Middle Age and the story of Canterbury Tales Prepared by: Sharmaine Malinao

2. After the f all of Rome, wester n Eur ope enter ed a
period k nown as “ middle a ges ”, als o k nown as the
medieval period, which las ted fr om 5oo - 1500 A D.

3. After the fall of Rome,
no single state or
government united the
people who lived in the
European continent.
The Catholic Church
became the most
powerful institution of the
Medieval period.

4. THE RISE OF ISLAM
The Islamic World was
growing larger and more
powerful.
Muslim armies conquered
large part of the Middle East.
At its height, the Medieval
Islamic world was more than
three times bigger than all of
Christendom.

5. Toward the end of the 11th
century, the Catholic church
began to authorize Crusades,
or Military expeditions.
The Crusades began in
1095, when Pope urban
summoned a Christian army
to fight its way to Jerusalem,
and continued on and off until
the end of the 15th century.
THE CRUSADES

6. THE CRUSADERS

7. WHAT WAS IT LIKE
TO LIVE IN THE
MIDDLE AGES?

8. Linguists and cultural changes in Britain wer e
accelerated by the Nor man conques t in 1066, when
words fr om Fr ench began to enter the Englis h
vocabular y.
By 14th century, English re-emerged as the dominant language
but in a form very different from the Anglo-Saxon Old English.
LANGUAGE
The co-existence of Norman French and the emerging English
now known as Middle English.

9. SOCIETY
Feudalism- method of
organizing society consisting the
three estates.
Clergy- those who attended
the spiritual realm and spiritual
needs.
Nobility- those who ruled,
protected, and provided civil
order.
Commoners- physically labored
to produce necessities of life of
all the estates.

10. CHIVALRY
Chevalerie- derived from the French words
for horse and horsemen, indicating that
chivalry applied only to knights, the nobility.
It is the Code of Conduct that bound and
defined a Knight’s behavior.
Under the Code of Chivalry, the Knight
vowed not only to protect his vassals, and
demanded by the feudal system, but also to
be the champion of the church.

11. The medieval knight was
bound to the chivalric
code to be loyal to:
- god
- his lord
- his lady
Chivalric ideals include:
- Benevolence
- Brotherly love
- Politeness

12. THE BLACK DEATH
 Between 1347 and 1350, a
mysterious disease known as
the Black Death (Bubonic
Plague) killed some 20 Million
people in Europe- 30-50 % of
the continent’s population.

13. Medieval Literature

14. English literature had no existence until
christian times of the Dark ages when Latin
was the language of Literature.
The Church was the only source of education.
Latin was common language for Medieval
writings.

15. TYPES OF LITERATURE
Troubadour Poetry
Sonnets
Religious Poetry
 Book of Hours
 Psalters
 Missals
 Brevaries
 Hagiographies
 Devotional books
 Sermons
 Medieval Dramas
 Mysrery Plays
 Morality Plays

16. CHARACTERISTICS OF
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
Heroism
- From both Germanic and Christian traditions
o Beowolf
o Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Presentation of idealized behavior
- literature as a moral
o Loyalty to the king
o Chivalry
Use of kennings
- Hypenated expression, representing a single noun

17. THE IDEAL OF COURTLY
LOVE
The knight serves his courtly lady with the same
obedience and loyalty which he owes to his lord.
She is in complete control; he owes her obedience and
submssion.

18. He was the major poet in
england in the late middle
ages and the most
significant writer before
Shakespeare.
He was a son of a
prosperous wine merchant.
He wrote the Canterbury
Tales sometime in 1387
Before he was 25, he married
an attendant of the queen.
Geoffrey Chaucer (1345-1400)

19. LITERARY WORKS OF
CHAUCER
 Anelida and Arcite (late 1370’s)
 The House of Fame (1379-1380)
 Parlement of Fouls (1382)
 Troilus and Criselde (1382-1388)
 The Legend of Good Women (1386-1388)
 The Canterbury Tales (late 1380’s-1390’s)
 Treatise on the Astrolabe (1391)

20. OTHER MAJOR WRITERS OF THE
MEDIEVAL PERIOD
 William Langland (Piers the Plowman)
 Thomas Malory (Le Morte d’ Arthur)
 Caedmon (The Dream of the Holy Rood)
 Venerable Bede (Ecclesiastical History of England),
(De Natura Rerum)
 Margery Kempe (first autobiography in English)
 The Gawain Poet

22. THE KNIGHT’S TALE
The knight was socially
the most prominent
person on the pilgrimage,
epitomozing chivalry,
truth, and honor.

23. THE PHYSICIAN’S TALE
A doctor who can speak
knowingly of
medicines, drugs, and
humours. He also
knows astrology.

24. THE PARDONER’S TALE
The most complex of
all the pilgrims. He is
an intellect and uses
the advanced
psychological means to
gain his objective.
Although he is not a
good person, he can
preach a good sermon.

25. THE WIFE OF BATH’S
TALE
Characterized as
a gat-toothed,
somewhat deaf,
and wearing
bright scarlet red
stockings. She
had five
husbands, enjoys
her freedom, and
is openly sensual.

26. THE MERCHANT’S TALE
A shrewd and
intelligent man
who knows how
to strike a good
bargain and is a
member of the
rich rising
middle class.

27. CHARACTERS The Host
 The Knight
 The Physician
 The Pardoner
 The Wife of bath
 The Physician
 Others: Squire, Prioress, Yeoman, Second Nun, Monk,
Friar, Clerk,Man of Law, Franklin,Weaver, Dyer,
Carpenter, Cook, Shipman, Parsin, Miller, Manciple,
Reeve, Summoner & Chaucer himself.

28. THE KNIGHT’S TALE
 King Theseus- the famous ruler of ancient Athens who
performed many outstading feats in his life and was reputed to
ba a great and noble ruler.
 Queen Hippolyta- The wife of Theseus. She was a
powerful queen of the amazons before Theseus conquered the
tribe and made her his queen.
 Emelye- Theseus beautiful sister-in-law who inadvertently
attracts the attention of two imprisoned knights.
 Palamon- A Theban knight who is wounded fighting
against Theseus and imprisoned in perpetuity. Years later, he is
the first to fall in love with the beautiful Emelye.
 Arcite- another noble Theban knight who also fell in love
with Emelye.

29. THE PHYSICIAN’S TALE
 Virginius- a rich and honorable knight with a beautiful
daughter named Virginia.
 Virginia- Virginius’ daughter who has an incomparable
beauty.
 Appius- an unjust judge who is captivated by Virginia’s
beauty and is determined to have her.
 Claudius- a wicked balackguard who assists Appius in his
wicked plan to capture and seduce Virginia.

30. THE PARDONER’S TALE
 The three rioters – Drunken rioters who decide to find
Death.
 Old man- he is sorrowful and he is waiting for Death to
come and take him for some time.

31. THE WIFE OF BATH’S
TALE
 Knight- a lusty knight who raped a young maiden. He is
sentenced to death but was but will be saved only if he could find
the answer as to what do women want.
 King Arthur- he decreed that the knight should be put to
death.
 King Arthur’s Queen- she gave the knight a chance to live on
the condition that he has to tell everybody as to what do women
want.
 Old woman/old hag- an old and ugly woman who saved the
knight’s life and wanted the knight to marry her. Later in the story
she became the knight’s wife and turned into a young beautiful
woman.

32. THE MERCHANT’S TALE
 January- an old knight who decides to abandon his wild
ways and marry a beautiful young maiden.
 May- a beautiful young wife whose husband, January,
became blind and cannot satisfy her sexually.
 Damian- a handsome and young man who is smitten with
love for May.

33. SETTING
England
 Tabard Inn, Southwalk
London

34. SUBJECT MATTERS
Time
Lies and Deceit
Competition
Beauty
Greed
Courage
Love

35. MORALS
 Love conquers all.
 Forsake your sins before your sins forsake you.
 Greed is the root of all evil.
 If you learn to respect people, they will respect you.
 Love is blind.

36. THANK YOU 