Canterbury Tales the Exact Date

Canterbury Tales

THE exact date of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is not known but it is unanimously agreed that the pilgrimage took place around 1387. Even though this pilgrimage and all the characters are fictional, still the date of writing has been established around late 1380s since several references to social, political and economic structure of 'Middle Ages' can be found in the tales. The fact that Chaucer did not choose to date his work has caused confusion among critics as to the exact period of Canterbury Tales. However handful of important references to some specific affairs such as reprehensible activities of the pardoners, the English Rising of 1381 and Peasants' Revolt all help place the work in late 1380s. 'Middle Ages' was a time of enormous political and social upheaval in England but for some reason, while Canterbury Tales discuss some important social and political issues, it chooses not to highlight the turmoil that resulted in execution of Chaucer's close associates and deposition of Richard II. Chaucer highlights some specific features of his society and political system of his times. The work shows that it was a time when unification of Church was the ideal many adhered to. It was a period of profound social shift as upward mobility in social ranks was triggered by demographic collapse followed Black Death epidemic.

Canterbury Tales is an intricate, vibrant and immensely entertaining amalgamation of various themes, motifs and ideas. It questions the morals of the Church, the established social order of the day, the corruption rife in political institutions, the suffering humanity, desires of common man etc. The work is highly concerned with personal and political ethics and the problems raised by the sudden and startling collapse of hierarchy and stability in medieval England. The Canterbury Tales is thought-provoking collection of stories that seek to highlight moral and ethical issues of the day without necessarily judging any particular lifestyle. It discusses the choices made by people and the consequences of the same. And thus Chaucer, following the medieval theory of literature, tries to connected life and literature.

While some critics felt that Canterbury Tales was based on a real pilgrimage and the characters represented some real-life figures, other historians have refuted these claims. Professor Manly arguing in favor of the former notion maintains:

Scholars... have taught us that the pilgrimage was purely imaginary and that the group of pilgrims was artificially constructed by Chaucer to include and exhibit representatives of all the principal classes of society and occupational types of his day.... perhaps Chaucer's personal interests and prejudices [formed the basis of his choice]. Investigation indicates that some at least of the pilgrims were real persons and persons with whom Chaucer can be shown to have had definite personal contacts...." (Manly, Some New Light p. 81).

Refuting his own claim, Professor Manly later confessed in his education of the Tales (1928):

In discussing these definite and vital figures I have often spoken as if we could be certain that Chaucer had in each case a definite individual in mind whose portrait he painted with scrupulous accuracy in every detail. I am, however, very far from feeling sure that this was true. It may very well be that in these vivid and lifelike portraits are mingled not only traits from more than a single individual, but even an indeterminate amount of purely imaginative construction." (74)

Chaucer's Tales focus on some important social and political representatives who are used symbolically in the tale to depict their function in the society. It is important therefore to discuss some of these figures and the role they played in actual medieval society of Chaucer's days. The first in this series is the Knight, a quintessential but immensely important medieval figure. Knight was the symbol of bravery and the character is based on a very complex military profession of fourteenth-century England. Knights were military people who fought paganism or what they thought was paganism. They were instrumental in crusades against Jews, Muslims and schismatic and also played key role in upholding Christian beliefs. Terry Jones in his book on Chaucer's Knight explains that knighthood was a complex profession and in his research on the same, he was disappointed to learn that "there is no clear cut and dried answer" as to what knighthood was and who could be a knight because "throughout the Middle Ages the meaning of the word 'knight' had been elastic" (Jones 4).

In medieval England, knights could have multiple possible identities. Some were wealthy, but others were not. Some were required to pay taxes but others were exempt. Some came from the royal lineage, other worked hard to attain that status. Similarly not all knights were warrior, some were only "dispensers of justice and keepers of the peace" (Barber 14). Chaucer himself was a knight since in 1938, he was made "knight of the shire," which means a member of the House of Commons (Benson, The Riverside Chaucer xxiii). Jones further observes, "in fact the words 'knight' and 'knighthood' were terms widely used to designate [simply] the upper class of layman" (10). While Arthurian legend has most of us believe that knights originated in England, the truth is that "real knights originated in France and were unknown in England until the Norman conquest" (Gies 3).

Knights were powerful people by virtue of their aristocracy and their close association with the rulers. The fact that they were granted land as gift shows how important they were in socioeconomic order of the medieval England. Gies summarizes, "In this dominant economic (and political) order of the Middle Ages, a lord granted land to a vassal in return for military and other less important services. Lord and vassal swore an oath, of protection and support on the part of the lord, of loyalty on the part of the vassal. At the height of the feudalism, the knight was the cornerstone of the institution" (3)

The other important figure is that of the Nun -- the Prioress. By virtue of her place in the Church and the society, The Prioress in Chaucer "has attracted more critical commentary and controversy than almost any other character in the General Prologue" (Ridley: 803). Many have commented on her anti-Semitic views: "[her] own lack of Christian virtue makes her an unworthy judge of whom she hates" (Rex 121-122). While others felt that anti-Semitism in the tales was "incidental" and the "whole critical enterprise directed toward explaining away Chaucer's bigotry is misguided and unnecessary" (Friedman: 127, 119). Critics feel that a prioress was actually a well-respect figure in medieval social hierarchy and therefore Chaucer has presented "a full-fledged characterization of a thoroughly competent, shrewd professional woman of the late fourteenth century" (Frank: 229). Nuns were as powerful as the knights themselves because of their wealthy status. It is strange but true that by the end of eleventh century, nunneries and monasteries had amassed considerable wealth and power in the society. Eileen Power further explains: "Socially in all cases, and politically when their houses were large and rich, abbots and abbesses, priors and prioresses, ranked among the great folk of the countryside. They enjoyed the same prestige as did lords of neighboring manors and some extra deference on account of their religion. It was natural that the Prioress should be 'holden digne of reverence'" (69).