Knight:

All events referred to might have been witnessed by a contemporary knight; perhaps a knight of the Teutonic Order.

He has a high rank in society; it is an ideal portrait, but perhaps there is a lack of sympathy for the 100 years war since he is placed only in religious wars.

Tale of Palamon and Arcite—a chivalric romance in heroic couplets.

Squire:

From the description, a young, courtly lover.

Chaucer was trained as a page in the household of Sir Lionel.

Tale: A medieval Romance in heroic couplets of Cambyuskan and a brass horse, a mirror, a ring, and a sword.

Yeoman:

Ranked next above a groom, but the term was applied to small landholders, some of considerable substance, as well.

No Tale.

Prioress:

Madame Eglantyne. Head of a Nunnery, a very high position.

Very gentle satire of her manners; her daintiness is based on a passage in The Romance of the Rose; the description of her personal beauty is in the style of romances. Nun's Priests 3 would bring the count up to 31 instead of 29; only one priest is mentioned with the Prioress later; he tells a tale as does the Nun.


Tale: Miracle of the Virgin in Rime Royal of a child killed by the Jews.

The Monk:

A satire on "worldly monks."

He was "regular" rather than "secular" clergy and rode abroad after the estates of the monasteries. There was a charge that monks did no work.

Tale: Tedious "Fall of Princes" tragedies broken off by the Knight.

The Friar:

Satire on the corrupt condition of mendicant orders.

They were originally founded to institute a revival of religion in Europe. There were major differences between monastic and mendicant orders.

Tale: A fabliau in heroic couplets about a Summoner, an old woman, and a pact with the devil.

Merchant:

A merchant of staples—probably exported wool and skins.

Merchant adventurers traded with the Low Countries; their patron was Thomas a. Becket. They were a very rich and powerful class.

Tale: A fabliau in heroic couplets about January, May, and Damian—Age married to Youth. There is a discussion of marriage with many elements of courtly love.

Clerk:

A cleric of Oxford.

The term was applied to any ecclesiastical student as well as a man in holy orders. This clerk is probably pursuing his studies for the MS degree, the same as our Drs. degree. Clerks were respected for their learning, but poor.

Tale: A Moral Tale in rime royal of "Patient Griselda." Continues the discussion of marriage.

Sergeant of the Law:

They had a very high status; there were only 20 in Chaucer's time.

Judges of the king's courts and the baron of the Exchequer were chosen from them. They had the privilege of wearing their head covering in the royal presence. There is a slight dig at Thomas Pychbek, a political opponent of Chaucer's who once signed a writ for Chaucer's arrest

Tale: A moral tale in Rime Royal of Constance and her boat.

Franklin:

Sometimes meant only "free man" or, as here, a landholder of free, but not noble birth.

The Franklin's social status is a matter of dispute; Franklins were below the gentry, but Chaucer's Franklin is a man of wealth and dignity who held offices a man below a gentleman could not hold. He travels with the Sergeant of the Law. He would probably be ranked as a gentleman on the same level as knights and squires.

Tale: A folk tale, Breton Lai, of a wife's rash promise; the tale turns on a point of courtly love.

Five Guildsmen:

All belonged to the non-victualing trades under the protection of John of Gaunt, Chaucer's patron.

No tales from them.

The Cook:Roger.

His tale is a fragment. Chaucer probably had in mind to cancel him and bring him in later.

Tale: A fabliau in heroic couplets about Perkin, a dissolute apprentice cast off by his employer.

Shipman:

Portrayed as a rascal.

Tale: A fabliau in heroic couplets of a monk who tricks a wife and her merchant husband.

Physician:

Many were considered charlatans; they worked with astrology and alchemy and were thought to be atheists and money grubbers.

Tale: A tragic tale in heroic couplets from Livy; Virginia, the daughter of a Knight, dies rather than lose her virginity.

Wife of Bath:

Chaucer's most famous portrait.

Her description drew on the satirical, anti- feminist literature of the age. She begins the discussion on "authority in marriage."

Tale: A fairy tale in heroic couplets of a Knight of the Court; the knight learns that what women want in marriage is to do whatever they want.

Parson:

An ideal portrait of a secular priest.

Chaucer praises the virtues Wycliff emphasized and satirizes evil priests.

Tale: A sermon on the proper preparation for confession and the nature of the seven deadly sins. His tale comes just before Chaucer's retractions at the end.

Plowman:

Another ideal portrait; medieval literature usually treats peasants contemptuously.

No tale from him.

Miller:

His description fits what the physiognomists regularly associated with men of his nature:

A short, stocky figure with a fat face, a red, bushy beard, and a flat nose with a wart on it. His description denoted a shameless, loquacious, quarrelsome, lecherous fellow. There was a cliché about being "honest as millers go."

Tale: A fabliau in heroic couplets about John the Carpenter deceived by a cleric border, Nicholas, who sleeps with his wife Alison right under his nose.

Manciple:

A servant who purchased provisions for a college or an inn of court; an inconspicuous character.

Tale: A beast fable in heroic couplets of the "white and melodious" crow of Apollo.

Reeve:

A steward or bailiff, the provost or manager of a manor.

Chaucer's appears to be superior to a bailiff, exercising some functions of a steward. Physical characteristics by physiognomists denoted sharpness of wit, irascibility, wantonness. There was a traditional enmity between millers and reeves.

Tale: A fabliau in heroic couplets. John and Alan deceive a cheating Miller's wife and daughter.

Summoner:

An officer of a church court who called delinquents to appear before them.

A very bitter portrait. They traditionally had bad reputations and were considered to be corrupt.

Tale: A fabliau in heroic couplets of a begging Friar and his come-uppance from a sick man.

Pardoner:

A seller of Papal indulgences.

The practice was corrupt and abused. Some were not even in orders and many were wholly unauthorized. Chaucer's was fraudulent as he himself shows. He introduces his tale with a confession of his rascality.

Tale: A sermon with an "exemplum" about three revelers.

Harry Bailey:

The host. The pilgrims begin their journey from his inn, the Tabard, in Southwark.

Late Arrivals:

At Broughton a Canon and his Yeoman overtake the Pilgrims (probably written late, perhaps showing Chaucer's resentment against some alchemist.). A canon was a cleric on a cathedral staff; the Yeoman talks aloud of his master, an alchemist, and his tricks until the Canon rides away in chagrin; the Yeoman then tells a tale about an Alchemist Canon.

Chaucer's Retractions: Are these genuine?

A Note on Humors:

The four humors were derived from the four elements—earth, air, fire, and water—and were thought to determine what we might call personality. When one or another element dominated a person's makeup, he became a character "type."
Sanguine: blood; hot and moist (air).

Choleric: choler or yellow bile; hot and dry (fire).

Melancholic: black bile; cold and dry (earth).

Phlegmatic: phlegm; cold and moist (water).

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