1. The Canterbury Tales
By: Geoffrey Chaucer

2. Introducing…Geoffrey Chaucer!
Geoffrey Chaucer ( ), merchant from the middle class
Was a well known poet during his lifetime
LOVED to travel
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of 24 fictional stories of over 17,000 lines of prose and verse written in Middle English in the late 1300s
To reveal the people and society of that time period; social commentary (like the original Wikileaks!)

3. Structure #1) The Prologue where the characters are introduced
#2) Stories told by each of the pilgrims on the journey as a competition for a free supper (they will each tell four along the way-24 total!)
Frame story, when Chaucer has each of his pilgrims tell a story on the way to Canterbury, it’s a story within a story
Chaucer is one of the pilgrims and plays the role of the narrator.
Chaucer never finished all the tales.

4. His Style of Writing
In the Prologue, Chaucer introduces each pilgrim, creating a sense of medieval life. Legend has it that Chaucer wrote about people he met in his travels!
He wrote primarily in the style of Satire a literary composition, in verse or prose, in which human folly and vice are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule.
Like sarcasm He says one thing, but means another.

5. The Pilgrimage!
Begins at Tabard Inn in Southwark, just outside London.
Ends at Cathedral of Canterbury, 55 miles southeast of London
Visiting the shrine of Thomas Becket

7. The Middle Ages of England (1066-1485)
Society in the Middle Ages
In 1066, William the Conqueror defeated the English king. He installed himself as king and implemented the social structure known as feudalism.
A social class system

8. Issues with Feudalism
People generally couldn’t move from one class to another.
Serfs were bound to the land, even though they didn’t own it. They were not, however, bought and sold.
After serfs provided services to the lord, they had to pay money to the church as well. Ordinary people across Europe had to “tithe” 10 percent of their earnings each year to the Church; at the same time, the Church was mostly exempt from taxation. These policies helped it to amass a great deal of money and power.
Women were classified differently. Like men, medieval women were born into the second or third estate, and might eventually become members of the first by entering the church, willingly or not. They had no rights.

9. The Dark Side of the Middle Ages
No scientific accomplishments made, no great art produced, no great leaders born.
The people of the Middle Ages squandered the advancements of their predecessors
After the fall of Rome, no single state or government united the people who lived on the European continent. Instead, the Catholic Church became the most powerful institution of the medieval period. Thus, kings, queens and other leaders derived much of their power from their alliances with and protection of the Church.
TWO KEY DESCRIPTIVE WORDS: “Barbarism and Religion”

10. Other Events of the Middle Ages
The Crusades, a series of “holy wars” waged by European Christians against Muslims. Thousands of Jews and Muslims were slaughtered.
Thomas Becket (archbishop of Canterbury) was murdered for speaking against the king on numerous occasions.
Magna Carta signed, which later became the basis of English constitutional law
Black Death, reduce the population by a third, causing a labor shortage and giving lower classes more bargaining power

11. An actual page from The Canterbury Tales

12. WHY GO TO CANTERBURY?

13. One Answer: Religion!
The Canterbury Tales is about PILGRIMS traveling from London to the tomb of Thomas Becket in Canterbury.
Canterbury has always been an important religious center in England. You could go there for help with medical, financial or other problems.
Religion played an important part in medieval life because life was so terrible, the only thing people had to look forward to was dying and going to Heaven.
Many sought guidance and paid homage to one man….

14. Thomas Becket!

17. What do all these
photos have in
common?

18. Pilgrims….Like Thanksgiving?!
A Pilgrim is anyone who goes on a  pilgrimage, a visit to a place of some significance; often religious and far away.
a Muslim visiting Mecca
a Jew visiting Jerusalem
In the Middle Ages, pilgrimages were thought to clear your sins and earn you brownie points, as travel was dangerous and took ages.
Canterbury, England
The Vatican, Vatican City (Italy)

19. Yes, They Happen Today!
Modern pilgrimages are to visit places of personal importance
Musical Hero
Ancestors/heritage
Sporting Event
Place of Interest