Victorian era when it was shameful to show any affection in public. Due to this fact, the Squire may happen to appear French rather than English to the readers.

4.2.3 The Man of Law’s Tale

English Royal Justice system as described by Jeffrey L.Forgeng:

“By Chaucer’s day, the sheriff was no longer as important a figure as he had been a century r, and the authority of the county and hundred courts was being displaced by local justices of the peace on the one hand, and by a system of national circuit courts on the other. The justice of the peace was emerging during Chaucer’s lifetime as an important agent of royal law at the local level, capable of independently adjudging minor cases, and by the second half of the century meeting with other justices of the peace from the county in quarterly sessions to handle more serious matters. (31)

6 Medieval French poem with the purpose to entertain and teach others about the Art of Love.

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The Man of Law or as Chaucer wrote, the Sergeant at Law, is a member of the King’s court and well acquainted with what he does for a living. Chaucer knew how to describe the court and its members faithfully since he himself, had been at the court all his life. The Man of Law is therefore regarded as very wise and educated. He made no mistakes citing the law which he knew by heart.

“Judicious, worthy of reverence,

Or so he seemed, his sayings we so wise.

He’d often acted as Judge of Assize

By the king’s letters patent, authorized

To hear all cases.” (CT, 11)

The story itself is based on the story of “Constance” told in the Anglo Norman prose Chronicle of Nicholas Trevet (1257-1334). (CT, 490)

It takes place in Syria, where princess Custance is to marry the Sultan as soon as he converts to Christianity. His mother wants to prevent this marriage and sends Custance on the sea. She shipwrecks on the Northumberland coast where the King Alla rules. Chaucer picked this pagan country on the basis of his knowledge of the historical Ælla of Deira. The sultaness interferes again and after being found in Rome, Custance reunites with Alla and returns to Northumberland.

Such tale is bound to be appealing to English readers since England has always spread its power across the world starting after Roman influence on the isles when Pagans usually got a mansion as a gift after converting to Christianity. Mentioned in the Knight’s Tale there were crusades to the Holy Land where English knights fought the infidels of the Saladin’s army. and stories from far away were taken as the news of the world, however biased they might have been. In this fashion, British citizens have continued to read stories about their great empire spreading to Africa, Asia and the New World. It is certain that travel novels and stories taking place in foreign countries became very popular from the earliest days of English history. On the other hand,

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English nature often contains certain hostility towards foreigners and immigrants no matter if they are from Yorkshire or Jamaica.

However, this sort of literature was read only by the Upper-class and also by some educated in geography and history from the Middle-class. The lower working class enjoyed common tales, fables, and songs. This can be also recognised in The Canterbury tales where the Miller and the Reeve tell the tale based around the life in a village and on the other hand, the Knight and the Man of Law chose to tell noble stories from abroad.

“I can see that you educated folk know heaps of good things, yes by God you do!” (CT, 148)

4.3 The Commoners of Canterbury Tales

4.3.1 The working class stereotype? The Miller

A fabliau7, told by the character representing the labouring middle-class. Stereotypical English worker who is hot tempered and bawdy. Mocking the upper-class (The Knight) using village imagery, jokes on town folk, and coarse language. Anthony Easthope says that to be properly English, you must have a sense of humour; but comedy (wit, humour, joking) is absolutely beyond analysis and understanding and should remain so. Discovery of a sense of humour, however belated, may restore one’s reputation. (159) In the Miller’s case, his humorous tale made everyone laugh, except for the Reeve, and soon they forgot his rude and ill-mannered introduction.

“The Miller was a burly fellow – brawn

And muscle, big of bones as well as strong,

As was seen – he always won the ram

At wrestling matches up and down the land.”(Chaucer, CT ,17)

7 A comic tale written in France contrary to the Church and to the nobility

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The slightly inebriated Miller interrupts the Host’s arrangement to proceed by the rank and starts boasting that his “noble” tale must be told after the Knight’s and that it is so amusing and profound it is going to beat his story. However, the Miller’s tale mocks clergy, religion, women, and labourers which in comparison with the Knight’s tale makes it everything but what the Knight stands for; faith, respect for women, and hard work.

Miller’s mockery is probably sourced in the issues the workers experienced in England during 14th century. The Black Death of 1346 killed over 50% of the population in Britain. Due to this there was a lack of labourers. In response, the Statute of Labourers was created under King Edward III in 1351. This law was designed to prohibit the workers from moving from their home villages to seek better positions and wages. This law was ineffective and along with other problems led to the Peasant’s Revolt in 1381. Chaucer, as a court member and a politician, has taken these facts to account in order to faithfully describe his characters and the situation in England helping him illustrate his work.

4.3.2 The Reeve’s tale

Like the Miller’s Tale, the Reeve’s Tale is a , although the emphasis here in the harm and revenge rather than the humour. The tale itself is part of this logic, since the Reeve’s motive for telling the story is to “pay back” the Miller. The story is also filled with sayings and proverbs, almost all of which insist that revenge is both natural and justifiable. (CT, 488)

The main character of this tale is a miller called Simpkin. He is proud, cunning, and steals from his customers who live in surrounding villages. He is the only miller around which again, may be connected to the lack of labourers in the 14th century. He knows it and takes advantage of his monopoly.

The idea of revenge may seem very English. Especially from Victorian era, when British gentlemen sought satisfaction to restore their honour. However, this minor quarrel is held between the Miller and the Reeve, who is a former carpenter and now manages a large estate and ironically, steals from his master, too. Just like the Simpkin.

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As members of country middle-class the Miller and the Reeve try to settle this not by the code of honour but they tend to embarrass and mock each other.

4.3.3 The Shipman

Similar to the previous two, the Shipman is a man of manual labour with coarse behaviour. As anyone would expect from a shipman, skilled in his field, and experienced in star reading and navigation.

“But as for seamanship, and calculation

Of moon, tides, currents, all hazards at sea,

For harbour-lore, and skill in navigation,

From Hull to Carthage there was none to touch him. (CT, 13)

The Shipman learnt his skills in Dartmouth where he was born. During the reign of Edward III, Dartmouth served as the Royal Navy port and was also visited by Chaucer in 1373. However, the Shipman in Canterbury Tales does not work for the King and roams the seas on his ship called The Magdalen “between the Baltic and Cape Finisterre, and each inlet of Brittany and Spain”(CT 13). This character is inspired by a real Dartmouth resident, privateer, and the mayor – John Howley.

4.3.4 The Wife of Bath’s Tale

One of the three women travelling to Canterbury. Rich and independent enough to travel on her own since women in England had little independence or power. This pilgrimage is a common thing in comparison to her experience gained during her travels to Jerusalem. She is described as experienced in the ways of the world which works as an analogy to love and sex.

The city of Bath where the Wife comes from was a major exporter of cloth goods competing with Belgian and Dutch cloth-makers and tailors. The Wife boasts about the quality of Bath’s tailoring whilst wearing scarlet garments and extravagant hats to demonstrate her position in society. She commends the English craftsmanship and tailoring and is certain that it outclasses goods from other countries as she saw plenty. This is a sign of English pride in their manufacturing skills to make linen and

28 woollen clothes as well as ability to make luxurious garments from imported silk from Muslim worlds. Most famous weavers’ guilds were in Stamford and they were known in all around Europe and the main export of the English was wool. This raised the first real capitalism in England and eventually started the Industrial Revolution centuries later. Chaucer knew both trading with wool and weaving very well since he worked as a Port Controller.

In the tale, the Wife of Bath tells a story of a knight searching for what women desire the most as a sentence for a rape he committed. After a long search he met an old woman whom he promised to do everything she wants in exchange for her secret:

‘Women desire to have dominion Over their husbands, and their lovers too; They want to have mastery over them’ (CT 176)

This saved the knight from death but he had to marry the old lady in the end because he had no choice but to keep his word. On the wedding night the knight is repulsed by her looks and she asked him if he would prefer young but unfaithful woman rather than old yet faithful wife to which he responded that the choice is us to her. She gained power over her husband and turned into a young, beautiful, and lovely woman.

As for the Wife of Bath, the connection to the old hag is apparent as she is a dominant, sovereign woman and she likes to prove it to her husbands making them submissive to her sexual needs. In medieval England there was no such thing as feminism or rights for women. In usual household the man was the provider and breadwinner whereas his wife would take care of the house and their children. Since the Wife of Bath uses her body and lies to become independent of men her story is completely different. Chaucer depicted her as a supporter of (if not a Lollard herself) because after her first husband’s death she remarried which was unthinkable in Christian England yet Lollards support remarriage of widows. She has vast knowledge of Scripture and argues that there is nothing wrong with sexual promiscuity, as God wants us to multiply.

However, after Emanuel Van Meteren visited England in 1575 he described it as the “Hell of Horses, and Paradise for Married Women.” Jeremy Paxman elaborates on this topic:

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“The problem was sex. As in most male-dominated societies, the victims of uncontrolled sexual desire were women. But it was the men who made the rules. If men were sexually incontinent, it was the fault of women. Statuary of the showed Lust as a woman, which was presumably why the received wisdom became that the only good woman was a chaste woman. Women who were sexually self-confident were likely to be trouble.” (217-218)

This description fits the case of the Wife of Bath, who does not want to be male- dominated and is very sexually promiscuous and self-confident.

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5 Conclusion

This thesis focused on reflection of Englishness in The Canterbury Tales as it is different for people from various social classes and estates. Since there are pilgrims of all ranks, their behaviour and idea of Englishness is not the same. This paper discussed the national identity, events, and circumstances that shaped England in fourteenth century.

Firstly, there are three estates compared with each other along with their position in feudal England. Description of the Church, nobles, and commoners helped to depict the society living in Chaucer’s times.

Secondly, this paper focused on specific characters from the book and analysed their background, motives, and behaviour and compared them to the ideas of Englishness from different literary sources. This comparison included both the prologue and the tale itself as there are diverse points to look at in each part as Chaucer was able to use his narrating skills to the fullest potential in order to describe real world where a group of pilgrims travel to Canterbury.

National identity played a significant part for every social group in this era. Certain values were very important and they formed England as well as the way to be truly English.

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Bibliography

Brewer, Derek. Chaucer a jeho svět. Praha: Odeon, 1988. Print.

Cottle, Basil. The Triumph of English. Great Britian: Barnes and Noble, 1969. Print.

Chaucer, Geoffrey; Coghill, Nevill. The Canterbury Tales. London: Penguin Books, 1997. Print.

Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Trans. David Wright. Oxford: Oxford Univ., 2011. Print.

Forgeng, Jeffrey L, and Will McLean. Daily Life in Chaucer's England. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1995. Print.

Paxman, Jeremy. The English: a portrait of a people. London: Penguin Books, c1999. Print.

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