Canterbury Tales I

Bede
-writing about English history and most illiterate during period
-five languages and four nations within Britain: English, British, Scots, and Picts
   -have unity in study of god and faith
-Picts aligned with the Scots
-Nice weather and seasons
-Isle seen as area of no poison and water can cure it
-Lush in food
-migrants inhabited Britain
-Fighting and controversy between Danes and English

Canterbury Tales Prologue
-a story of stories with the bigger story being the pilgrimage to Canterbury (like Frankenstein and framework novel)
-each major form of medieval lit told through each character that relates to his or her personalities
-created heroic couplet(pair of rhyming lines with five stressed syllables each.)
-character division:
aristocracy: the knight, squire, prioress(high ranking nun who is elegant and delicate), nun's priest, second nun, canon's yeoman(servant), monk, friar
upper class: merchant, man of law(lawyer), clerk, franklin(wealthy land owner)
middle class: the cook, shipman, physician, wife of bath(woman who had 5 husbands)
virtuous lower class: parson(poor preacher who is model of what is is to be humble and respectable)
degraded lower class: manciple(steward for law school), miller, reeve(estate manager), summoner(calls people to trial), pardoner(seller of religious artifacts)
Prologue:
-describes knight as someone who has honor and was at battle when no other was able to be so. someone who lives up to his name
-squire was knight's son and he was too a respectale man who was young but did his job
-describes the attire of the yeoman and its boldness
-prioress had manners, delicate, simple, kind, compassionate, elegant
-monk was scared of being lazy but he was an active monk who was ironically fat
-friar knew many people in town, happy while taking on the burdens and sins of others in confession, he was the best beggar(literally?), had a natural gift for begging or for being a friar?
-merchant was in debt but was good at hiding it and chaucer respected him for that but didn't take the time to learn name
-student was focused on reading booksa nd had a blank stare but yet had punctual speach and ot strsight to the point and was respectful
-lawyer knew his job and knew knowledge
-seems like the lower class he explains the less he expalins their appearance and more on what they    do
-franklin/landowener was happy and focused on pleasure, gave his house for the poeple to take food, model for his job
-Guild members/carpenters wise
-cook was god at his job bit had an ulcer on his knee, what does that have to do with anything?
-skipper knew the seas
-doctor kne everything that had to do with medicine sowas good at job but had a greed/love for gold, he ws not superfluous in diet, sand it breifly states that he did not read the Bible that much because during that time science and religion clashed and it was either one explained life or the other bit not both
-women with five husbands was partly deaf(said it was a shame but why?), worthy woman of her life, well traveled, and wise, trustworthy due to long life
-parson although porr was rich in thought, learned, found good in the small, patient/good man although looked upon as the "poor" class
-Shepard/other priest? did his job and was dedicated, he was a good man
-plowman honest, faithful man who had belief in christ,
-miller tough man, describe as having red hair and a wart like a witch(bad connotations), master at stealing,
-Manciple was good at law and was good at showing others what to do
-reeve was old and feared for his knowledge, was wealthy but people beneath him were afraid of him but he was the lowest class?
-summoner was gross looking with pimples and boils, people afraid so he drank a lot, kind man, not witty,
-Pardoner described with bad connotation words such as rat, wax, bulging eyes, goat voice, well read in church and faith, wanted to appease the crowd and win them over so he sang to make friends
-author turns back to himself and is apologizing in advance for any words doings he recited because he is just trying to tell a true story and nothing more
-The Host was a kind and stately man, gave advise on how to go about going to Canterbury, told them what to do
-proposes the people tell 2 stories to Canterbury and 2 back and the one that has most good morality and general pleasure shall be given a free supper paid by all the others people, Host will be the judge
-the people would be ruled by this judge who made up all the rules(representative of society back then?)