The Canterbury Tales

Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote, And bathed every veyne in swich licour Of which vertu engendred is the flour, Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his halve cours yronne, And smale foweles maken melodye, That slepen al the nyght with open ye (so priketh hem Nature in hir corages), Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages, And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes, To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes; And specially from every shires ende Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende, The hooly blisful martir for to seke, That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.

When April with his showers sweet with fruit The drought of March has pierced unto the root And bathed each vein with liquor that has power To generate therein and sire the flower; When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath, Quickened again, in every holt and heath, The tender shoots and buds, and the young sun Into the Ram one half his course has run, And many little birds make melody That sleep through all the night with open eye (So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage)- Then do folk long to go on pilgrimage, And palmers to go seeking out strange strands, To distant shrines well known in sundry lands. And specially from every shire's end Of England they to Canterbury wend, The holy blessed martyr there to seek Who helped them when they lay so ill and weak

Befell that, in that season, on a day In Southwark, at the Tabard, as I lay Ready to start upon my pilgrimage To Canterbury, full of devout homage, There came at nightfall to that hostelry Some nine and twenty in a company Of sundry persons who had chanced to fall In fellowship, and pilgrims were they all That toward Canterbury town would ride. The rooms and stables spacious were and wide, And well we there were eased, and of the best. And briefly, when the sun had gone to rest, So had I spoken with them, every one, That I was of their fellowship anon, And made agreement that we'd early rise To take the road, as you I will apprise. But none the less, whilst I have time and space, Before yet farther in this tale I pace, It seems to me accordant with reason To inform you of the state of every one Of all of these, as it appeared to me, And who they were, and what was their degree, And even how arrayed there at the inn; And with a knight thus will I first begin.

When did Chaucer write the “Tales”? Chaucer began writing Canterbury Tales between 1385 and 1389, during one of the darkest periods of his life. His wife and several close friends and patrons were dead, he was suffering financial troubles, King Richard's court was in turmoil, and Chaucer was living in Kent, missing his former home in London. At first the writing was simply an escape from outward and inward pressures, but then he found amusement in it. In Canterbury Tales he could think about and laugh at the society that seemed to be falling in pieces around him. By the time his life did get better, the book was a reality

Who did he write for? The audience for Canterbury Tales was not intended to be the members of the courts and upper classes that his past poems were for, but instead he had a new audience in mind, a national one that would understand the social framework of his pilgrims and would notice that it did not include royals and upper nobility, nor serfs, nor (except for the Ploughman, who is an idealized character) common agricultural workers.

The pilgrims The pilgrims of the highest rank are the Knight (a member of the lesser nobility, or gentry), his son the Squire, and the Monk and the Prioress, who held monastic offices and came from upper-class families.

The pilgrims Those of the lowest rank are the Manciple, the Cook, the Reeve, the Miller, and the Ploughman

The new men The pilgrims that best reflect Chaucer's actual audience were those that have been called "the new men," those who came from emerging sectors of society, who had literary skills and interests and whose tales drew upon the new European literary cultures.

It was for this new and quickly growing population of gentry, freemen, merchants, and people from the new "middle" classes that Canterbury Tales were written for, and are about.

When Chaucer introduced the pilgrims, he arranged them so that readers could better see their social relationships.

The Knight rode with his son and a retainer, the Prioress with another nun and three priests, the London Guildsmen with their wives and hired cook, and the crooked Pardoner with his cohort the Summoner. The Sergeant of Law and the Franklin, both purchasers of land, rode together.

Others were mentioned as if they rode together: the Miller and the Merchant, and the Shipman, the Physician, and the Wife of Bath. Chaucer also arranged the groups of pilgrims in a similar manner.

How does the poem start? First came the Knight and his small retinue, the Prioress and hers, and the Monk and the Friar; then followed the Merchant, the other members of the merchants class, and those pilgrims of "middle" rank; and in last came the commoners, the "churls," those freemen of the lowest rank, the same category in which Chaucer would include himself.

The Knight The Knight

As the leader of this group's social structure, the Knight was the highest of rank and was probably the wealthiest of the pilgrims. He would have earned in battle about 2 shillings a day, the same price as a pair of good leather boots, or 1 pound in ten days.

There is little doubt that he was also a landowner, for he tells us, "I have, God woot, a large feeld to ere," and he would have received at least 4 pounds per annum rent for every twenty acres that he owned. There is little doubt that he was also a landowner, for he tells us, "I have, God woot, a large feeld to ere," and he would have received at least 4 pounds per annum rent for every twenty acres that he owned.

Compare this to the poorest of the pilgrims, the Ploughman, who probably only earned about 2 or 3 pounds per year, 1 pound of which was spent on bread for his family. As wages, he would have earned sixpence for an acre of land that he had ploughed three times, a penny an acre for hoeing, and fivepence an acre for reaping.

The Prioress and the Squire

The rest of the pilgrims had incomes that fell somewhere between the two, and they were all probably fairly well off.

The regular clergy, which was the Prioress and her company, the Monk, and the Friar, all would have received a generous salary from the church. The regular clergy, which was the Prioress and her company, the Monk, and the Friar, all would have received a generous salary from the church.

The Wife of Bath owned a clothmaking establishment; the Merchant, Shipman, and Guildsmen all owned businesses; the Franklin was a country land-owner; and the Man of Law was a high-ranking legal officer.