My thinking says,

there is too much work in the land this spring

my heart says,

on to the pilgrimage, strengthen my bowstring.

on this journey spiritual

I will humbly share the ritual

I'll among twenty nine be, wiling away til Maying

Make a pious pilgrimage to one of the Patriarchal Basilicas, namely, the Basilica di S. Pietro in the Vatican, the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior at the Lateran (S. Giovanni in Laterano), the Basilica di S. Maric Maggiore and the Basilica di S. Paolo on the Ostian Way, and there take part devoutly in Holy Mass or another liturgical celebration;...."

and a list of other sites and expressions of participation in services and prayers follows....

1. The exact date of Geoffrey Chaucer's birth is uncertain; it is generally given as c.1340, but it's more likely he was born in 1342 or 1343. Who was king of England when he was born?

a.Edward II
b.Edward III
c.Richard II
d.Henry IV

2. Which of Chaucer's works is associated with Valentine's Day?

a.The Book of the Duchess
b.The Legend of Good Women
c.The Parliament of Fowles
d.Troilus and Criseyde

3.Geoffrey Chaucer was alive to witness--or hear breaking news of--some remarkable events in medieval history. Which one of the following events was he not around for?

a.The Battle of Agincourt
b.The Black Death
c.The Deposition of Richard II
d.The Peasants' Revolt

4. Chaucer wrote The Book of the Duchess as an elegy for Blanche, the late wife of which nobleman?

a.Henry Bolingbroke
b.John of Gaunt
c.Jean de Montfort
d.Simon de Montfort

5. The Canterbury Tales is an unfinished work, wherein each pilgrim was supposed to tell more than one tale. How many tales did Chaucer originally envision each pilgrim telling?

a.Two
b.Three
c.Four
d.Seven

6. The device Chaucer employs in The Canterbury Tales of many characters gathered together, each telling stories, was not new. The idea had been used by an Italian author in a work probably begun sometime in the late 1340's. Who was this Italian poet?

a.Dante Alighieri
b.Giovanni Boccaccio
c.Baldassare Castiglione
d.Francesco Petrarch

7. Chaucer's epic poem Troilus and Criseyde is considered by some to be his best work. Against what war is this tragic romance set?

a.The Hundred Years' War
b.The Peloponnesian War
c.The Trojan War
d.The War of the Roses

8. Chaucer was strongly influenced by classical and early medieval writings and even translated one into the English of his day. Which older work did he translate?

a.The City of God by St. Augustine
b.The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius
c.De Officiis by Cicero
d.Metamorphoses by Ovid

9. In the early 1390s, Chaucer began a treatise that he dedicated to "little Lewis"; scholars are undecided as to whether or not the Lewis in question was Chaucer's own son or that of a friend. What topic did this factual treatise cover?

a.Alchemy
b.The Astrolabe
c.The Cannon
d.The Printing Press

10. Geoffrey Chaucer died in October, 1400. Where is he buried?

a.St. Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury
b.The Crypt of Canterbury Cathedral
c.Potter's Field
d.Westminster Abbey, London

Chaucer Quiz questions and answers The journey not knowing the answers is wonderful with links to all sorts of information and photos.

COW'S MEAT Anthimus p. 11

Cow's meat however, steamed and cooked in a casserole should be eaten, in a gravy. First, it should be put to soak in one water, and then it should cook in a reasonable quantity of fresh water, without adding any water as it cooks, and when the meat is cooked, put in a vessel about a half mouthful of vinegar, and put in the heads of leeks and a little pennyroyal, parsley root, or fennel, and let it cook for an hour; then add honey to half the quantity of the vinegar, or sweeter according to taste. Then let it cook on a slow fire, shaking the pot frequently with the hands, and the sauce will well season the meat. Then grind: pepper fifty grains; costum and spikenard, a half solidus each; cloves, one tremissis. All these grind well in an earthen mortar, add a little wine, and when well ground, put into a vessel and stir well, so that before it is taken from the fire it may warm up a little and put its strength into the gravy. Moreover, where there is honey, or must, or caroenum, put in one of these as it says above, and do not let it cook in a copper kettle, but in an earthen vessel; it makes flavor the better.

• 1 3/4 lb beef
  
• 3 c water
• 3 leeks: 1 1/2 lb as bought, 3/4 lb used
• 1 t fennel seed (or pennyroyal or parsley root)
• 4 t vinegar
• 2 t honey
• 1/2 t pepper
• costum?
• spikenard: 1 t dried lavender measured uncrushed
• 1/2 t cloves
• 2 T wine

Cut beef into 1" pieces. Bring beef and water to a boil, turn down heat to low and cook covered 45 minutes. Wash and slice leeks, using only the half starting at the white end. Grind fennel seed and add vinegar, honey, leeks and fennel to stew. Cook uncovered on moderate heat one hour. Grind pepper, cloves, and lavender together, add wine and grind some more. Put this with stew and cook ten minutes and serve.

Barbara St. Aubrey I did enjoy the Quiz but did not do verey good. LOL Ginger

 
	the  axe was sharp 
	the iiii yere of king Richard. 

Take nine pints of warm fountain water, and dissolve in it one pint of pure White-honey, by laving it therein, till it be dissolved. Then boil it gently, skimming it all the while, till all the scum be perfectly scummed off; and after that boil it a little longer, peradventure a quarter of an hour. In all it will require two or three hours boiling, so that at last one third part may be consumed. About a quarter of an hour before you cease boiling, and take it from the fire, put to it a little spoonful of cleansed and sliced Ginger; and almost half as much of the thin yellow rind of Orange, when you are even ready to take it from the fire, so as the Orange boil only one walm in it. Then pour it into a well-glased strong deep great Gally-pot, and let it stand so, till it be almost cold, that it be scarce Luke-warm. Then put to it a little silver-spoonful of pure Ale-yest, and work it together with a Ladle to make it ferment: as soon as it beginneth to do so, cover it close with a fit cover, and put a thick dubbled woollen cloth about it. Cast all things so that this may be done when you are going to bed. Next morning when you rise, you will find the barm gathered all together in the middle; scum it clean off with a silver-spoon and a feather, and bottle up the Liquor, stopping it very close. It will be ready to drink in two or three days; but it will keep well a month or two. It will be from the first very quick and pleasant.

11 pints water 1 T peeled, sliced fresh ginger (~1/4 oz) 1/2 t yeast 1 pint honey = 1 1/2 lb 1/2 T orange peel

Dissolve the honey in the water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Let it boil down to 2/3 the original volume (8 pints), skimming periodically. This will take about 2 1/2 to 3 hours; by the end it should be clear. About 15 minutes before it is done, add the ginger. At the end, add the orange peel, let it boil a minute or so, and remove from the heat. The orange peel should be the yellow part only, not the white; a potato peeler works well to get off the peel. Let the mead cool to lukewarm, then add the yeast. The original recipe appears to use a top fermenting ale yeast, but dried bread yeast works. Cover and let sit 24-36 hours. Bottle it, using sturdy bottles; the fermentation builds up considerable pressure. Refrigerate after three or four days. Beware of exploding bottles. The mead will be drinkable in a week, but better if you leave it longer.

This recipe is modified from the original by reducing the proportion of honey and lengthening the time of fermentation before bottling. Both changes are intended to reduce the incidence of broken bottles. Using 2 liter plastic soda bottles is unaesthetic, but they are safer than glass.

Dissolve 4 cups sugar in 2 1/2 cups of water; when it comes to a boil add 1 cup wine vinegar. Simmer 1/2 hour. Add a handful of mint, remove from fire, let cool. Dilute the resulting syrup to taste with ice water (5 to 10 parts water to 1 part syrup). The syrup stores without refrigeration.

The swedish drink is spelled even different. You are so kind not to correct me as I have now looked into my dictionary.Thank you for your kindness. Ginger

I can see the wait for the Books to return has you all on your snorting palfries, ready to set out! I also see that Maryal, Inkeeper Extraordinaire has done her level best to quiet you down with all the spirits on her shelf - to no avail! What a marvelous job, Maryal! I intended to prevail upon you to continue through the pilgrimage as our innkeeper/guide, until I got to the part about BEACH WEEK!!! Beach Week! Listen, I've got four sons and I know all about Beach Week!!! You take care! How long will you be gone, luv?(I just got back from England, luv!) May I publicly prevail upon you to continue when you return? Is that putting you on the spot? You are a natural for the job!???

Good idea to get a start on The Knight's Tale - the longest by far. Note that the discussion table that we present is only that...and that's the only parameter we put on the discussion - that you stick to it and don't go beyond. But you can always read ahead. Don't need anyone's permission for that! We don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't read the pages yet, that's the reason for that. All of the Pilgrims have not yet assembled by my count? They do have until the "IDES" to get here to Southwark. A message will go out this evening to the rest of the Bookies and we should round out the group by Wednesday...

ALF, I notice that you have been keeping count - our numbers don't match! I fear that maybe there was a blip on the screen and I don't have everyone...will you all check and see if your name appears on the roster? I'd hate to leave someone asleep on the floor when we ride off! Make some noise if you see anyone missing...

What??? former proprietor??? That sounds like a "no"??? When will you be back? Listen, I don't take rejection well! Ask Ginny! I pout, sulk, whine...

I have read every single post here! You guys are ready to ride!!! I however would like the opportunity to respond, comment, as well as unload this throbbing head of Canterbury images all over these pages - until we begin the discussion on Wednesday...

Did Petrarch know of Chaucer...I can't remember the exact dates...I told you my head was throbbing...in overload!

Try this link and check for your name...will add Jim's in a sec!

Okay, off to do some errands and then will spew Canterbury factoids all over the room! Nobody should be having so much fun!

Jeryn, we were all waiting for you! Will add your name to the roster right now! And you can ride on my horse! The roads are great! Those Romans knew how to build them...you can still see them (in places) on the road to Kent. They would have been in excellant shape in Chaucer's time. They say that the trip on horseback - from Southwark,London to Canterbury would have taken 4 days, but that Chaucer's troup made it in one day...no checking into inns or camping along the way! So you'd better ride. The vineyard lady seems to have room on her horse.

Check the roster and see if all of your names are here?

Charolotte! Thank you so much for sharing your notes from Lee Patterson. I put the note in the heading reading the importance of not separating the teller from the tale. Let's try that and see how it works? On Monday, we'll discuss the Knight's part in the prologue together with his tale and see how they connect! Great idea. Thanks again!

April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land,mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.

Uh Joan, your last link to a list is-n't work-ing! [Post #121]

 

We stayed in Arles for several days in a hotel very near the 
Rhone River, and my customary early morning walks along the 
Chippewa were replaced with  walks along the Rhone. 

.......... 

These walks were the source of some of my darker thoughts while 
on our trip. The river is canalized throughout much of its route 
and completely through Arles, its banks lined with stone and 
concrete, its flow regulated by several dams upstream, and the 
contrast with my more natural Chippewa disturbed me. 

One day as I walked along trying to imagine what  the Rhone might 
have been like centuries ago before man had captured it and taken 
its freedom away, I noticed a dying fish swimming slowly upstream 
against the current. It would swim for a moment or two, and then 
turn belly up, its light colored underside reflecting the morning 
sun in sharp contrast with the dark water. Then it would float 
downstream, only to regain control again, right itself and swim 
ahead, until once again floating back. 

. . . . . . . . . . 

I imagine these darker thoughts have some purpose in the larger 
scheme of things, and I can turn them into some useful end 
somewhere along the line. I was, however, happy to end those 
thoughts on a trip from Arles to a mountain stream that sprang 
from a large artesian pool at the foot of a mountain and cascaded 
through rapids down to the valley floor and on to join the Rhone. 

It was here along this stream that Petrarch sat and poured out 
his  heart  to a woman he idealized from a distance. He dedicated 
5,000 verses of Platonic love verse to her without ever having 
spoken to her. He did sometimes find his way back to Avignon 
where he decried the earthy pleasures  and other wicked ways of 
courtly life, but while there managed to partake of them enough 
to produce an illegitimate child by a servant girl- well within 
the poetic tradition of the time. 

I was also happy to share the same wild river that inspired him, 
knowing that it probably is still as free  as when he sat there 
(with fewer other tourists around) and watched the tumbling 
waters and the trout fisherman. The wild flowers that lined the 
stream when he was there are still there, making the walk up the 
valley to the pool a  delightful  walk and providing excuses for 
pausing along the way to rest old limbs and joints. Trout are 
still there and many end up on the menus of several of the 
restaurants that overlook the stream. Having a pleasant lunch in 
one of them certainly helped improve my mood. 

I also reflected on the happy thought that I had chosen only five 
line poetry to express my thoughts. 

May I/we call you YiLi? Have you located the on-line text in the heading? You can read it there, but to save your eyes and your neck, read small bits at a time. There is a searchable text there too.

Let me warn you about Maryal's grog by the way! At least it's fresh!

Ah Dewey Beach! Evening strolls along the sandy beach down to Rehoboth for the boardwalk and a seafood dinner! We will miss our Innkeeper who has publicly promised to return to her exalted position (yaaaaay). Have a well-deserved grand time, good friend!

Several have asked, Jeryn being the latest, for a description of the real which I just visited last week. There is so much, I don't know where to start. And of course, there's always the risk of putting you to sleep if I post it all. I thought of dribbling out little descriptions from time to time. I have found several sites, which would save typing too, (lazy) and thought I'd try pasting in some sections and commenting. Let's see if that works, or if you find it overwhelming and not worth the time. I have a healthy ego and can seek another way if that's the case!





One of the favorite pastimes for this new group of people was to take a pilgrimage, which served the same function for Medieval man as does a vacation to the beach or Disneyland serves modern man. Although there were many popular spots - the pilgrimage center of Glastonbury being one example - the favorite of all was the cathedral in Canterbury that housed the remains of the beloved St. Thomas á Becket. The second centenary of the death of St. Thomas occured in Chaucer's lifetime, and for the jubilee thousands of people took to the road, and there was even free food and drink for the traveler all the way from London along the south road to Canterbury.

haucer has his pilgrims gather at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, a disreputable area across the Thames from London. There actually was a Tabard Inn in Chaucer's day, and its innkeeper was Harry Baily, who is named in Canterbury Tales. And just as there was a real Harry Baily, so too was the character of the cook, Hodge of Ware, an actual person. A London cook named Roger Ware (Hodge is a nickname of Roger) was known at that time, and Chaucer obviously intended for some of his London readers to recognize Bailly, Ware, and perhaps even others.

Southwark was the normal starting point for all pilgrimages, and although it is uncertain how individuals and small groups were organized into suitable companies, it seems certain that the Church also played the role of travel agency. A Canterbury pilgrimage was so popular and common that the route held few curiousities for Englishmen, and a written account of such a journey did not need descriptions of places or sights. Chaucer only mentions his pilgrims and their discussions; along the trip he barely names the towns they passed or where they stopped.

After leaving the Tabard he throws in an occasional poetic signpost, enough to maintain the illusion of a journey. He has the pilgrims stop at a site called the Watering of St. Thomas (an unidentifiable location), but other spots are barely mentioned, and when they are, merely in passing: "Lo Greenwich, there many a shrewe is inne." Chaucer does not even write of Blackheath, or Dartford, the place where most pilgrims spent their first night out. In the Monk's prolouge the town of Rochester is mentioned, Sittingbourne is cited in the Wife of Bath's prolouge, and the Blean Forest is where the Canon's Yeoman joins the group.

At Boughton-under-Blee there were two approaches to Canterbury, and Chaucer has his company stop to decide which path to take

Beside the body of St. Thomas, Canterbury had a lot to offer, enough to satisfy any pilgrim: the whole arms of eleven saints, the bed of the Blessed Virgin, some wool of Her own weaving, a fragment of the rock at Calvary, a piece of rock from the Holy Sepulchre, Aaron's Rod, a piece of the clay from which Adam was made, and other incredible exhibits.

It is ironic to note that a Bishop Simon Sudbury of London once overtook a band of merry-makers on their way to Canterbury and berated them by saying:

"Plenary indulgences for your sins by repairing to Canterbury? Better hope might ye have of Salvation had ye stayed at home and brought forth fruits meet for repentance!"

Even though Chaucer does not tell us how the pilgrims traveled, it is easy to trace the way they must have gone. The street leading from Southwark is an old Roman road and today is known as Old Kent Road, and eventually becomes New Kent Road. In Chaucer's day it was called Watling Street, and it can still be followed to Canterbury or to Dover. (Interestingly, Chaucer writes of Watling Street in his poetry, but only in its usage as a common Medieval nickname for the Milky Way.) Leaving Southwark, the travelers would have passed through Deptford, Greenwich, and ended their first day in the town of Dartford. From Dartford they would have traveled to Rochester, crossed the river Medway, then gone on to Sittingbourne, Ospring, and Boughton-under-Blee. From here they would have either continued on Watling Street straight to Canterbury, or would have taken a southerly shortcut through Bob-up-and-down, depending on which road was in the best condition. Once they had reached Canterbury, the pilgrimage was over, for to Medieval man the pilgrimage was a symbolic journey that represented the course of human life, from one's home on earth to one's true home in the universal order. A pilgrimage was therefore declared over at its destination, and the return home was not part of the ritual act.

It would've taken at least four days to complete a trip such as this, but Chaucer has his pilgrims seemingly do it in one day. They leave Southwark in the morning, pass through certain towns during the day, then arrive in sight of Canterbury as the sun is setting. Nothing is said of stops for meals or overnight, and the trip seems to pass in a strange way from morning to night - much is made of the sun's position, the length of the shadows, and such.

Critcs argue that Chaucer meant the story to be more realistic than it is, that he just didn't have time to do it right, but this way of interpreting Canterbury Tales means that it must be read for what is missing and not for what is there. That is not the case. Canterbury Tales is not a work of realism, and the ending comes exactly where it does. Even those tales that remain unfinished do so for a purpose, such as the Squire's. The Squire is fresh and young, not yet through with life, and his incomplete story represents that.

We are all pilgrims, Chaucer says, and all of us have many tales to tell, some finished and others still in the making. And what was true in Chaucer's time is still true today, six hundred years later. We are, all of us, pilgrims on the journey through life.

"This world nis but a thoroughfare full of woe, And we been pilgrims passing to and fro."

May I/we call you YiLi? Have you located the on-line text in the heading? You can read it there, but to save your eyes and your neck, read small bits at a time. There is a searchable text there too.

Let me warn you about Maryal's grog by the way! At least it's fresh!

Ah Dewey Beach! Evening strolls along the sandy beach down to Rehoboth for the boardwalk and a seafood dinner! We will miss our Innkeeper who has publicly promised to return to her exalted position (yaaaaay). Have a well-deserved grand time, good friend!

And our ALF off to Florida! For how long? Is this an unexcused absence? Your sunny smile will be missed! Hurry back to us!

Oh, by the way, we're going to move up into the Current discussions on the B&L menu page this afternoon in case you've been coming in that way...to be ready for opening day tomorrow!

Several have asked, Jeryn being the latest, for a description of the real Canterbury which I just visited last week. There is so much, I don't know where to start. And of course, there's always the risk of putting you to sleep if I post it all. I thought of dribbling out little descriptions from time to time. I have found several sites, which would save typing too, (lazy) and thought I'd try pasting in some sections and commenting. Let's see if that works, or if you find it overwhelming and not worth the time. I have a healthy ego and can seek another way if that's the case!

Chaucer has his pilgrims gather at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, a disreputable area (near where the Globe theatre was to be built! Yes, disreputable...the inns, theatre and houses of ill-repute were located on this site) across the Thames from London. There actually was a Tabard Inn in Chaucer's day, and its innkeeper was Harry Baily, who is named in Canterbury Tales. ( When I went through the rebuilt Globe theatre last week, I noticed a sign that said "Tabard Inn" - I'm sure it isn't standing today, maybe something marking the spot? My boys were in a hurry for the next event and wouldn't humor me on this one. Ginny, Ginger, PatW, you must promise to find whatever is there!) And just as there was a real Harry Baily, so too was the character of the cook, Hodge of Ware, an actual person. A London cook named Roger Ware (Hodge is a nickname of Roger) was known at that time, and Chaucer obviously intended for some of his London readers to recognize Bailly, Ware, and perhaps even others.

Even though Chaucer does not tell us how the pilgrims traveled, it is easy to trace the way they must have gone. The street leading from Southwark is an old Roman road ("font color=crimson face="comic sans MS"> t'is amazing the longevity of the Roman roads and fortifications...still standing after all this time...the Pilgrims had those wonderful roads in Chaucer's time to get to Canterbury!) and today is known as Old Kent Road, and eventually becomes New Kent Road. In Chaucer's day it was called Watling Street, and it can still be followed to Canterbury or to Dover. (Interestingly, Chaucer writes of Watling Street in his poetry, but only in its usage as a common Medieval nickname for the Milky Way.) Leaving Southwark, the travelers would have passed through Deptford, Greenwich, and ended their first day in the town of Dartford. From Dartford they would have traveled to Rochester, crossed the river Medway, then gone on to Sittingbourne, Ospring, and Boughton-under-Blee. From here they would have either continued on Watling Street straight to Canterbury, or would have taken a southerly shortcut through Bob-up-and-down (love that name!), depending on which road was in the best condition. I did visit Greenwich a different day, but did not see it on the way to Canterbury. Took a train through the countryside and did see Sittingbourne - very picturesque, except for the newly built townhouses!

Once they had reached Canterbury, the pilgrimage was over, for to Medieval man the pilgrimage was a symbolic journey that represented the course of human life, from one's home on earth to one's true home in the universal order. A pilgrimage was therefore declared over at its destination, and the return home was not part of the ritual act.

It is ironic to note that a Bishop Simon Sudbury of London once overtook a band of merry-makers on their way to Canterbury and berated them by saying:

"Plenary indulgences for your sins by repairing to Canterbury? Better hope might ye have of Salvation had ye stayed at home and brought forth fruits meet for repentance!"

I did remember someone asking about indulgences and asked about that there. Plenary indulgences...(as opposed to Partial) were granted for those on the Pilgrimage...full remission of punishment for capital sins!


It would've taken at least four days to complete a trip such as this, but Chaucer has his pilgrims seemingly do it in one day. They leave Southwark in the morning, pass through certain towns during the day, then arrive in sight of Canterbury as the sun is setting. Nothing is said of stops for meals or overnight, and the trip seems to pass in a strange way from morning to night - much is made of the sun's position, the length of the shadows, and such.

You are going to have lots of questions to answer and pictures to take after we get started here! I want a photo of what Canterbury Cathedral looked like in Chaucer's time, not this huge gothic church on my photos and postcards! Why didn't I think of that????? I was trying so hard to be a Pilgrim!

Ale Ale, an alcoholic beverage similar to but more bitter than beer. Ale was an important drink in the Middle Ages and was enormously popular. It was drunk as was, or was mixed with other drinks, honey, or spices.

"His breed, his ale, was always after oon." - Prologue to The Canterbury Tales

"Wel koude he knowe a draughte of Londoun ale." - Prologue to The Canterbury Tales

"With breed and chese, and good ale in a jubbe." - The Miller's Tale

"For ale and breed, and rosted him a goos." - The Reeve's Tale

"As ever mote I drynken wyn or ale." - The Wife of Bath's Prologue

"As ever mote I drynke wyn or ale." - Prologue to The Canterbury Tales

"Our Hooste saugh that he was dronke of ale." - Prologue to The Canterbury Tales

References to Ale are found throughout much of Chaucer's writings, too numerous to list.

Ale Stake A long pole projecting horizontally in front of a tavern, over the heads of passerbys. It was the regular sign of an alehouse, and was frequently hung with large, round garlands.

"As greet as it were for an alestake" - Prologue to The Canterbury Tales

Barel Ale A barrel of ale.

"I hadde levere than a barel ale" - Prologue to The Monk's Tale

Berme Yeast Yeast was the primary leavening agent used in making ale, beer, mead, & other fermented drinks,

Bragot A drink made of ale and honey fermented together; a spiced ale drink, sweetened with honey. Receipts are found in Forme of Cury (as braggot) and in Goud Kokery (as brakkat). Judging by the prices paid by Alice de Bryene in 1419, the spice quantities would be 2/3 oz. pepper & 1/4 oz. cloves.

"Hir mouth was sweete as bragot or the meeth" - The Miller's Tale

Brewhous A Brewhouse; an Alehouse.

"In al the toun nas brewhous ne taverne" - The Miller's Tale

Vernage A sweet Italian wine, sometimes red but generally white; the Italian vernaccia is a white wine.

"He drynketh ypocras, clarree, and vernage" - The Merchant's Tale

"And eek another, ful of fyn vernage" - The Shipman's Tale

Wyn Wine. Universally known and loved, wine was one of the most vital food items of the Middle Ages. Its production and trade was a major commerce, and it was used daily by nearly everyone, from kings to commoners. Qualities of wine ranged from superior to barely consumable, and hundredes of types and varieties existed. In addition, a muititude of beverages were made from wine, such as ypocras and clarree. Doctors and physicians recommeded it, and its uses in cooking were endless. To mention all the roles this substance played in Medieval culture would take far more space and time than allowed here; needless to say, wine was probably the most important beverage in the Middle Ages, if not in all of history itself.

"Wel loved he by the morwe a sop in wyn;" - Prologue to The Canterbury Tales

"As ever moote I drynken wyn or ale" - The Wife of Bath's Tale

'And brynge us breed and wyn ful prively." - The Pardoner's Tale

"No wyn ne drank she, neither whit ne reed;" - The Nun's Priest's Tale

"And for to drynken strong wyn, reed as blood;" - Prologue to the Canterbury Tales

"And eek the wyn, in al this melodye" - The Squire's Tale

"Strong was the wyn, and wel to drynke us leste" - Prologue to The Canterbury Tales

"The spices and the wyn is come anoon" - The Squire's Tale

Wyn Ape Ape-wine; wine that makes a monkey out of the drinker, wine that makes one foolishly drunk.

"I trowe that ye dronken han wyn ape" - The Manciple's Tale

Ciser Strong drink; siceram in the Vulgate.

"This Sampson nevere ciser drank ne wyn" - The Monk's Tale

Clarree Wine flavored with honey and spices; the second most popular flavored wine after Hipocras, not to be confused with the modern Claret, a medium-red variety of wine. Medieval claret is a spiced wine. Forme of Cury has a sort of basic Clarrey made from white wine with cinnamon, galingale, grains of paradise, pepper and honey; a "Lord's Claret" from a 14th c. medical manuscript contained cinnamon, ginger, pepper, long pepper, grains of paradise, cloves, galingale, caraway, mace, nutmeg, coriander, brandy, and honey. A common serving sauce for eel was made from Claret mulled with powdered dry spices and salt.

"Of a clarree maad of a certeyn wyn" - The Knight's Tale

"He drynketh ypocras, clarree, and vernage" - The Merchant's Tale

"And thanne he taketh a soppe in fyn clarree" - The Merchant's Tale

Clarree was wine to which honey and spices were added; the name comes from the Latin vinum claratum, which means "clarified wine." The name survives today as claret, a dry, red wine.

• 1 bottle (750 mll) of an inexpensive, sweet white wine
• 1 -2 cups honey
• 1 tbs. each cinnamon, galingale (or substitute ginger), & cardamon
• 1 tsp. white pepper
• cheesecloth

Bring the wine and honey to a boil; reduce heat & skim off the scum as it rises. Taste for sweetness; add honey as necessary. Remove from heat, stir in spices, and allow to sit covered for 24 hours. After sitting, the spices will create a thick residue which will settle to the bottom. Using a ladle, pass the wine into another container through a strainer lined with 2 or 3 layers of cheesecloth to remove the spices, being careful to leave as much of the spice residue in the pot as possible. Bottle. Make at least 1 month before serving. A good Clarree aged for a year or more is exquisite!

Galiones another spiced wine drink named after a famous physician, the Greek anatomist Claudius Galen.

Ypocras A spiced drink, spiced wine; known today as hippocras. In the Middle Ages, a variety of wine-based drinks were prepared that included a sophisticated combination of ingredients designed for a multitude of conditions and purposes. The most popular of these spiced drinks was hippocras, known by that name throughout all of Europe. It had the distinct honor of being titled after the Greek "Father of Medicine" Hippocrates, who was purported to have devised the first recipe for this beverage. Because of Hippocrates' almost mythical reputation for healing in the Middle Ages, this drink was accepted as a sort of magic elixer for digestion and general health. The spicy and sweet nature of this drink meant that it was used as an apertif, usually at the beginning but more often at the end of a meal, to aid digestion. Physicians recommended that meals should end with a compound of sugar & spice, from a liquid like hippocras to the spiced candies known as dragée. It must have been very satisfying to drink a spiced and mulled hippocras after dinner with the excuse that it was good for you!

Recipes for hippocras varied from place to place and time to time, but its use remained constant and international.

A hippocras could be made out of either red or white wine, but the warmer and moister properties of red wine were usually preferred for good digestion and other health aspects.

"Thyn ypocras, and eek thy galiones" - The Physician-Pardoner Link

"He drynketh ypocras, clarree, and vernage" - The Merchant's Tale

LONEX, we are so happy to have you join us!!! You make #19 of the 29! Please don't worry about catching up! Do you have a copy of the Tales? If not, we have the on-line link in the heading above, your choice, either in the Middle or Modern English version. Some of us are trying them both, Middle for the poetry, Modern for help with the meaning. Both are available above. Now listen up everyone! We travel at a very slow trot in Great Books and there is never a problem catching up.

Between today and Monday, we will be discussing the first 40 lines or so of the Prologue and then the last 115 lines of the Prologue, the conditions of the contest. That leaves plenty of time for reading the Knight's tale - that discussion starts on Monday!

AM raring to go, the paltries are pawing and panting and straining at the bit! Did anyone learn the opening lines?

There are several different stories of what happened to the remains of Thomas Becket when Henry VIII destroyed the contents of his coffin. The "official" version is that his body remains were burned and scattered in the Thames or somewhere. But there are many other indications that the monks knew Henry's men were on their way, so they substituted the remains and hid Thomas' bones somewhere else - some say on the same location I visited last week in Canterbury. Let me find a link where I read something about that.

All I do know for sure is that I will recognize my mother immediately! She has assured me of that. Have you ever read Life After Life? Or heard any of those accounts of those who died, officially died on operating tables, but came back to relate their death experiences? Fascinating stuff.

The reason for the move up to the more important area in "The Trinity Chapel was because of the growing importance of this new (at the time) Saint and because of the increasing numbers of miracles that were attributed to visits to his Tomb. Certainly, the monks in those days were not backward in marketing practices. It is said that a piece of a bone plate from the top of Becket's cranium was edged with silver and shown to the visiting pilgrims. Whether this piece of bone was actually from the head of the Saint is certainly open to doubt."

Alf have you left yet? I've been meaning to ask if you are expecting an "arduous trip" or did you really mean "ardorous"?

 

Joan's contrasting the opening lines of the prologue with Eliot's 
Wasteland and their different views of April made me think about 
the roles poets play in supporting, rejecting or questioning the 
social and political status quo. 

Chaucher it seems to me fits in with the supporters, bending his 
poetic vision to see a heirarchy of nature and man consistent 
with the age he represented.  

He could not have written as Blake did later: 

" Tyger, tyger, burning bright 
In the forests of the night, 
.  .   . 
Did he who made the lamb make thee?" 

Like Shakespeare, however, he could use the prevailing order of 
things as a base for his poetry and still with his universal view 
of that order  to aspects of the human condition that transcended 
the present. 

I think that is one of the reasons  we enjoy having him take us 
to Canterbury and why the trip is both culturally nostalgic and 
comtemporary. 

Besides, of course, getting a chance to don our attire for the 
trip.   

Canterbury Cathedral was the scene of a major project by the Canterbury Archaeological Trust from January to April 1993 Excavations, revealing a remarkable sequence of structures and restricted to the removal of eighteenth century deposits, before the laying of a new floor in 1786.

Only limited traces of Romano-British layers were found, but sufficient to indicate a pebbled street running beneath the cathedral. Fronting onto the street were timber-framed buildings and a masonry structure, as yet undated.



The most important find was the remains of the Anglo-Saxon cathedral, just 0.20m below the 1786 floor.

The earliest, Phase I, is represented by foundations cut into post Roman `dark earth' deposits which sealed the Romano British deposits. They may well be part of the original church of St Augustine constructed soon after his arrival in A.D. 597. The foundations were of re-used Roman stone with mortared stone and Roman bricks above. The plan and scale of the building are similar to the early church of St Peter and St Paul at St Augustine's Abbey .

Phase II consisted of a partly subterranean masonry structure with a tile floor 1.2 m. below contemporary ground surface. Its function remains uncertain, but it might have been a mausoleum.

During the ninth or tenth century the early church was demolished and a larger structure was built (Phase III). It is ascribed this phase possibly to Archbishop Wulfed (805-32), and a subsequent rebuild, to Archbishop Oda (942-58).

Phase IV saw the demolition of the western end and its replacement with (the Oratory of St Mary). A substantial part of this west-work was uncovered. The Archbishop's cathedra or throne would have been sited to the rear of the apse with the altar to the Virgin set in front. At the same time towers were added, one of which may be the tower of St Gregory. These remains may have been built by Archbishops Lyfing (1013-20) or Æthelnoth (1020-38) after a Danish army, led by Thorkell the Tall and his brother Hemming, plundered and burnt the city and cathedral in 1011.

The excavated remains of Phase IV was a large ring crypt, possibly housing the remains of St Dunstan. The original church may have been the fragments of masonry found below the crypt floor in 1895. Undoubtedly the cathedral in the early years of the eleventh century would have ranked among the largest in Northern Europe.

Possible Inn our pilgrims stayed at in Canterbury. Roman Road at No 2 High Street location of the former `Cheker of the Hope Inn', built for Christ Church Priory in 1392-5

Late medieval Canterbury had a large number of inns, taverns and lodging houses, the most famous of which was the great courtyard inn, known as the `Cheker of the Hope'. Begun in 1392 the work took three years, and cost £867 14s 4d to complete. The inn was being erected during the last few years of Geoffrey Chaucer's life and is mentioned in an early fifteenth century continuation of the Canterbury Tales (not written by Chaucer), The Prologue to the Tale of Beryn.

Most of the eastern side of this inn survives, though approximately half of the total structure was destroyed in a great fire on 22nd August 1865. The inn itself, a large three storeyed, jettied building, with galleried internal court, incorporated an impressive stone arcade on the ground floor which still survives at the corner of Mercery Lane and the High Street.

A few notes, before we get going on our spring break (don't you miss Maryal already?) I hope the weather is nice for her! Yes, it was a pleasant break for the Canterbury pilgrims, making the trip for spiritual reasons, some much more serious than others. But it was a merry band as opposed to a somber penitential group!

Sir Jim, you have provided the start for our conversation, which will hopefully get started in earnest today. We were too concerned with getting to know one another, admiring our costumes and saddling up for the ride yesterday. I think we're ready to begin now!

Okay, there's a prize for the first person to find a Canterbury Tales glossary on-line! Elf is good to search the lines, but not a glossary!

Later! Can't find my sunscreen!

You certainly may walk, but gather up that broomstick skirt and watch where you are stepping! We promise to move at a nice slow pace

Sister, you win the prize for the first to present some glossaries, but because of your vow of Poverty, we shall add it (it was monetary!) to our joint kitty for expenses along the way.

And although you did provide us with three glossary sources, none of them helped with the meaning of the word weal as used in the Knight's tale -"Who helped them when they lay so ill and weal." The first found nothing, and the second two I couldn't figure out how to use...So the prize is still there for a workable glossary. Can anyone get the second or third URL provided in Post #176 to operate? Otherwise we will put the first one in the heading by default, and the meaning of the word "weal" in this context will remain a mystery!

Shall we begin? The others will surely catch up with us! What better place than the first fifteen lines of the Prologue to set the scene and give us an idea of the Medieval view of man's position in the cosmos!

Look where Chaucer begins the reawakening with the four basic elements of life: Aprill shoures (water), droghte and the dry land (earth), Zephirus and the wind (air) and the yonge sonne (fire). Then what???...Watch him build this pyramid from the bottom up!

Oh, I am so happy that you have found us!

And YiLi, that's why I like to go to work too! The monitor screen is so much larger than mine......and everything loads in lightening speed. I get to go in this evening and use it!!!

HAHAHAHAHABarbara! What you find when launching an all out search! I couldn't slow her voice down..."Everybody.....this place is haunted?" What did Nell say?

Lonex nobody's doing any bone crunching until you get here...don't worry you won't miss anything! Just get that Netscape glitch straightened out before we leave! Does anyone have a map, or are we just going to follow the guys in front of us? What if they're going to the Beach?

Once on a time, afore we do all fuss
If weather's a fluke and trial dubious.
Of mind we be bawd and yes curator
Foreign my rhyme a real sternutator
But that a tasimeter was not neath the sun
Full many a cold body was undone.
What with cloudbursts and no hostelry
Be gained in the nearby vicinity
A place to finish this epopoeia
As we all suffer the skill logorrhoea
Prompts full speed ahead with all zealotry
The Knight's glory before I use a dolorimetry
And to my seniornet proximity
Before contradictory rainy threnody
Let this noble group to á Beckett ride
With hostess Joan marching as our guide.
And truly a very long tankard of beer
Will keep Lenox and I from the bier
While our blood filled with salinity
Will escape being chopped into alkalinity.

I was so happy yesterday to see our own Carolyn Andersen indicate that she will be joining us on this expeditions! Many of us know Carolyn, a regular Great Books member. She lives in Norway and has a wonderful grand-daughter...we feel as if she belongs to all of us! Please be sure to give her a big WELCOME when she gets here! So now, we have saddled up 23 of our 29 waiting paltry palfries/palfreys??? Ginny, what does your Oxford say about the plural of palfrey?

For those of you who couldn't see London on the map, maybe this will help...Medieval Map of LOndon

"Now I have told you shortly, in a clause,
The rank, the array, the number and the cause
Of our assembly in this company
In Southwark..." (Page 22, half way down the page - to the end of the prologue.)

Off to walk/run the dog! - Later!

Today I've been puzzling through the I'm differences between Chaucer's Medieval man and modern man - us.

Charlotte, when speaking of Courtly Love as expressed - perhaps - in the Knight's Tale remarked, "We must be reminded to read the tale in the spirit in which Chaucer conceived it. Nor must we attempt to give it a modern interpretation." Okay, now remember that we are also warned by Prof. Patterson not to separate the teller from the tale, the knight from the characters/virtues....It seems to me that if wer are to avoid giving the tale a modern interpretation, we should be aware of what that is...

Previously, JimO tells us that Chaucer was a man of his time, but his universal view as to the human condition transcends his time. His universal view is perhaps what strikes the chord with YiLi, Phyll & the rest of us!

The point made over and over is that the tales actually develop the personalities of the narrators.  The quarrels and diverse opinions of the tellers are specific  to each recital.  As CHAROLOTTE has pointed out, let us not seperate teller from tale. That will be the fun part.

NELLIE"  Welcome to this motley crew.  Pick yer poison, but DO try the grog.  The scholar you wish to be?  the Oxford Cleric?  Though a philosopher, as I have told, He had not found the stone for making gold. A tone of moral virtue we will need on this journey, so saddle up yer mare.

Lonex:  don't believe a word JOAN is telling ya.  Hary Bailley lies as drunk as a skunk---- somewhere ~
WHOA, horsey.  Noone told me that it was going to drop to the 40s at night.  I may have to reconsider this trip.

CAROLYN:  no self propelled vehicles allowed on this travel.  Nice try--- no dice.  Suffer with the rest of us.  Be sure to pad the fanny well.  these beast here are tough on the derriere.

ppppPHYLL:  Can I move next door to you?  A Borders and a B& N nearbyl  Oh Lordie, let me die there.   Bless you./  Who is William Balake?  I said many of those same things only yesterday  ( not nearly as well as he di.d) Every age is a Canterbury Pilgramage.  Alas, it is true.  How else could this have survived 600 years????
 
 

ALF, I'm trying to be serious here for a minute...trying to make the point that the pilgrimage was primarily, for every one, a religious journey to improve chances for salvation. Of course, our band is made up of mortals prone to weakness and faults, "cracks" as Ginger would put it...but all of these Christians are concerned about their relationship with God.

If there is one word that would characterize the Medieval period it would have to be "Christianity" - not so much the pious aspect, but the intellectual and moral journy towards God and salvation. Chaucer lived in what would have to be called the golden age within the Middle Ages. His contemporaries - the Pearl Poet...(last year we read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - and loved it), and William Langland who wrote Piers Plowman provide portraits of the people and temper of the period - both of these had as basic theme of salvation and its obstacles.

The Canterbury Tales will be a moral struggle to find the balance between Personal reponsibility and the need for individual liberty...does this sound familiar? But how does all of us differ from our way of thinking? Why do we insist that this was merely a spring break for these people? Is it because we can not understand Medieval man's belief system?

LONEX, the purpose of the trip was to improve one's chances of salvation...and these Pilgrims understood from Church teaching that they would receive a Plenary (full!) indulgence or pardon for their sins...so the purpose of the trip was not so much as solemn and pious - but rather a belief that the veneration of Thomas' bones at Canterbury would bring them salvation. So, yes, they were jovial and in high spirits - they are about to earn salvation and they also wish to give thanks for their good health. (Remember the Plague - do we need numbers of those who died of the plague to understand how concerned these people were about death - and beyond!) But they were well, they were gaining salvation, and yes, in very high spirits!

The prologue opens with a hierarchy that begins with the water (rain), fire (sun), air(wind) and drought (earth), the four basic elements necessary for life >, then the floures (flora), the fowles (fauna) and finally man at the center. But THAT'S NOT ALL! Chaucer's characters are well aware of their relationship with God and the necessity of achieving salvation while on earth.

"Then people long to go to Canterbury...to seek the holy blissful martyr quick to give his help to them when they were sick...
Ready to go on pilgrimage and start for Canterbury, most devout at heart"

Chaucer seems to be using a hierarchy as he describes his characters...even though the Knight begins the round of storytelling by chance, by drawing straws...the Knight is the most virtuous, the most worthy, the one having the least trouble battling with the universal problem of the human condition - finding a balance between personal responsibility and the need for freedom. He is more......saintly than human.

Then the Nun, fastidious, but "coy" and little false- less saintly than what she would have people think...

I'm willing to bet that as the tales are told, we have more human imperfections as we move down the line. Funny, that the Knight drew straws and won the privilige of telling his story first!

I'm sorry if I sound like I'm preaching, but I feel quite strongly about the importance of getting into the mindset of the Christian mindset of the this period of time, without putting a modern interpretation on it! Yet, at the same time, marveling at the universality of the struggle between responsibility and liberty. One of the links, there was a monk or a man of the Church who scolded the Pilgrims for their joviality on the way to Canterbury. It could have been Chaucer's group - our group! I'll find that now!

"Bishop Simon Sudbury of London once overtook a band of merry-makers on their way to Canterbury and berated them by saying:

"Plenary indulgences for your sins by repairing to Canterbury? Better hope might ye have of Salvation had ye stayed at home and brought forth fruits meet for repentance!"

A young Squire from Kent, Thomas of Aldon, angrily spoke back:


"My Lord Bishop, for that you have thus spoken evil of St. Thomas and are minded to stir up the minds of the people against him, I will give up mine own salvation if you do not die a most shameful death!"

I've got some questions for you? Who is the narrator of the prologue? Is it Chaucer? Is he one of the 29 - in other words, do we saddle him a horse...or is he invisible?

Back in a sec!

And welcome to you, SHASTA (-$1.00), Pilgrim #27...and counting! I think we'll offer a wee prize for #29. <

Speaking of prizes, can we all look a bit more closely at the storytelling contest proposed by our innkeeper/guide, Harry Bailly - before agreeing to anything? As Phyll noticed earlier, Harry is not promising to foot the bill for the free meal he's offering for the best story (that which amuses himself? He's the judge, right? )...He's offered the dinner to be paid for - by us? By the losers? Do we all put our pounds into a pot before we start, or does he propose that we pay up afterwards...There's another "clause" in the contest rules. I think we'd better reread the fine print before agreeing to anything!

ps.Charlotte, thanks for your careful response to my earlier question...and those of you who added comments! I think I'm ready for the journey now- still can't get over Carolyn's description of the roads though!
Harry! - sooo glad you are back...what would we have done without your guidance through the slough?

Was about to shut down my computer, and see these two notes I had copied on Notepad earlier this morning - rather than save them, I'll post here and save room on the old hard drive!

"Once they had reached Canterbury, the pilgrimage was over, for to Medieval man the pilgrimage was a symbolic journey that represented the course of human life, from one's home on earth to one's true home in the universal order. A pilgrimage was therefore declared over at its destination, and the return home was not part of the ritual act."

---

"When Chaucer introduces the pilgrims, he arranges them so that we can better see their social relationships
First came the Knight and his small retinue, the Prioress and hers, and the Monk and the Friar; then followed the Merchant, the other members of the merchants class, and those pilgrims of "middle" rank; and in last came the commoners, the "churls," those freemen of the lowest rank, the same category in which Chaucer wryly includes himself."

This trip certainly reminds me of a pilgrimage that our local church group took to Israel.   We went with all good intentions of reverence, prayer, and meditation.  But I'm sure we spent more time gawking at the modern sites in Jerusalem, buying gifts for everyone back home, selecting goods to feature at our next church bazaar, and taking photos of everyone standing in front of whatever looked different from what we saw at home,  than we did paying our tribute and respect to the religious shrines.  (what a terrible sentence.)

Daily life needs a diversion from the humdrum..  The pilgrims could make this journey and make points with the church and their own conscience, but also enjoy the company and companionship of the other pilgrims.

Martyr, Archbishop of Canterbury, born at London, 21 December, 1118 (?); died at Canterbury, 29 December, 1170.

St. Thomas was born of parents who, coming from Normandy, had settled in England some years previously. In after life his humble birth was made the subject of spiteful comment. His parents were people of some mark, and from his earliest years their son had been well taught and had associated with gentlefolk. He learned to read at Merton Abbey and then studied in Paris. On leaving school he employed himself in secretarial work, first with Sir Richer de l'Aigle and then with his kinsman, Osbert Huitdeniers, who was "Justiciar" of London. Somewhere about the year 1141,he entered the service of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury. Theobald recognized his capacity, made use of him in many delicate negotiations, and, after allowing him to go for a year to study civil and cannon law at Bologna and Auxerre, ordained him deacon in 1154, after bestowing upon him several preferments, the most important of which was the Archdeaconry of Canterbury

When King Stephen died the young monarch Henry II became master of the kingdom. He took "Thomas of London", as Becket was then called, for his chancellor, and Thomas at the age of thirty-six became, with the possible exception of the justiciar, the most powerful subject in Henry's wide dominions. The chroniclers speak with wonder of the relations which existed between the chancellor and the sovereign, who was twelve years his junior. People declared that "they had but one heart and one mind". Often the king and his minister behaved like two schoolboys at play. Both were hard workers, and both, had the prosperity of the kingdom deeply at heart. Whether the chancellor, the elder man, was the true originator of the administrative reforms which Henry introduced cannot now be clearly determined. In many matters they saw eye to eye. The king's love of splendour were shared by his minister and when Thomas went to France in 1158 to negotiate a marriage treaty, he traveled with such pomp that the people said: "If this be only the chancellor what must be the glory of the king himself?"

In military operations Thomas, a Deacon, took a leading part, unhorsing many French nights, he lead the most daring attacks, laid waste the enemy's country with fire and sword. His principles did not differ from those of the other commanders of his time. No word was ever breathed against his personal purity. Foul conduct, foul speech, lying or unchastity were hateful to him, and on occasion he punished them severely.

He had clear principles regarding the claims of the Church, and even during his chancellorship he more than once risked Henry's grievous displeasure. But to the very limits of his conscience, Thomas identified himself with his master's interests; served Theobald well, served King Henry well as Chancellor, and finally served well the Church.

Archbishop Theobald died in 1161. In the next year Henry prepared the way for further schemes of reform by securing the advancement of his chancellor. Thomas was ordained priest on Saturday in Whitweek and consecrated bishop the next day, Sunday, 3 June,1162.

It was St. Thomas who obtained for England the privilege of keeping the feast of the Blessed Trinity on that Sunday, the anniversary of his consecration, and more than a century afterwards this custom was adopted by the papal Court, itself and eventually imposed on the whole world.

A great change took place after his consecration as archbishop. In view of the struggle he clearly saw before him he gave himself to fasting and discipline, hair shirts, protracted vigils, and constant prayers. Before the end of the year 1162 he stripped himself of all signs of the lavish display. On 10 Aug. he went barefoot to receive the envoy who brought him the pallium from Rome.

"Early next morning at the spring of day
Up rose our Host and roused us like a cock."

Would it be worth it to try to second-guess ole Harry and choose the best tale ourselves. It is tricky, the winning tale has to reveal the storyteller's character!

Phyll! Another contest idea! Yet another prize! (don't you love to award prizes when someone else is paying for them!)

How about a prize for the best tale told by one of our Pilgrims here? Same rule? The tale would have to reveal the storyteller's own character traits! Let's do it! Open to all...an impartial judge! Details on the road tomorrow!

To bed! We have to be up at dawn in the morning - and our innkeeper has turned out the lights!

Barbara:  Excellant post re. HenryII's kinship with Thomas. Yikes,  friends like him, we don't need.    Wasn't it his mother who was French?  Gilbert a` Becket, the father, was an Eng. merchant and a one time sheriff of London.
 

PHYLL:  Absolutely correct, me thinks.  Even though we have great "breakthroughs", new developments and advancements we tend to repeat the "cycles" of history.  Just as you said : "  THINGS." The seperation of church/state is centuries old.  These tales are 800 years old and here we are facing the same dillemas today.

KAY:  Rise and shine, yer merry sel

JOAN:  Good idea.  Have the 2 London wanderers meet us along the way.
             SO!  Joan, you much prefer  an impassioned intensity, hey? You zealous little imp, you.  NAH!  I am expecting a difficult, strenuous burden travelling with these louts.  Please, tho do not tell them I said that
SPRING has sprung-- the grass has riz and THIS is where the voyagers IS>.
 
 
 
 

Barb, I've been thinking about your earlier question - about how difficult it was to hear the tales if all those people were on horseback.. Perhaps they all weren't listening as closely as we are. The only person who really has to hear them is Harry, as he is the judge? He'd have to be riding very near to the speaker. Or perhaps the Knight is projecting, verging on shouting his lines over the clippety-clops! I read somewhere that as he was growing up, Chaucer lived on a route to Canterbury and very well could have overheard this very sort of thing - the storytelling on the way - as soldiers often sing along as they march along?

The story of Theseus is really helpful, Alf! The pieces are coming together. Charlotte's earlier reminder that Hippolyta and sister Emilye were Amazons have made me look upon this maiden with different eyes! No wonder her appearance had such a shocking effect on Palamon...

Woman or Goddess, which, I cannot say.
I guess she may be Venus - well she may!"

In my mind, I don't see anyone writing anything on this trip. I see oral storytelling, and then I see Chaucer the poet, writing them out in verse, long after the trip is over????

So, Harry Bailey doesn't get it! I don't have much confidence in his ability to choose the best tale! He won't choose the knight's tale, I'll tell that you right off. The knight is using too many references to Greek mythology and history that would be lost on Harry. And I don't think he'll be able to relate to the virtuous knight or Palamon's virtues either for that matter.

Charlotte's Prof. Patterson has warned us against seperating the teller from the tale...I don't think Harry will be guilty of that! He will dismiss the tale, as he will dismiss the teller. What do you think?

Do you see the Knight's virtues evident in Theseus? I can't figure out if it was a compassionate or a perverted act, generous or honourable to spare the lives of these two young men, but then give them the life sentence in the tower....

On the other hand, Chaucer, the writer, may have based some of these tales on old legends and myths, as well as historical fact - just as Shakespeare later. Have you ever heard the tale of Arcita and Palamon before, or is this a Chaucer original? Perhaps we need our research team to investigate Chaucer's sources for Canterbury Tales!

Theseus seems to be a "parfit" example of chivalry. He has chosen to save the two young knights, dying on the battlefield. Isn't that generous? He saves their lives and locks them in the tower in the woods for the rest of their lives!!!! Then, as another example of his generosity and chivalry, he builds this elaborate stage for the battle between the cousins for the hand of the beloved Emily! This is the only fair way to handle the unfortunate triangle. His sister-in-law is the prize. Does Emily have anything to say about this? Is this a love story, courtly love? Charlotte uses the word 'ridiculous'! I believe that's exactly what Chaucer is doing here...ridiculing chivalry, courtly love...and he's doing it all with such a straight face!

But I think we should all be assured that Chaucer is not merely retelling tales he has heard. He is influenced by them, yes. But he is applying ideas from those sources to his work in a totally new - imaginative way to create something brand new for his time. He is satirizing that which has long been revered! And he is doing it in such a clever fashion that it can go undetected at first!

Ah yes, we French majors spent time with Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur - (we spent time with Chaucer's Roman de la Rose too - I must confess I remember NOTHING but the lovely title! I promise to look that up tomorrow..especially Chaucer's attitude towards women!) The Death of King Arthur I do remember...It was written shortly after Canterbury Tales - courtly love - women on s pedestal-I'm having trouble placing the women of the the Arthurian legends in the same period as the holocaust, the murder and torture of women that you have just described, Charo-latte !!!

There's another woman of from this period, one I can't read enough about - Jeanne d'Arc. Please say that someday, someday soon you all might be interested in reading together GBShaw's St. Joan together? I'd love that! I can't understand this woman in her time ...early 1400's...who led the armies of France and then was burned at the stake as a witch!!!

Verrry interesting!

I came in with some thoughts on Arcita and Palamon... which was the nobler knight and at what point I knew that Palamon would get the girl, but it's late! Shasta's question is also begging to be answered...why did Chaucer spend so much time describing the arena Theseus built? But there's always tomorrow! Night all...

This is from a book on Southwark, regarding the Tabard and neighborhood...

Historic Southwark All London life, high born or low, had to cross London Bridge to the southbank of the Thames to trade, to travel, to be entertained, or imprisoned for debt, death or martrydom.

It was the Romans with their engineering skills, who created Southwark. They came and found three separate, sandy islands bordered by a riverside of mud and marsh.

Their road-builders bridged the gaps between the islands - built a stong wooden bridge. They occupied Britain for some 350 years.

Wealthy Romans came to live in this suburb across the river from the city of Londinium...

The Dark Ages took their toll on Southwark. The bridge broke down and was rebuilt several times before being pulled down. Marauding Danes had occupied the City and had a stong position on the bridge. KIng Olaf of Norway made roofs for his ships and sailed them under the brige where his men tied ropes to the piers...on command, they rowed hard and pulled down the bridge with the Danes on it. London was saved and a rhyme was born:

"London Bridge has fallen down, fallen down..."
In medieval times London Bridge was rebuilt of stone It lasted 600 years and was the only crossing point over the Thames for all the travellers, pilgrims, clergy, merchants, ordinary folk, kings and princes, rebels and traitors drawn to the great city...

Because so many travellers used the bridge, the Borough inns grew in number and reputation to provide them with food, drink and a bed for the night. Most of the inns were three-sided around a courtyard with an entrance directly onto Borough High Street. The most famous was the Tabard, where the Canterbury pilgrims gathered; the George, the White Hart, the Queen's Head and many others contributed to Southwark's reputation for providing hospitality and entertainment.

Throughout the medieval period there were twenty two inns situated along the length of Bankside. Southwark had a great fire in 1676, ten years after the Great Fire of London. The only remaining evidence of these inns is the names of some of the alleyways off Borough High St. - Talbot Yard (a later name for the Tabard)

Back later...time goes so fast here! So much to think about!!!

Great pomp and circumstance surround the tournament:

"<That never since the day the world began In all God's earth, wide seas and reach of land, Had so few men made such a noble band."<

What a crazy day... a roller coaster ride! Started off just fine and dandy and then around noon, one thing after another - now Duke is losing by three points with 30 seconds to go........back in a minute! OOOOOEEEEE! Duke lost to Florida! In shock! How often does Duke not make it to the final four? Ooops! Wrong discussion!

"Just as upon a Friday, truth to tell
It shines one moment, on the next rains fast;
For thus can whisical Venus overcast
The spirits of her folk, just as her day,
Friday is changeable, and so are they,
Seldom is Friday like the rest of the week."

But Theseus arrives just in time, furious because they are fighting thusly without a judge! Without a referee to determine the winner. They explain to him that the loser doesn't want to live..."What is so foolish as a man in love", Theseus asks. (I know the answer to that one, do you?) Theseus had arrived "bathed in happiness and bliss" with the fair Hippolyta, his lovely queen" (wedded bliss?) Emily comes a' hunting too...
Now both ladies weep, begging Theseus to spare the young men. Kill me...kill me, kill him, cries Palamon!

I thought Theseus' plan was interesting for two reasons...

The two cousins are to come back in one year. This will give them time to prepare for battle. Does this sound familiar? Sir Gawain gets a year to prepare for almost certain death at the hands of the Green Knight. The Pearl poet was writing at the same time as Chaucer. Sir Gawain was given this time to prepare himself to meet his maker...redemption - salvation - a Christian message.

The cousins are given a year to assemble a armies to fight one another to the the death - the winner to get an earthly reward - the hand of the disinterested maiden.

And none of this is what I came in to say! Used up all my bytes for tonight...back tomorrow! And please...give that miller some coffee - he's up next! (Barb, do we have coffee yet?)

850 - Legend has it that an Ethiopian shepherd noticed how his sheep stayed awake all night after grazing on wild coffee cherries.  The shepherd noticed that this mysterious fruit had the same effect on him.  He told the local monks of the strange effect of the berries, whereupon the monks used coffee to keep them awake through their long devotionals. 

Ninth Century--First record of coffee drinking by the Mufti people of Aden The bean made its way to Yemen from Ethiopia by traveling merchants through trade routes across the Gulf of Aden.

1100 - The coffee first trees are cultivated on the Arabian peninsula. Coffee is first roasted and boiled by Arabs making "qahwa" --- a beverage made from plants. Coffee was utilized during the classical period of Arabian medicine.  Various curative properties were claimed for coffee, and it spread over several centuries Mecca, Aden, Medina, and Persia.

1475 - The world's first coffee shop opens in Constantinople. Coffea arabica was believed to have been introduced to Yemen from Ethiopia by traveling merchants through the trade routes across the Gulf of Aden. 

The establishment of two coffee houses in Constantinople in 1554. In the 16th century the Ottoman empire expanded its power through the Balkins,  and the north coast of Africa bringing along the Turkish coffee house. 

1600 - Coffee enters Europe through the port of Venice. The first coffeehouse opens in Italy in 1654. The Merchant communties of Venice and Genoa imported  the turkish lounge, altered to their own style of coffee house.  The priests in Rome wanted it banned as atheist drink, but instead Pope Clement VIII gave it his blessing stating: "This Satan's drink is so delicious that it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it. We shall cheat Satan by baptizing it."

1600 - By the mid-1600's, tea had been introduced to Britain, France, Germany, Holland, Scandinavia, Russia and America. Tea's popularity has been credited for playing a major role in opening the Orient to Occidental commerce.

The Dutch held a near monopoly on trading for some time, it wasn't long before Britain importated, what would become the nation's most popular beverage of all time. Tea replaced Gin as the drink of choice creating an unprecedented health trend due to the consumption of purified boiling water in place of alcohol. (Looks like we pilgrims will be drinking alcohol all the way to Canterbury, no wonder the tales get so bawdy!)

After much bloodshed and some compromises, the British East India Trading Company wrestled control of much of the tea trade from the Dutch and began importing enough tea that Britain's public had access to the delicious new drink. Before that, tea was limited to the upper-class and consumed at only the most elite gatherings, costing six to ten British pounds per pound of tea. (Tea was kept in chest under lock and Key)

1650's - French travellers brought coffee into Paris society

1652 - The first coffeehouse opens in England. Coffeehouses are called "penny universities" (a penny is charged for admission and a cup of coffee).

1657 - Thomas Garway, an English proprietor got the bright idea of offering tea to the public and the beverage quickly became the drink of choice, far outpacing wines and liquors. Taverns became deserted in favor of "coffee houses" (which were so named because the public sale of coffee pre-dated the sale of tea by a few years).

Unfortunately for those in power, Britain was losing all the taxes that accompanied liquor sales. But the government quickly remedied that situation by imposing a tea tax. (And we in the USA know where that lead)

1674 - Women's Petition Against Coffee established in London.

1688 - Edward Lloyd's coffeehouse opens. It eventually becomes Lloyd's of London, the world's best known insurance company. Coffee houses in London were important as meeting places for businessmen. Financial institutions like Lloyd's and the stock exchange grew from coffee houses.

The word “TIPS” is coined in an English coffee house: A sign reading “To Insure Prompt Service” (TIPS) was place by a cup. Those desiring prompt service and better seating threw a coin into a tin.

1675 - The coffee houses wielded so much power that a threatened King Charles II shut them down, calling the selling of tea a virtual act of sedition. A month later, the King had to recant his edict when tea, coffee and chocolate dealers rose up in protest. Of course, the fact that the King's wife, Queen Catherine of Braganza, was a tea drinker didn't help his cause, as she set an example for all of Britain's subjects to indulge in the new fashionable drink.

1686 - First cafe serving coffee is opened in Paris (Le Procope--it's still in business!) It is believed that sugar was first used as an additive in the court of Louis the XIV.

1690 - The Dutch become the first to transport and cultivate coffee commercially. Coffee is smuggled out of the Arab port of Mocha and transported to Ceylon and East Indies for cultivation. Export of seed was illegal. But Muslims making the pilgrimage from India to the Holy Land managed to take coffee seeds back with them to Mysore where cultivation was begun.  Dutch botanists were establishing plantaions in Java.

1714 - Louis the XIV arranged to have a young coffee plant which had been raised on a plantation in the East indies sent to Paris. His plans to establish commercial coffee plantaions in Martinique failed.  But five years after his death, a French military captain managed to transport a healthy seedling which became the ancestor of most of the coffee growing in Central and South America.

1727 - The Brazilian coffee industry gets its start from seedlings smuggled out of Paris. The colonization of the Americas increased the demand which the new plantations of Brazil and Central America now supplied.

1750 - One of Europe's first coffeehouses, Cafe Greco, opens in Rome. By 1763, Venice has over 2,000 coffee shops.

1900 - Kaffeeklatsch, afternoon coffee, becomes popular in Germany.

1905 - Although the first commercial espresso machine is manufactured in Italy, (just prior to WWI) the prototype of the first espresso machine was created in France in 1822. and in 1945, (post WWII) Achilles Gaggia perfects the espresso machine with a piston that creates a high pressure extraction to produce a thick layer of crema.

1995 - Coffee is the worlds most popular beverage. More than 400 billion cups are consumed each year. It is a world commodity that is second only to OIL!

 

For men are slain as much as other cattle, 
Arrested, thrust in prison, killed in battle, 
In sickness often and mischance and fall, 
Alas too often, for no guilt at all 
Where is right rule in your foreknowledge, when  
Such torments fall on innocent, helpless men. 

As I read this last line, it makes me wonder why the knight has turned the Amazons into helpless, 
innocent women.  It’s true that they have been conquered, but that should not make them the compliant, 
subservient people he describes.  Even in captivity, given their reputation,  one would think they would 
fight viciously to regain their freedom. 

Though  the knight does not give any evidence of Amazon rebellion against their new circumstances, he 
does say that Emilye has gone to plead with Diana: 

 
“Thou knowest well, O chaste omnipotent, 
That I would be a virgin all my life 
And would be neither mistress, no, nor wife. 
I am thou knowest of thy company 
A huntress , still in my virginity, 
And only ask to walk the woodlands wild, 
And not be a wife or go with child, 
Nor would I know the company of man, 
O help me Goddess, for none other can.” 

font color=blue size 5 Palamon had already gone to Venus to plead for help 
 
“Consider this, have pity on my pain 
As I shall ever struggle to maintain 
Thy service, in so far as it shall be 
Within my power to combat chastity.” 
 
So during the battle  “See what a miracle happened thereupon! 
The fierce Arcite with no helmet on, 
Riding his courser round to show his face 
Cantered the whole length of the jousting-place 
Fixing his eye on Emily aloft; 
And her returning gaze was sweet and soft, 
For women, speaking generally are prone (double entendre?) 
To follow Fortune’s favours once they’re known.” 

When Arcite dies “His spirit changed it’s house and went away.”  (What a lovely way to describe a death.) 
Palamon howls and Emilye shrieks.  We know nothing of her inner thoughts now that she realizes she 
must marry.  She faints and the knight says we do not need to tarry on her tears or how long she wept. At 
the funeral, which is described in great detail, she is the most sorrowful of all.  Yet she is compliant when 
Theseus tells her that after grief there should be bliss., that Palamon would be worth considering.  Of 
course there is no problem in getting Palamon to agree.  So they espoused.  Since we are aware of 
Emilye’s heritage as an Amazon, I can only predict that this will be a disfunctional marriage. 

Charley  we miss you. Why have you abandoned us? < 

Charlotte

Enjoy the tale! ENJOY the ROAD!

Do you imagine the Canterbury pilgrims were aghast - or was this type of a "tavern" story well known? My guess is that they were able to appreciate the humor, the ironies, without dwelling on the bawdy aspects. I'm trying to imagine the Knight's reaction - the quiet Nun's?

Charlotte! That Dorothy Wordsworth's young family could enjoy it on that level means that we can too! Interesting!

ps How about you post the URL here and I'll make it clickable and link it our collection in the heading too?

How topical! Thanks LONEX and Mary Page for the heads up. By the way, lurkers are counted and you've just been palfreyed, Mary ! Now we are 28/29 and counting!!!!

A Whiter Shade of Pale (Brooker / Reid)*



We skipped the light fandango
turned cartwheels 'cross the floor
I was feeling kinda seasick
but the crowd called out for more
The room was humming harder
as the ceiling flew away
When we called out for another drink
the waiter brought a tray


And so it was that later
as the miller told his tale
that her face, at first just ghostly,
turned a whiter shade of pale


She said, 'There is no reason
and the truth is plain to see.'
But I wandered through my playing cards
and would not let her be
one of sixteen vestal virgins
who were leaving for the coast
and although my eyes were open
they might have just as well've been closed


She said, 'I'm home on shore leave,'
though in truth we were at sea
so I took her by the looking glass
and forced her to agree
saying, 'You must be the mermaid
who took Neptune for a ride.'
But she smiled at me so sadly
that my anger straightway died


If music be the food of love
then laughter is its queen
and likewise if behind is in front
then dirt in truth is clean
My mouth by then like cardboard
seemed to slip straight through my head
So we crash-dived straightway quickly
and attacked the ocean bed

And so it was that later
as the miller told his tale
that her face, at first just ghostly,
turned a whiter shade of pale

And I love our proper Charlotte enumerating the number of young people who have read the tale in school. Everything is fine! We are going to be able to discuss this to our hearts content! We are quite a mature group of pilgrims!!! Here's my favorite line from Whiter Side of Pale
"and likewise if behind is in front
then dirt in truth is clean."

Now tell me again this is not the Miller's Tale!!!! Phyll, the Miller really went out of turn, didn't he? If we had waited for the tales in social order, I don't think the Miller's would have been as shocking! The Miller said he was going to repay the Knight...how similar were the tales, once we get over the shock of how different they were?

ps. Lonex, you have great insight into human nature - first on the perfect people and now on the reason we (with our Puritan residuals look upon such a tale as "shocking"! Please stick around and keep telling it like it is!

pps. Charlotte! Great site. Will put it up now! Thanks!