Canterbury Tales (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

by Geoffrey Chaucer

8 (p. 493) Herod... Slew John the Baptist: See the Bible, Matthew 14:3-12 and Mark 6:17-29, with no mention of Herod’s drunkenness, however.

  9 (p. 493) Seneca: Roman philosopher, from whose Epistle 83 the lines are taken.

  10 (p. 495) “Meat unto stomach,...” : See the Bible, 1 Corinthians 6:13.

  11 (p. 495) The apostle, weeping, said full piteously... : See the Bible, Philippi ans 3:18-19.

  12 (p. 497) turn substance into accident: A punning reference to the doctrine of Transubstantiation, which seeks to explain what happens to the Eucharistic host at the moment of consecration as Christ’s body and blood. The definition was contested by religious reformers in Chaucer’s day.

  13 (p. 497) Samson: From the Bible, the great Israelite warrior in the book of Judges.

  14 (p. 499) Attila: This king of the Huns died in 453 C.E. as a result of drinking too much.

  15 (p. 499) Lemuel: In the Bible, Proverbs 31:4, Lemuel is advised not to give wine to kings, lest they reveal all the realm’s secrets.

  16 (p. 501 ) Stilbon... Demetrius: Chaucer found the stories of Demetrius and Stilbon in John of Salisbury’s Policraticus, a twelfth-century treatise on court politics.

  17 (p. 501) Jeremiah: See the Bible, Jeremiah 4:2.

  18 (p. 501) Hayles: The reference is to the abbey of Hayles in Gloucestershire, which claimed to have a vial of Christ’s blood.

  19 (p. 503) bitchy bones two: Dice.

  20 (p. 503) this plague: The so-called Black Death that swept through Europe in the late 1340s, or one of the later outbreaks of the plague that recurred during the fourteenth century and beyond.

  21 (p. 507) In Holy Writ you may yourselves well read: See the Bible, Leviticus 19:32.

  22 (p. 515) Avicenna: The reference is to Ibn Sina (980-1037 C.E.), an Arabic medical theorist and author of the widely known textbook the Canon of Medicine, which covers poisons in book 4.

  The Prioress’s Tale

  1 (p. 521) Oh Lord, our Lord... Do they celebrate your praise: The opening stanza recalls the biblical verses of Psalm 8 (Vulgate numbering).

  2 (p. 521 ) the white lily flower / Who bore you, and is a maid always: The reference is to the Virgin Mary.

  3 (p. 521) Oh bush unburned, burning in Moses’ sight: In medieval biblical interpretation, the burning bush seen by Moses (Exodus 3:2) was frequently understood to anticipate the virgin birth of Jesus.

  4 (p. 521) Conceived was the Father’s knowledge: In medieval theology Jesus was often spoken of as Sapientia Dei, the knowledge or wisdom of God.

  5 (p. 523) Ave Maria: The prayer Ave Maria (Hail Mary) is based on the Archangel Gabriel’s words to Mary (Luke 1:28).

  6 (p. 523) Saint Nicholas: A fourth-century bishop of Myra in Asia Minor, Saint Nicholas was the subject of many medieval miracle stories that included descriptions of his learning and piety at a young age.

  7 (p. 525) Alma redemptoris: A liturgical prayer to Mary: Alma Redemptoris Mater (Nurturing Mother of the Redeemer), sung during the Advent and Christmas seasons.

  8 (p.525) “I know little grammar”: Here “grammar” refers to Latin.

  9 (p. 527) Herods: In the Gospel of Matthew, Herod, king of Judea, tries to kill the infant Jesus; he is one of the major villains of medieval religious drama.

  10 (p. 527) Of which the great evangelist, Saint John, / In Patmos wrote: The Book of Revelation (The Apocalypse) claims to have been written by the apostle and evangelist Saint John on the Aegean island of Patmos.

  11 (p. 531 ) Hardly might the people who were there l This new Rachel bring from his bier: In the Bible, Jeremiah 31:15 tells of Rachel “weeping for her children ... because they are no more.” The verse is quoted in Matthew 2:18, the gospel passage read on the Feast of the Holy Innocents, December 28.

  12 (p. 531) Therefore with wild horses he did them draw, / And then he them hung as held the law: The passage describes the medieval punishment for high treason.

  13 (p. 533) Hugh of Lincoln: A child reputedly killed by Jews in 1255, Hugh of Lincoln was venerated as a martyr for centuries; in modern times the story has been disproved.

  The Nun’s Priest’s Tale

  1 (p. 537) “good sir, no more of this”: These words of the Knight interrupt the Monk’s catalog of “tragedies” of fortune.

  2 (p. 541) Chanticleer: The rooster’s name comes from medieval beast fables, descendants of Aesop’s fable collection.

  3 (p. 541 ) horloge: Abbey great clock.

  4 (p. 543) “my love has gone far away”: Popular song.

  5 (p. 545) Cato: Cato’s Distychs, a popular medieval school-text, consisted of proverbial bits of advice.

  6 (p. 547) “merci beaucoup”: Thank you very much (French).

  7 (p. 547) One of the greatest authors: Either Cicero or Valerius Maximus could be intended; both tell the stories that follow.

  8 (p. 553) japes: Tricks.

  9 (p. 553) Saint Kenelm: The reference is to the legendary ninth-century king of Mercia in Anglo-Saxon England, who became king at age seven but was murdered at his sister’s instigation, after having a predictive dream.

  10 (p. 555) Macrobius: Sixth-century C.E. author of the Commentary on the Dream of Scipio, a widely read allegorical treatise based on the dream of Scipio that concludes Cicero’s De re publica (On the Republic). It includes a taxonomy of dream types.

  11 (p. 555) Daniel... Joseph: Successful interpreters of dreams in the Hebrew Scriptures.

  12 (p. 557) In principio, / Mulier est hominis confusio: In the beginning, woman is man’s ruin (Latin).

  13 (p. 559) the book of Lancelot de Lake: A thirteenth-century compendium of Arthurian adventures centered around the love of Lancelot for Arthur’s queen, Guinevere, an adulterous liaison that contributed to the downfall of the Round Table.

  14 (p. 561) Iscariot ... Ganelon ... Sinon: These are famous traitors of history and legend. Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus; Ganelon betrayed Charlemagne and Roland; Sinon fooled the Trojans into allowing a wooden horse full of Greek soldiers within the walls of Troy.

  15 (p. 561) Augustine... Boethius... Bradwardine: These are famous contributors to Christian thought and argument about the nature of divine foreknowledge and its implication for the idea of free will.

  16 (p. 563) Physiologus: A popular medieval text describing the characteristics of real or imaginary animals and birds, and allegorizing these characteristics to illustrate Christian doctrine.

  17 (p. 563) in music more feeling / Than had Boethius: Boethius, a sixth-century Christian philosopher, wrote a theoretical treatise on music—that is, on universal harmonies—that was well known in medieval Europe.

  18 (p. 565) ‘Sir Burnel the Ass’: Burnel is the protagonist of Nigel Longchamps’ twelfth-century satire Speculum stultorum, which, like “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale,” comments on human folly under the guise of an animal fable.

  19 (p. 565) Ecclesiastes on flattery: Flattery is warned against in the biblical books of Ecclesiastes and Proverbs, and, in the apocrypha, Ecclesiasticus.

  20 (p. 567) on your day to die: That is, on Friday, Venus’ day (compare French vendredi and Italian venerdi).

  21 (p. 567) Geoffrey, dear sovereign master: Twelfth-century poet, author, and rhetorical theorist Geoffrey of Vinsauf’s Poetria nova, a treatise on writing poetry, contains a lament for the death of King Richard I of England as a school exercise.

  22 (p. 567) Pyrrhus... seized king Priam: Pyrrhus, son of Achilles, kills Priam, king of Troy, in the Aeneid, book 2.

  23 (p. 567) Hasdrubal’s wife: Hasdrubal was king of Carthage when the Romans burned it in 146 B.C.E.

  24 (p. 569) Colle... Talbot... Gerland: These were common names for dogs.

  25 (p. 569) Jack Straw and his company: Jack Straw was a leader of the Great Rising (also called the Peasants’ Revolt) of 1381. When rebel forces broke into London, one of the targets of their hostility was foreigners, such as Flemish textile workers, whom they felt threatened their livelihoods. This is Chaucer’s only overt reference in his
poetry to the Rising, and one of very few topical references in The Canterbury Tales.

  26 (p. 569) Fleming: Many of those killed in the suppression of the Peasants’ Revolt were Flemish weavers.

  27 (p. 571) Saint Paul says all that is written: See the Bible, Romans 15:4. The Nun’s Priest’s application of Paul’s words to this beast fable is a final comic comment on human attempts to understand life.

  The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale

  1 (p. 575) the life of Saint Cecilia: The immensely popular story of the life of Saint Cecilia, based on a fictitious account of her life and martyrdom written at the end of the fifth century, is told in “The Second Nun’s Tale,” not included in this edition.

  2 (p. 575) canon: A canon is a member of a religious community who may (as a “regular canon”) or may not (as a “secular canon”) follow a monastic or other religious rule.

  3 (p. 575) plantain and pellitory: Two herbs used for distilling.

  4 (p. 581 ) he who guilty is / Deems everything spoken to be of him: The allusion is to the Dystichs of Cato (1.17). See note 6 to “The Merchant’s Tale.”

  5 (p. 585) porphyry: The hard igneous rock called porphyry was used as a surface on which to grind or mix ingredients.

  6 (p. 587) sublimatories: Vessels used for changing solid substances into vapors.

  7 (p. 597) Nineveh: Capital of ancient Assyria.

  8 (p. 599) chantry priest: Chantry priests were hired to say (chant) masses and prayers for the souls of members of a family or association in a special chapel (a chantry) constructed for that purpose within a church or cathedral. See also note 32 to “The General Prologue.”

  9 (p. 607) he is here and there; lHe is so changeable, he abides nowhere: Traditional attributes of the Devil.

  10 (p. 619) Bayard the blind: A traditional name for a horse.

  11 (p. 619) Arnaldus of Villanova: In the thirteenth century, Arnold of Villanova wrote scientific and alchemical treatises, including Rosarium philosophorum (Rose Garland of the Philosophers).

  12 (p. 619) Hermes Trismegistus: “Thrice Great Hermes,” the Egyptian god Thoth, credited by the Greeks as the founder of alchemy.

  13 (p. 621) “take heed to my screed”: The several lines that follow are adapted from Arnold of Villanova’s De lapide philosophorum (On the Philosopher’s Stone).

  14 (p. 621) there was a disciple of Plato: The dialogue between Plato and Zadith is adopted from an alchemical treatise by the tenth-century Arab scientific writer Muhammad ibn Umail.

  15 (p. 621) ignotum per ignocius: The Latin phrase means “[explaining] the unknown by the even more unknown.”

  The Friar’s Tale

  1 (p. 625) this worthy limitour: A limitour was a friar who begged and preached within boundaries assigned him by his order. (See note 10 to “The General Prologue”)

  2 (p. 625) leave citing authorities, in God’s name, / To preaching and to schools of clergy: The medieval Church, following the biblical injunctions of the First Epistle to Timothy (2:12), forbade women to preach or teach publicly.

  3 (p. 627) an archdeacon, a man of high degree: Archdeacons were diocesan officials responsible, among other duties, for the ecclesiastical courts.

  4 (p. 627) simony: Simony is the sin of selling of ecclesiastical offices or positions. The term is also used for any sale of spiritual favors.

  5 (p. 627) tithes: An offering of one-tenth of one’s wages or produce to the Church. Theoretically required of all laity in medieval Europe, the practice was widely resented and resisted.

  6 (p. 629) lewd: Here the term means “ignorant.”

  7 (p. 631 ) He wore a jacket of green: In medieval legends about him, the Devil often wears green.

  8 (p. 631 ) Depardieux: The term means “by God.”

  9 (p. 633) far in the north country: The north was traditionally where the Devil dwelled, based on an assumed reference to him in the Bible, Isaiah 14:13.

  10 (p. 633) confessors: Confessors are priests who hear confessions and assign penances for sins such as those to which the Summoner here “confesses.”

  11 (p. 635) prime: The first hour of the liturgical day.

  12 (p. 637) Saint Dunstan: A tenth-century archbishop of Canterbury, Dunstan was celebrated in medieval legends for his power over devils.

  13 (p. 637) As to the Witch of Endor did Samuel: The reference is to the Bible, 1 Samuel 28:7-25.

  14 (p. 639) Saint Loy: Another name for Saint Eligius, patron saint of carters.

  15 (p. 643) Saint Anne: The mother of the Virgin Mary, Saint Anne was much revered in late-medieval England.

  16 (p. 643) master of divinity: A university professor of theology.

  17 (p. 645) “The lion sits in a bush always / To slay the innocent, if he may”: A reference to the Bible, Psalm 10:8-9 (Vulgate).

  The Summoner’s Tale

  1 (p. 647) you have oftentime heard tell / How that a friar abducted was to hell: The Summoner here parodies a popular medieval religious genre, the admonitory vision of the afterlife, featuring the pains of Hell and Purgatory.

  2 (p. 649) holy houses: The reference is to convents for friars, as opposed to priests and monks (secular and monastic clergy, mentioned below), traditionally the enemies of the friars. (See note 10 to “The General Prologue.”) Monks took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and lived in communities they were not to leave without special permission; the orders of friars, or medicants, were charged by the institutional Catholic Church with the duty of moving about the world preaching the gospel to Christians of every class and situation. They were supposed to beg for their (simple) needs. Friars sometimes accused monks of living too well, which earned them the enmity of some monastic writers; on the enmity between parish priests and friars, see note 9 on the next page.

  3 (p. 649) qui cum patre: The Latin phrase translates as “Who with the father” and continues with wording that translates as “reigns in Heaven ...” The phrase occurred at the conclusion of many liturgical prayers.

  4 (p. 651 ) folding ivory writing tablets, / And a well-polished stylus: In medieval Europe, as in classical antiquity, all impermanent writing was done with a stylus on easily erasable, thus reusable, waxed wooden or ivory tablets.

  5 (p. 651) mass penny: A donation to have a mass said for one’s intention (that is, for a favor one wishes to be granted by God).

  6 (p. 651 ) “Deus hic!”: The Latin phrase translates as “God be here” (that is, in this house).

  7 (p. 653) orison: The word means “prayer.”

  8 (p. 653) The letters slay: A reference to the Bible, 2 Corinthians 3:6: “the letter [of the law] kills, but the spirit gives life.”

  9 (p. 655) These curates be full negligent and slow / To plumb tenderly a conscience / In confession: Friars were permitted to hear parishioners’ confessions, to the annoyance of parish clergy, who were thereby deprived of the offering customarily given to the confessor by the penitent. (See note 11 to “The General Prologue.”)

  10 (p. 655) je vous dis: “I tell you” (see also, below: “I tell you without doubt”). The friar’s French is an affectation.

  11 (p. 657) They may now... Mark their jubilee and walk alone: Friars were normally required by their orders to go about begging and preaching in pairs; after fifty years of service they were exempt from this requirement.

  12 (p. 657) Te Deum: The reference is to “Te Deum laudamus” (“We Praise You, God”), a liturgical hymn of praise.

  13 (p. 657) Lazar and Dives lived differently: See the Bible, Luke 16:19-31 for this parable of the rich man (Dives) and the poor leper (Lazarus).

  14 (p. 657) Moses... on the mount of Sinai: See the Bible, Exodus 34:28.

  15 (p. 659) Elijah... fasted long and was in contemplation: See the Bible, 1 Kings 19, where Elijah is said to have fasted on Mount Horeb.

  16 (p. 659) They would not drink... Lest they die: See the Bible, Leviticus 10:8-9.

  17 (p. 659) Jovinianus, /Fat as a whale, and waddling like a duck: Saint Jerome attacked Jovinian,
a fourth-century monk with whose views on marriage and virginity he violently disagreed, and whom he derided as fat and overly groomed.

  18 (p. 661) ‘cor meum eructavit!’: The Latin words are the opening of Psalm 44 (Vulgate); eructavit can mean either “proclaimed” or “belched.”

  19 (p. 661 ) Saint Ives: Several medieval saints were called Saint Yves or Yvo.

  20 (p. 663) ‘Within your house be not a lion; ... Nor make your acquaintances want to flee’: The source for this advice is the Vulgate Bible (Ecclesiasticus 4:35), plus other proverbial material.

  21 (p.665) “Once there was an angry ruler / As said Seneca...” : The reference is to the first-century C.E. Roman philosopher, politician, and educator Seneca and his work Concerning Anger 1.18.

  22 (p.665) “Angry Cambises was also a drunkard, lAnd ever delighted him to be a shrew...”: See Seneca’s Concerning Anger 3.14.

  23 (p.667) “Look how Cyrus the Great, the Persian...”: See Seneca’s Concerning Anger 3.21.

  24 (p. 667) ‘Be not a companion to an angry man ...’: See the Bible, Proverbs 22:24-25.

  25 (p. 669) he who harrowed hell: In what was described as the Harrowing of Hell, Jesus was believed to have descended to Hell after his death and before his Resurrection, and to have liberated from Hell the righteous souls of the Old Testament.

  26 (p. 669) “But since Elijah was, or Elisha, / Have friars been—that I find of record—/ In service”: The Carmelite Friars claimed to have been founded by the Old Testament prophet Elijah when he triumphed over the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel, as described in the Bible, 1 Kings 18:20-40.

  27 (p. 675) art of mathematics: The Middle English ars-metrike contains an obvious pun on Thomas’s fart.

  28 (p. 679) Euclid or Ptolomy: The fourth-century B.C.E. Greek mathematician Euclid invented geometry. The celebrated second-century C.E. Greek astronomer Ptolemy wrote a treatise, the Almagest, that was well known in medieval Europe.

  The Man of Law’s Tale

  1 (p. 681) the bright sun l His daylight arc had run / The first quarter, and half an hour and more: In keeping with the general wordiness of the tale to follow, this is a very circuitous way of announcing the time (ten o‘clock).