Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales stands as a cornerstone of medieval English literature, a vast and vibrant tapestry woven around a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral. Composed between 1387 and 1400, this ambitious canterbury tales poem presents a diverse group of around thirty pilgrims journeying from Southwark, London, to the shrine of St Thomas Becket. To alleviate the tedium of travel, they agree to tell stories, leading to a collection of individual tales framed by the narrative of the pilgrimage itself and the interactions among the travellers. While Chaucer never fully completed the work, leaving the pilgrims just short of their destination, its genius was immediately recognized, inspiring subsequent writers to imagine the journey’s completion.
Contents
Chaucer wasn’t alone in using a journey as a narrative frame; the Italian writer Giovanni Sercambi also employed a travel structure for his Novelliere. However, Chaucer masterfully capitalized on the real-life reality of pilgrimage: it brought together a wide array of people from different social classes and backgrounds. This diversity is the heart of his collection, offering a unique microcosm of 14th-century English society. Through the differing voices of his storytellers – from the noble Knight to the boisterous Miller, the devout Parson to the worldly Wife of Bath – Chaucer explores societal dynamics, trades, and even conflicts. His imitation of pilgrims entertaining themselves with songs and stories also allowed him to showcase a remarkable variety of literary genres, ranging from the bawdy fabliau to serious religious treatises and saints’ lives. If you’re interested in the technical aspects of such varied verse, understanding what is a poetry meter can enrich your appreciation of Chaucer’s craft across genres.
The pilgrimage, while a religious undertaking, is depicted by Chaucer with a strong emphasis on its social dimension. The General Prologue begins with the springtime urge to travel, specifically mentioning the healing power of St Thomas Becket (I 18). While the narrator declares his own ‘ful devout corage’ (I 21), explicit allusions to spiritual motives are less frequent in the pilgrim portraits. Some portraits do touch upon contemporary pilgrimage practices, like the Knight’s immediate journey after military campaigns or the Wife of Bath’s extensive travel history to various major shrines including Rome, Boulogne, Compostela, and Cologne. Her prologue further illustrates the social and entertaining aspects of such journeys:
…I made my visitaciouns To vigilies and to processiouns, To prechyng eek, and to thise pilgrimages, To pleyes of miracles, and to mariages… III 555-8
This passage from the Wife of Bath underscores how religious events like pilgrimages and vigils were often intertwined with social activities and entertainment in medieval life.
Pilgrims praying at the shrine of St Thomas Becket
Chaucer’s initial plan, as stated, was for tales to be told on both the outbound and return journeys. However, his death left the work incomplete, surviving as a series of fragments rather than a single, cohesive narrative depicting the full trip. Despite the largely secular tone of many tales and pilgrim interactions, Chaucer included the Parson’s Tale, a lengthy prose treatise on sin, virtue, and penitence. Often placed as the final tale in manuscripts, this religious text seems intended to provide a spiritual conclusion to the collection. It introduces the metaphor of human life itself as a pilgrimage, a spiritual journey towards the ‘Jerusalem celestial’ (X 50-1). This shift in tone highlights the potential for reading The Canterbury Tales not only as a social commentary but also as a work with underlying religious and moral themes, contrasting the earthly pilgrimage with the soul’s ultimate journey.
The Legacy of the Canterbury Tales: Fifteenth-Century Continuations
The popularity of The Canterbury Tales after Chaucer’s death is evident in the numerous surviving manuscripts and early printed editions. His innovative frame narrative inspired many writers, especially given the poem’s unfinished state. Several continuations were written in the first half of the 15th century, three of which notably pick up the scenario of the Canterbury pilgrimage. These continuations offer fascinating insights into how early readers interpreted Chaucer’s work.
John Lydgate’s The Siege of Thebes
John Lydgate, a monk from Bury St Edmunds and a prolific poet, presented his long poem, The Siege of Thebes, as a tale told on the return journey from Canterbury. In his prologue, Lydgate describes himself undertaking his own pilgrimage to Canterbury to give thanks to St Thomas after an illness. He happens upon Chaucer’s pilgrims at the same inn. The Host, noticing Lydgate’s frail appearance, invites him to join the group for good food, ale, and entertainment. The next morning, Lydgate is asked to tell the first story of the journey back to London. Lydgate’s continuation frames his work within Chaucer’s world, emphasizing the convivial and social aspect of the pilgrimage as experienced by the original company.
The Anonymous Tale of Beryn
The Tale of Beryn is another anonymous work that presents itself as a continuation, focusing on the pilgrims’ activities in Canterbury. The tale itself is based on a French romance, but its significant introduction describes the pilgrims’ arrival and stay at their inn, the ‘Chequer of Hope’. This account is largely secular and humorous, depicting the pilgrims exploring Canterbury as tourists. The Pardoner, for instance, anticipates a romantic encounter with the barmaid, a scene that prompted the author to comment on the tale’s lack of holiness. This continuation provides a valuable, albeit perhaps exaggerated for comic effect, picture of the contemporary pilgrim experience, blending devotion with tourism and everyday concerns.
Pilgrim badge depicting Thomas Becket
The Tale of Beryn vividly describes the pilgrims visiting Canterbury Cathedral and the shrine of St Thomas. Even within this ostensibly religious setting, the author injects a comic, secular perspective. Pilgrims make offerings of silver brooches and rings, struggle for precedence at the door, and the Friar eyes the Prioress under the guise of sprinkling holy water. While the Knight and his companions proceed reverently to the shrine ‘to do what they were come for and after for to dine’ (a very Chaucerian juxtaposition of the sacred and the mundane), figures like the Miller and Pardoner wander around, pretending expertise in heraldry and misinterpreting stained glass windows. They are eventually directed to the shrine, where they engage in traditional devotions, kissing relics under the guidance of a monk. After visiting other holy sites and attending service, they buy pilgrim tokens as souvenirs. The Miller and Pardoner even resort to stealing badges from the stalls, with the Summoner demanding a cut of the loot. The evening concludes with a cheerful dinner and separate social engagements before the Merchant offers to tell the titular Tale of Beryn on the departure day. This detailed depiction highlights the blend of piety, tourism, commerce, and even petty crime associated with medieval pilgrimages. If you enjoy exploring different poetic narratives, perhaps you’d also appreciate reading christmas poems or discovering some great christmas poems.
The Anonymous Ploughman’s Tale
The Ploughman’s Tale, another anonymous poem claiming to be part of the Canterbury collection, offers a stark contrast to the secular tone of Beryn. It recounts the Ploughman’s journey and includes a conversation with the Host where the Ploughman laments his poverty despite hard work, blaming it on the demands of the clergy. Invited to tell a ‘holy thing,’ his tale becomes a powerful protest against clerical corruption, closely aligned with Lollard ideas. The narrative takes the form of an allegorical debate between a predatory Griffin (representing the corrupt Church) and a Pelican (symbolizing Christian love), resolved by the Phoenix (possibly Christ).
Illumination depicting a miracle story of St Thomas Becket
These three continuations reveal much about the early reception of Chaucer’s monumental canterbury tales poem. Lydgate and the author of The Tale of Beryn, both associated with monastic life, focused on the social, humorous, and sometimes secular aspects of the pilgrimage, suggesting this was a prominent reading of Chaucer’s work. Conversely, the author of The Ploughman’s Tale saw Chaucer’s framework as suitable for a strongly religious, even reformist, message. This variety in continuation demonstrates that early readers did not interpret The Canterbury Tales monolithically, viewing it neither as exclusively religious nor entirely frivolous, but a complex work open to diverse interpretations. Delving into such historical reception helps us appreciate the enduring richness and complexity of Chaucer’s literary achievement. For instance, comparing the themes here to those found in an advent poem can reveal fascinating contrasts in tone and purpose related to spiritual journeys.
References
Bowers, John M., ed. The Canterbury Tales: Fifteenth-Century Continuations and Additions. TEAMS Middle English Series. Kalamazoo, 2002.