Group Five: 

The Miller

The MILLERE was a stout carl for the nones;

Ful byg he was of brawn and eek of bones-

That proved wel, for over al ther he cam

550 At wrastlynge he wolde have alwey the ram.

He was short-sholdred, brood, a thikke knarre,

Ther was no dore that he nolde heve of harre,

Or breke it at a rennyng with his heed.

His berd as any sowe or fox was reed,

555 And therto brood, as though it were a spade.

Upon the cop right of his nose he hade

A werte, and thereon stood a toft of herys,

Reed as the brustles of a sowes erys;

Hise nosethirles blake were and wyde.

560 A swerd and bokeler bar he by his syde.

His mouth as greet was as a greet forneys.

He was a janglere and a goliardeys,

And that was moost of synne and harlotries.

Wel koude he stelen corn, and tollen thries;

565 And yet he hadde a thombe of gold, pardee.

A whit cote and a blew hood wered he

A baggepipe wel koude he blowe and sowne,

And therwithal he broghte us out of towne.

Miller Resources

The Miller's Tale Synopsis
The Miller's Tale (Harvard Resources)

The Peasant Rising of 1381

Economy on a Medieval Manor:
Acmylen from Wichamstow, a virtual English Estate                       
Medieval Economy (Calgary)
Medieval English Towns (Stephen Alsford)

The lifestyle of the Medieval Peasant
"The Poor Peasant"
Medieval farming
The farming year
Medieval Fiefdom

The Fabiliaux (Harvard Chaucer Site)
Popular English Drama: The Mystery Plays (Harvard Chaucer Site)

Questions:

• What essential service does a miller perform for his community?  How does this miller misuse his position to cheat the villagers?  
• During times of famine does the miller alter his practices? How does he represent the very worst aspects of the emerging market economy?
• Describe the physical attributes of this man. What prize does he always win at the local fair? Why can no door hold him? What does he look like? How are his facial features described? What kinds of stories does he like to tell? 
• What musical instrument does he play as the pilgrims make their march? 

The Maunciple

A gentil MAUNCIPLE was ther of a temple,

570 Of which achatours myghte take exemple

For to be wise in byynge of vitaille;

For wheither that he payde or took by taille,

Algate he wayted so in his achaat

That he was ay biforn, and in good staat.

575 Now is nat that of God a ful fair grace,

That swich a lewed mannes wit shal pace

The wisdom of an heep of lerned men?

Of maistres hadde he mo than thries ten,

That weren of lawe expert and curious,

580 Of whiche ther weren a duszeyne in that hous

Worthy to been stywardes of rente and lond

Of any lord that is in Engelond,

To maken hym lyve by his propre good,

In honour dettelees (but if he were wood),

585 Or lyve as scarsly as hym list desire,

And able for to helpen al a shire

In any caas that myghte falle or happe-

And yet this Manciple sette hir aller cappe.

The Reeve

The REVE was a sclendre colerik man.

590 His berd was shave as ny as ever he kan;

His heer was by his erys ful round yshorn;

His top was dokked lyk a preest biforn.

Ful longe were his legges, and ful lene,

Ylyk a staf, ther was no calf ysene.

595 Wel koude he kepe a gerner and a bynne;

Ther was noon auditour koude on him wynne.

Wel wiste he by the droghte and by the reyn,

The yeldynge of his seed and of his greyn.

His lordes sheep, his neet, his dayerye,

600 His swyn, his hors, his stoor, and his pultrye,

Was hoolly in this Reves governynge,

And by his covenant yaf the rekenynge,

Syn that his lord was twenty yeer of age,

Ther koude no man brynge hym in arrerage.

605 Ther nas baillif, ne hierde, nor oother hyne,

That he ne knew his sleighte and his covyne;

They were adrad of hym as of the deeth.

His wonyng was ful faire upon an heeth;

With grene trees shadwed was his place.

610 He koude bettre than his lord purchace.

Ful riche he was astored pryvely:

His lord wel koude he plesen subtilly,

To yeve and lene hym of his owene good,

And have a thank, and yet a cote and hood.

615 In youthe he hadde lerned a good myster;

He was a wel good wrighte, a carpenter.

This Reve sat upon a ful good stot,

That was al pomely grey, and highte Scot.

A long surcote of pers upon he hade,

620 And by his syde he baar a rusty blade.

Of Northfolk was this Reve, of which I telle,

Bisyde a toun men clepen Baldeswelle.

Tukked he was as is a frere aboute,

And evere he rood the hyndreste of oure route.

Reeve Resources

The Reeve's Tale Synopsis

The Reeve's Tale (Harvard Resources)

Economy on a Medieval Manor

The lifestyle of the Medieval Peasant
Medieval farming
The farming year

Acmylen from Wichamstow, a virtual English Estate                        
Medieval English Towns (Stephen Alsford)
Medieval Economy -- Medieval Professions :  Some information on the guild systems
Medieval Economy :  Information on medieval commodities.
Medieval Fiefdom
The Fabiliaux (Harvard Chaucer Site)
Popular English Drama: The Mystery Plays (Harvard Chaucer Site)

Questions:

• What job does a reeve perform on a farm? What makes this reeve particularly good at this job? Why do the peasants not even try to cheat him? Why are the people on the estate terrified of him? 
• Why do he and the Miller hang out together? 
• What does this guy look like? Why does he dress like a friar? What is the real religion that he practices?  What would a medieval physician have said about a man who is 'choleric'?
• Why do you think he takes the ‘hyndereste’ place on the route? 

The Summoner

A SOMONOUR was ther with us in that place,

That hadde a fyr-reed cherubynnes face,

For saucefleem he was, with eyen narwe.

As hoot he was and lecherous as a sparwe,

With scalled browes blake, and piled berd,

630 Of his visage children were aferd.

Ther nas quyk-silver, lytarge, ne brymstoon,

Boras, ceruce, ne oille of tartre noon,

Ne oynement, that wolde clense and byte,

That hym myghte helpen of his whelkes white,

635 Nor of the knobbes sittynge on his chekes.

Wel loved he garleek, oynons, and eek lekes,

And for to drynken strong wyn, reed as blood;

Thanne wolde he speke and crie as he were wood.

And whan that he wel dronken hadde the wyn,

640 Than wolde he speke no word but Latyn.

A fewe termes hadde he, two or thre,

That he had lerned out of som decree-

No wonder is, he herde it al the day,

And eek ye knowen wel how that a jay

645 Kan clepen "Watte" as wel as kan the pope.

But whoso koude in oother thyng hym grope,

Thanne hadde he spent al his philosophie;

Ay "Questio quid iuris" wolde he crie.

He was a gentil harlot and a kynde;

650 A bettre felawe sholde men noght fynde;

He wolde suffre, for a quart of wyn,

A good felawe to have his concubyn

A twelf-monthe, and excuse hym atte fulle;

Ful prively a fynch eek koude he pulle.

655 And if he foond owher a good felawe,

He wolde techen him to have noon awe,

In swich caas, of the ercedekenes curs,

But if a mannes soule were in his purs;

For in his purs he sholde ypunysshed be.

660 "Purs is the erchedekenes helle," seyde he.

But wel I woot he lyed right in dede;

Of cursyng oghte ech gilty man him drede,

For curs wol slee, right as assoillyng savith,

And also war him of a Significavit.

665 In daunger hadde he at his owene gise

The yonge girles of the diocise,

And knew hir conseil, and was al hir reed.

A gerland hadde he set upon his heed

As greet as it were for an ale-stake;

670 A bokeleer hadde he maad him of a cake.

Summoner Resources

The Summoner's Tale Synopsis
The Summoner's Tale (Harvard Resources)

Judgment and Salvation:

Ecclesiastical Courts Catholic Encyclopedia
An Avaricious Archdeacon The Scots chronicler of Lanercost (13th Century)
Decameron; Sixth Day, Tenth Tale The selling of false relics was an abuse frequently satirized; the adventure of Friar Cipollo (Friar Onion) in Boccaccio's Decameron has some general similarities to the Pardoner's trickery.
Sermon Stories: Tales of Relics, 12th-13th Century.
Invention of the Relics of St. Benedict, (7th century?)
Amulo of Lyon: Letter on the Misuse of Relics in Dijon. mid-9th Century. Trans. by Thomas Head
Claudius of Turin: Apology: An Attack on Veneration of Relics. 8-9th Cent.
Guibert of Nogent (1053-1124): On the Relics of the Saints: Book I,
Guibert of Nogent (1053-1124): from Treatise on Relics.
Stephen de Bourbon: De Supersticione: On St Guinefort,
The Translation of Saint Nicholas [Greek Anonymous], 13th Century MS. The story of the sacred theft of the relics of St. Nicholas from Myra in 1087.
The Questioning of John Rykener, A Male Cross-Dressing Prostitute, 1395.

Questions:

• What is an ecclesiastical court? What kind of sentence could an ecclesiastical court impose on a person? What job does a summoner perform for the court? How could a corrupt summoner exploit his position? How has this particular guy exploited his position? Why is he particularly terrifying to the children and young women in his village?  
• What does this summoner look like? What does his breath smell like? What does he do when he gets drunk? What is his costume?
• Why is he on this pilgrimage? 

The Pardoner

With hym ther rood a gentil PARDONER

Of Rouncivale, his freend and his compeer,

That streight was comen fro the court of Rome.

Ful loude he soong "Com hider, love, to me!"

675 This Somonour bar to hym a stif burdoun;

Was nevere trompe of half so greet a soun.

This Pardoner hadde heer as yelow as wex,

But smothe it heeng as dooth a strike of flex;

By ounces henge his lokkes that he hadde,

680 And therwith he hise shuldres overspradde;

But thynne it lay by colpons oon and oon.

But hood, for jolitee, wered he noon,

For it was trussed up in his walet.

Hym thoughte he rood al of the newe jet;

685 Dischevelee, save his cappe, he rood al bare.

Swiche glarynge eyen hadde he as an hare.

A vernycle hadde he sowed upon his cappe.

His walet lay biforn hym in his lappe

Bretful of pardoun come from Rome al hoot.

690 A voys he hadde as smal as hath a goot,

No berd hadde he, ne nevere sholde have;

As smothe it was as it were late shave,

I trowe he were a geldyng or a mare.

But of his craft, from Berwyk into Ware,

695 Ne was ther swich another pardoner;

For in his male he hadde a pilwe-beer,

Which that he seyde was Oure Lady veyl:

He seyde he hadde a gobet of the seyl

That Seint Peter hadde, whan that he wente

700 Upon the see, til Jesu Crist hym hente.

He hadde a croys of latoun ful of stones,

And in a glas he hadde pigges bones.

But with thise relikes, whan that he fond

A povre persoun dwellyng upon lond,

705 Upon a day he gat hym moore moneye

Than that the person gat in monthes tweye;

And thus, with feyned flaterye and japes,

He made the persoun and the peple his apes.

But trewely to tellen atte laste,

710 He was in chirche a noble ecclesiaste.

Wel koude he rede a lessoun or a storie,

But alderbest he song an offertorie;

For wel he wiste, whan that song was songe,

He moste preche, and wel affile his tonge

715 To wynne silver, as he ful wel koude;

Therfore he song the murierly and loude.

The Pardoner Resources

The Pardoner's Tale Synopsis

The Pardoner (Resources at Harvard)

Judgment and Salvation                     :

Ecclesiastical Courts (Catholic Encyclopedia)
Papal Indulgences (Wikipedia)
Purgatory (Wikipedia)
Christian Relics (Wikipedia)
An Avaricious Archdeacon The Scots chronicler of Lanercost (13th Century)Decameron; Sixth Day, Tenth Tale: The selling of false relics was an abuse frequently satirized; the adventure of Friar Cipollo (Friar Onion) in Boccaccio's Decameron has some general similarities to the Pardoner's trickery.
Sermon Stories: Tales of Relics, 12th-13th Century.
Invention of the Relics of St. Benedict, (7th century?)
Amulo of Lyon: Letter on the Misuse of Relics in Dijon. mid-9th Century. Trans. by Thomas Head
Claudius of Turin: Apology: An Attack on Veneration of Relics. 8-9th Cent.
Guibert of Nogent (1053-1124): On the Relics of the Saints: Book I,
Guibert of Nogent (1053-1124): from Treatise on Relics.
Stephen de Bourbon: De Supersticione: On St Guinefort,
The Translation of Saint Nicholas [Greek Anonymous], 13th Century MS. The story of the sacred theft of the relics of St. Nicholas from Myra in 1087.
The Questioning of John Rykener, A Male Cross-Dressing Prostitute, 1395.

George Lyman Kittredge, Chaucer's Pardoner, The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 72, 1893, pp. 829-33.
Monica McAlpine, The Pardoner's Homosexuality and How It Matters, PMLA 95, (1980), pp. 8-22.
David Benson, "Chaucer's Pardoner: His Sexuality and Modern Critics," Medievalia 8 (1985 [for 1982]), pp. 337-46.
Richard F. Green, "The Sexual Normality of Chaucer's Pardoner," Medievalia 8 (1985 [for 1982]), 351-57.

Questions:

• The Summoner’s good buddy is his traveling companion, the pardoner. 
• What is the pardoner's job in the church? Why was the sale of relics so popular?  What are 'indulgences'? 
• Why was the sale of indulgences so lucrative in the medieval church? What should have been done with the monies raised through the sale of relics and indulgences? 
• How does this pardoner exploit his position for personal gain? 
• Describe the personal characteristics of this guy. What does he look like? What kind of singing voice does he have? Why does Chaucer give him such an effeminate appearance? 
• What is Chaucer up to? 

Chaucer's Apology

       Now have I toold you shortly in a clause,

Th'estaat, th'array, the nombre, and eek the cause

Why that assembled was this compaignye

720 In Southwerk, at this gentil hostelrye

That highte the Tabard, faste by the Belle.

But now is tyme to yow for to telle

How that we baren us that ilke nyght,

Whan we were in that hostelrie alyght;

725 And after wol I telle of our viage

And all the remenaunt of oure pilgrimage.

But first I pray yow, of youre curteisye,

That ye n'arette it nat my vileynye,

Thogh that I pleynly speke in this mateere,

730 To telle yow hir wordes and hir cheere,

Ne thogh I speke hir wordes proprely.

For this ye knowen also wel as I,

Whoso shal telle a tale after a man,

He moot reherce as ny as evere he kan

735 Everich a word, if it be in his charge,

Al speke he never so rudeliche or large,

Or ellis he moot telle his tale untrewe,

Or feyne thyng, or fynde wordes newe.

He may nat spare, al thogh he were his brother;

740 He moot as wel seye o word as another.

Crist spak hymself ful brode in hooly writ,

And, wel ye woot, no vileynye is it.

Eek Plato seith, whoso kan hym rede,

The wordes moote be cosyn to the dede.

745 Also I prey yow to foryeve it me,

Al have I nat set folk in hir degree

Heere in this tale, as that they sholde stonde.

My wit is short, ye may wel understonde.