1. The Canterbury Tales

2. The Middle Ages
Named by scholars for the time in between the Ancient period and the Renaissance
Also called the Medieval period
Also called the Dark Ages – time w/lack of education – monks carried on literacy
Bubonic plague (Black Death) – 1/3 of Europe wiped out; carried by rats/fleas;

3. The Black Death

4. Life in the Middle Ages

5. Life in the Middle Ages

6. Life in the Middle Ages

7. Life in the Middle Ages

8. Life in the Middle Ages

9. Life in the Middle Ages

10. Medieval Society Feudalism was the organizing social system.
The Three Estates:
King, the Nobility, and Knights
Clergy and Church Employees
Merchants and Peasants
Most literature of the Ancient World focused on the 1st Estate exclusively

11. Medieval Religion Heaven Purgatory Hell Mortal vs. Venial Sins
Indulgences
Dante Aligheri

12. Medieval Religion
“The Garden of Earthly Delights” (1504) by Hieronymous Bosch

13. Corruption in the Church
Papal indulgences on the rise (some fake, some real)
Fake relics abound
Clergy not living up to their vows
Martin Luther and his 99 theses
Protestant Reformation

14. Indulgences

15. Indulgences

16. The Four Humours Belief that the body fluids dictated behavior
Blood – Sanguine
passionate, lustful
Phleghm – Phleghmatic
sickly, cowardly
Yellow Bile – Choleric
violent, angry
Black Bile – Melancholic
depressed, emo

17. Geoffrey Chaucer (1343?-1400)
2nd greatest poet in the English language (next to Shakespeare)
Held many odd jobs over the years
Strong interest in the middle class
Also wrote Troilus and Criseyde
Only had finished 24 when he died

18. Murder in the Cathedral
Archbishop Thomas a Becket
King Henry II
“Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?”
Killed in 1170

19. The Canterbury Tales

20. “The General Prologue”
Setting – April at the Tabard Inn
Goal – Pilgrimage to Canterbury
Plot – Contest to see who can tell the best story
Characters – 29 pilgrims, plus Host and Chaucer = 31 in all
2 tales each way; 4 x 31 = 124 tales

21. The Pilgrimage

23. Wife of Bath
The Host
Chaucer
Reeve
Miller
Monk
Friar
Knight

24. Pardoner
Summoner
Parson
Shipman
Squire
Nun’s Priest
Physician
Prioress

25. 2nd Nun
Franklin
Cook
Man of Law
Oxford Clerk
Yeoman
Manciple
Merchant