The Canterbury Tales: The General Prologue

THE CANTERBURY TALES. GROUP A. THE PROLOGUE Here biginneth the Book of the Tales of Caunterbury.

WHAN that Aprille with his shoures sote The droghte of Marche hath perced to the rote, And bathed every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour; Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his halfe cours y-ronne, And smale fowles maken melodye, That slepen al the night with open yë, (So priketh hem nature in hir corages): Than longen folk to goon on pilgrimages (And palmers for to seken straunge strondes) To ferne halwes, couthe in sondry londes; And specially, from every shires ende Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende, The holy blisful martir for to seke, That hem hath holpen, whan that they were seke. Bifel that, in that seson on a day, In Southwerk at the Tabard as I lay Redy to wenden on my pilgrimage To Caunterbury with ful devout corage, At night was come in-to that hostelrye Wel nyne and twenty in a companye, Of sondry folk, by aventure y-falle In felawshipe, and pilgrims were they alle, That toward Caunterbury wolden ryde; The chambres and the stables weren wyde, And wel we weren esed atte beste. And shortly, whan the sonne was to reste, So hadde I spoken with hem everichon, That I was of hir felawshipe anon, And made forward erly for to ryse, To take our wey, ther as I yow devyse. But natheles, whyl I have tyme and space, Er that I ferther in this tale pace, Me thinketh it acordaunt to resoun, To telle yow al the condicioun Of ech of hem, so as it semed me, And whiche they weren, and of what degree; And eek in what array that they were inne: And at a knight than wol I first biginne.

KNIGHT. A KNIGHT ther was, and that a worthy man, That fro the tyme that he first bigan To ryden out, he loved chivalrye, Trouthe and honour, fredom and curteisye. Ful worthy was he in his lordes werre, And therto hadde he riden (no man ferre) As wel in Cristendom as hethenesse, And ever honoured for his worthinesse. At Alisaundre he was, whan it was wonne; Ful ofte tyme he hadde the bord bigonne Aboven alle naciouns in Pruce. In Lettow hadde he reysed and in Ruce, No Cristen man so ofte of his degree. In Gernade at the sege eek hadde he be Of Algezir, and riden in Belmarye. At Lyeys was he, and at Satalye, Whan they were wonne; and in the Grete See At many a noble aryve hadde he be. At mortal batailles hadde he been fiftene, And foughten for our feith at Tramissene In listes thryes, and ay slayn his foo. This ilke worthy knight had been also Somtyme with the lord of Palatye, Ageyn another hethen in Turkye: And evermore he hadde a sovereyn prys. And though that he were worthy, he was wys, And of his port as meke as is a mayde. He never yet no vileinye ne sayde In al his lyf, un-to no maner wight. He was a verray parfit gentil knight. But for to tellen yow of his array, His hors were gode, but he was nat gay. Of fustian he wered a gipoun Al bismotered with his habergeoun; For he was late y-come from his viage, And wente for to doon his pilgrimage.

SQUYER. With him ther was his sone, a yong SQUYER, A lovyere, and a lusty bacheler, With lokkes crulle, as they were leyd in presse. Of twenty yeer of age he was, I gesse. Of his stature he was of evene lengthe, And wonderly deliver, and greet of strengthe. And he had been somtyme in chivachye, In Flaundres, in Artoys, and Picardye, And born him wel, as of so litel space, In hope to stonden in his lady grace. Embrouded was he, as it were a mede Al ful of fresshe floures, whyte and rede. Singinge he was, or floytinge, al the day; He was as fresh as is the month of May. Short was his goune, with sleves longe and wyde. Wel coude he sitte on hors, and faire ryde. He coude songes make and wel endyte, Iuste and eek daunce, and wel purtreye and wryte, So hote he lovede, that by nightertale He sleep namore than dooth a nightingale. Curteys he was, lowly, and servisable, And carf biforn his fader at the table.

YEMAN. A YEMAN hadde he, and servaunts namo At that tyme, for him liste ryde so; And he was clad in cote and hood of grene; A sheef of pecok-arwes brighte and kene Under his belt he bar ful thriftily; (Wel coude he dresse his takel yemanly: His arwes drouped noght with fetheres lowe), And in his hand he bar a mighty bowe. A not-heed hadde he, with a broun visage. Of wode-craft wel coude he al the usage. Upon his arm he bar a gay bracer, And by his syde a swerd and a bokeler, And on that other syde a gay daggere, Harneised wel, and sharp as point of spere; A Cristofre on his brest of silver shene. An horn he bar, the bawdrik was of grene; A forster was he, soothly, as I gesse.

PRIORESSE. Ther was also a Nonne, a Prioresse, That of hir smyling was ful simple and coy; Hir gretteste ooth was but by sëynt Loy; And she was cleped madame Eglentyne. Ful wel she song the service divyne, Entuned in hir nose ful semely; And Frensh she spak ful faire and fetisly, After the scole of Stratford atte Bowe, For Frensh of Paris was to hir unknowe. At mete wel y-taught was she with-alle; She leet no morsel from hir lippes falle, Ne wette hir fingres in hir sauce depe. Wel coude she carie a morsel, and wel kepe, That no drope ne fille up-on hir brest. In curteisye was set ful muche hir lest. Hir over lippe wyped she so clene, That in hir coppe was no ferthing sene Of grece, whan she dronken hadde hir draughte. Ful semely after hir mete she raughte, And sikerly she was of greet disport, And ful plesaunt, and amiable of port, And peyned hir to countrefete chere Of court, and been estatlich of manere, And to ben holden digne of reverence. But, for to speken of hir conscience, She was so charitable and so pitous, She wolde wepe, if that she sawe a mous Caught in a trappe, if it were deed or bledde. Of smale houndes had she, that she fedde With rosted flesh, or milk and wastel-breed. But sore weep she if oon of hem were deed, Or if men smoot it with a yerde smerte: And al was conscience and tendre herte. Ful semely hir wimpel pinched was; Hir nose tretys; hir eyen greye as glas; Hir mouth ful smal, and ther-to softe and reed; But sikerly she hadde a fair forheed; It was almost a spanne brood, I trowe; For, hardily, she was nat undergrowe. Ful fetis was hir cloke, as I was war. Of smal coral aboute hir arm she bar A peire of bedes, gauded al with grene; And ther-on heng a broche of gold ful shene, On which ther was first write a crowned A, And after, Amor vincit omnia .

NONNE. 3 PREESTES. Another NONNE with hir hadde she, That was hir chapeleyne, and PREESTES three.

MONK. A MONK ther was, a fair for the maistrye, An out-rydere, that lovede venerye; A manly man, to been an abbot able. Ful many a deyntee hors hadde he in stable: And, whan he rood, men mighte his brydel here Ginglen in a whistling wind as clere, And eek as loude as dooth the chapel-belle, Ther as this lord was keper of the celle. The reule of seint Maure or of seint Beneit, By-cause that it was old and som-del streit, This ilke monk leet olde thinges pace, And held after the newe world the space. He yaf nat of that text a pulled hen, That seith, that hunters been nat holy men; Ne that a monk, whan he is cloisterlees, Is lykned til a fish that is waterlees; This is to seyn, a monk out of his cloistre. But thilke text held he nat worth an oistre; And I seyde, his opinioun was good. What sholde he studie, and make him-selven wood, Upon a book in cloistre alwey to poure, Or swinken with his handes, and laboure, As Austin bit? How shal the world be served? Lat Austin have his swink to him reserved. Therfore he was a pricasour aright; Grehoundes he hadde, as swifte as fowel in flight; Of priking and of hunting for the hare Was al his lust, for no cost wolde he spare. I seigh his sleves purfiled at the hond With grys, and that the fyneste of a lond; And, for to festne his hood under his chin, He hadde of gold y-wroght a curious pin: A love-knotte in the gretter ende ther was. His heed was balled, that shoon as any glas, And eek his face, as he had been anoint. He was a lord ful fat and in good point; His eyen stepe, and rollinge in his heed, That stemed as a forneys of a leed; His botes souple, his hors in greet estat. Now certeinly he was a fair prelat; He was nat pale as a for-pyned goost. A fat swan loved he best of any roost. His palfrey was as broun as is a berye.

FRERE. A FRERE ther was, a wantown and a merye, A limitour, a ful solempne man. In alle the ordres foure is noon that can So muche of daliaunce and fair langage. He hadde maad ful many a mariage Of yonge wommen, at his owne cost. Un-to his ordre he was a noble post. Ful wel biloved and famulier was he With frankeleyns over-al in his contree, And eek with worthy wommen of the toun: For he had power of confessioun, As seyde him-self, more than a curat, For of his ordre he was licentiat. Ful swetely herde he confessioun, And plesaunt was his absolucioun; He was an esy man to yeve penaunce Ther as he wiste to han a good pitaunce; For unto a povre ordre for to yive Is signe that a man is wel y-shrive. For if he yaf, he dorste make avaunt, He wiste that a man was repentaunt. For many a man so hard is of his herte, He may nat wepe al-thogh him sore smerte. Therfore, in stede of weping and preyeres, Men moot yeve silver to the povre freres. His tipet was ay farsed ful of knyves And pinnes, for to yeven faire wyves. And certeinly he hadde a mery note; Wel coude he singe and pleyen on a rote. Of yeddinges he bar utterly the prys. His nekke whyt was as the flour-de-lys; Ther-to he strong was as a champioun. He knew the tavernes wel in every toun, And everich hostiler and tappestere Bet than a lazar or a beggestere; For un-to swich a worthy man as he Acorded nat, as by his facultee, To have with seke lazars aqueyntaunce. It is nat honest, it may nat avaunce For to delen with no swich poraille, But al with riche and sellers of vitaille. And over-al, ther as profit sholde aryse, Curteys he was, and lowly of servyse. Ther nas no man no-wher so vertuous. He was the beste beggere in his hous; [And yaf a certeyn ferme for the graunt; Noon of his bretheren cam ther in his haunt;] For thogh a widwe hadde noght a sho, So plesaunt was his “ In principio ,” Yet wolde he have a ferthing, er he wente. His purchas was wel bettre than his rente. And rage he coude, as it were right a whelpe. In love-dayes ther coude he muchel helpe. For there he was nat lyk a cloisterer, With a thredbar cope, as is a povre scoler, But he was lyk a maister or a pope. Of double worsted was his semi-cope, That rounded as a belle out of the presse. Somwhat he lipsed, for his wantownesse, To make his English swete up-on his tonge; And in his harping, whan that he had songe, His eyen twinkled in his heed aright, As doon the sterres in the frosty night. This worthy limitour was cleped Huberd.

MARCHANT. A MARCHANT was ther with a forked berd, In mottelee, and hye on horse he sat, Up-on his heed a Flaundrish bever hat; His botes clasped faire and fetisly. His resons he spak ful solempnely, Souninge alway thencrees of his winning. He wolde the see were kept for any thing Bitwixe Middelburgh and Orewelle. Wel coude he in eschaunge sheeldes selle. This worthy man ful wel his wit bisette; Ther wiste no wight that he was in dette, So estatly was he of his governaunce, With his bargaynes, and with his chevisaunce. For sothe he was a worthy man with-alle, But sooth to seyn, I noot how men him calle.

CLERK. A CLERK ther was of Oxenford also, That un-to logik hadde longe y-go. As lene was his hors as is a rake, And he nas nat right fat, I undertake; But loked holwe, and ther-to soberly. Ful thredbar was his overest courtepy; For he had geten him yet no benefyce, Ne was so worldly for to have offyce. For him was lever have at his beddes heed Twenty bokes, clad in blak or reed, Of Aristotle and his philosophye, Than robes riche, or fithele, or gay sautrye. But al be that he was a philosophre, Yet hadde he but litel gold in cofre; But al that he mighte of his freendes hente, On bokes and on lerninge he it spente, And bisily gan for the soules preye Of hem that yaf him wher-with to scoleye. Of studie took he most cure and most hede. Noght o word spak he more than was nede, And that was seyd in forme and reverence, And short and quik, and ful of hy sentence. Souninge in moral vertu was his speche, And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teche.

MAN OF LAWE. A SERGEANT OF THE LAWE, war and wys, That often hadde been at the parvys, Ther was also, ful riche of excellence. Discreet he was, and of greet reverence: He semed swich, his wordes weren so wyse. Iustyce he was ful often in assyse, By patente, and by pleyn commissioun; For his science, and for his heigh renoun Of fees and robes hadde he many oon. So greet a purchasour was no-wher noon. Al was fee simple to him in effect, His purchasing mighte nat been infect. No-wher so bisy a man as he ther nas, And yet he semed bisier than he was. In termes hadde he caas and domes alle, That from the tyme of king William were falle. Therto he coude endyte, and make a thing, Ther coude no wight pinche at his wryting; And every statut coude he pleyn by rote. He rood but hoomly in a medlee cote Girt with a ceint of silk, with barres smale; Of his array telle I no lenger tale.

FRANKELEYN A FRANKELEYN was in his companye; Whyt was his berd, as is the dayesye. Of his complexioun he was sangwyn. Wel loved he by the morwe a sop in wyn. To liven in delyt was ever his wone, For he was Epicurus owne sone, That heeld opinioun, that pleyn delyt Was verraily felicitee parfyt. An housholdere, and that a greet, was he; Seint Iulian he was in his contree. His breed, his ale, was alwey after oon; A bettre envyned man was no-wher noon. With-oute bake mete was never his hous, Of fish and flesh, and that so plentevous, It snewed in his hous of mete and drinke, Of alle deyntees that men coude thinke. After the sondry sesons of the yeer, So chaunged he his mete and his soper. Ful many a fat partrich hadde he in mewe, And many a breem and many a luce in stewe. Wo was his cook, but-if his sauce were Poynaunt and sharp, and redy al his gere. His table dormant in his halle alway Stood redy covered al the longe day. At sessiouns ther was he lord and sire; Ful ofte tyme he was knight of the shire. An anlas and a gipser al of silk Heng at his girdel, whyt as morne milk. A shirreve hadde he been, and a countour; Was no-wher such a worthy vavasour.

HABAERDASSHER. CARPENTER. WEBBE. DYERE. TAPICER. An HABERDASSHER and a CARPENTER, A WEBBE, a DYERE, and a TAPICER, Were with us eek, clothed in o liveree, Of a solempne and greet fraternitee. Ful fresh and newe hir gere apyked was; Hir knyves were y-chaped noght with bras, But al with silver, wroght ful clene and weel, Hir girdles and hir pouches every-deel. Wel semed ech of hem a fair burgeys, To sitten in a yeldhalle on a deys. Everich, for the wisdom that he can, Was shaply for to been an alderman. For catel hadde they y-nogh and rente, And eek hir wyves wolde it wel assente; And elles certein were they to blame. It is ful fair to been y-clept “ ma dame ,” And goon to vigilyës al bifore, And have a mantel royalliche y-bore.

COOK. A COOK they hadde with hem for the nones, To boille the chiknes with the mary-bones, And poudre-marchant tart, and galingale. Wel coude he knowe a draughte of London ale. He coude roste, and sethe, and broille, and frye, Maken mortreux, and wel bake a pye. But greet harm was it, as it thoughte me, That on his shine a mormal hadde he; For blankmanger, that made he with the beste.

SHIPMAN. A SHIPMAN was ther, woning fer by weste: For aught I woot, he was of Dertemouthe. He rood up-on a rouncy, as he couthe, In a gowne of falding to the knee. A daggere hanging on a laas hadde he Aboute his nekke under his arm adoun. The hote somer had maad his hewe al broun; And, certeinly, he was a good felawe. Ful many a draughte of wyn had he y-drawe From Burdeux-ward, whyl that the chapman sleep. Of nyce conscience took he no keep. If that he faught, and hadde the hyer hond, By water he sente hem hoom to every lond. But of his craft to rekene wel his tydes, His stremes and his daungers him bisydes, His herberwe and his mone, his lodemenage, Ther nas noon swich from Hulle to Cartage. Hardy he was, and wys to undertake; With many a tempest hadde his berd been shake. He knew wel alle the havenes, as they were, From Gootlond to the cape of Finistere, And every cryke in Britayne and in Spayne; His barge y-cleped was the Maudelayne.

DOCTOUR. With us ther was a DOCTOUR OF PHISYK, In al this world ne was ther noon him lyk To speke of phisik and of surgerye; For he was grounded in astronomye. He kepte his pacient a ful greet del In houres, by his magik naturel. Wel coude he fortunen the ascendent Of his images for his pacient. He knew the cause of everich maladye, Were it of hoot or cold, or moiste, or drye, And where engendred, and of what humour; He was a verrey parfit practisour. The cause y-knowe, and of his harm the rote, Anon he yaf the seke man his bote. Ful redy hadde he his apothecaries, To sende him drogges and his letuaries, For ech of hem made other for to winne; Hir frendschipe nas nat newe to biginne. Wel knew he the olde Esculapius, And Deiscorides, and eek Rufus, Old Ypocras, Haly, and Galien; Serapion, Razis, and Avicen; Averrois, Damascien, and Constantyn; Bernard, and Gatesden, and Gilbertyn. Of his diete mesurable was he, For it was of no superfluitee, But of greet norissing and digestible. His studie was but litel on the Bible. In sangwin and in pers he clad was al, Lyned with taffata and with sendal; And yet he was but esy of dispence; He kepte that he wan in pestilence. For gold in phisik is a cordial, Therfore he lovede gold in special.

WYF OF BATHE. A good WYF was ther of bisyde BATHE, But she was som-del deef, and that was scathe. Of clooth-making she hadde swiche an haunt, She passed hem of Ypres and of Gaunt. In al the parisshe wyf ne was ther noon That to the offring bifore hir sholde goon; And if ther dide, certeyn, so wrooth was she, That she was out of alle charitee. Hir coverchiefs ful fyne were of ground; I dorste swere they weyeden ten pound That on a Sonday were upon hir heed. Hir hosen weren of fyn scarlet reed, Ful streite y-teyd, and shoos ful moiste and newe. Bold was hir face, and fair, and reed of hewe. She was a worthy womman al hir lyve, Housbondes at chirche-dore she hadde fyve, Withouten other companye in youthe; But therof nedeth nat to speke as nouthe. And thryes hadde she been at Ierusalem; She hadde passed many a straunge streem; At Rome she hadde been, and at Boloigne, In Galice at seint Iame, and at Coloigne. She coude muche of wandring by the weye. Gat-tothed was she, soothly for to seye. Up-on an amblere esily she sat, Y-wimpled wel, and on hir heed an hat As brood as is a bokeler or a targe; A foot-mantel aboute hir hipes large, And on hir feet a paire of spores sharpe. In felawschip wel coude she laughe and carpe. Of remedyes of love she knew per-chaunce, For she coude of that art the olde daunce.

PERSOUN. A good man was ther of religioun, And was a povre PERSOUN of a toun; But riche he was of holy thoght and werk. He was also a lerned man, a clerk, That Cristes gospel trewely wolde preche; His parisshens devoutly wolde he teche. Benigne he was, and wonder diligent, And in adversitee ful pacient; And swich he was y-preved ofte sythes. Ful looth were him to cursen for his tythes, But rather wolde he yeven, out of doute, Un-to his povre parisshens aboute Of his offring, and eek of his substaunce. He coude in litel thing han suffisaunce. Wyd was his parisshe, and houses fer a-sonder, But he ne lafte nat, for reyn ne thonder, In siknes nor in meschief, to visyte The ferreste in his parisshe, muche and lyte, Up-on his feet, and in his hand a staf. This noble ensample to his sheep he yaf, That first he wroghte, and afterward he taughte; Out of the gospel he tho wordes caughte; And this figure he added eek ther-to, That if gold ruste, what shal iren do? For if a preest be foul, on whom we truste, No wonder is a lewed man to ruste; And shame it is, if a preest take keep, A shiten shepherde and a clene sheep. Wel oghte a preest ensample for to yive, By his clennesse, how that his sheep shold live. He sette nat his benefice to hyre, And leet his sheep encombred in the myre, And ran to London, un-to sëynt Poules, To seken him a chaunterie for soules, Or with a bretherhed to been withholde; But dwelte at hoom, and kepte wel his folde, So that the wolf ne made it nat miscarie; He was a shepherde and no mercenarie. And though he holy were, and vertuous, He was to sinful man nat despitous, Ne of his speche daungerous ne digne, But in his teching discreet and benigne. To drawen folk to heven by fairnesse By good ensample, was his bisinesse: But it were any persone obstinat, What-so he were, of heigh or lowe estat, Him wolde he snibben sharply for the nones. A bettre preest, I trowe that nowher noon is. He wayted after no pompe and reverence, Ne maked him a spyced conscience, But Cristes lore, and his apostles twelve, He taughte, and first he folwed it him-selve.

PLOWMAN. With him ther was a PLOWMAN, was his brother, That hadde y-lad of dong ful many a fother, A trewe swinker and a good was he, Livinge in pees and parfit charitee. God loved he best with al his hole herte At alle tymes, thogh him gamed or smerte, And thanne his neighebour right as him-selve. He wolde thresshe, and ther-to dyke and delve, For Cristes sake, for every povre wight, Withouten hyre, if it lay in his might. His tythes payed he ful faire and wel, Bothe of his propre swink and his catel. In a tabard he rood upon a mere.

Ther was also a Reve and a Millere, A Somnour and a Pardoner also, A Maunciple, and my-self; ther were namo.

MILLER. The MILLER was a stout carl, for the nones, Ful big he was of braun, and eek of bones; That proved wel, for over-al ther he cam, At wrastling he wolde have alwey the ram. He was short-sholdred, brood, a thikke knarre, Ther nas no dore that he nolde heve of harre, Or breke it, at a renning, with his heed. His berd as any sowe or fox was reed, And ther-to brood, as though it were a spade. Up-on the cop right of his nose he hade A werte, and ther-on stood a tuft of heres, Reed as the bristles of a sowes eres; His nose-thirles blake were and wyde. A swerd and bokeler bar he by his syde; His mouth as greet was as a greet forneys. He was a Ianglere and a goliardeys, And that was most of sinne and harlotryes. Wel coude he stelen corn, and tollen thryes; And yet he hadde a thombe of gold, pardee. A whyt cote and a blew hood wered he. A baggepype wel coude he blowe and sowne, And ther-with-al he broghte us out of towne.

MAUNCIPLE. A gentil MAUNCIPLE was ther of a temple, Of which achatours mighte take exemple For to be wyse in bying of vitaille. For whether that he payde, or took by taille, Algate he wayted so in his achat, That he was ay biforn and in good stat. Now is nat that of God a ful fair grace, That swich a lewed mannes wit shal pace The wisdom of an heep of lerned men? Of maistres hadde he mo than thryes ten, That were of lawe expert and curious; Of which ther were a doseyn in that hous, Worthy to been stiwardes of rente and lond Of any lord that is in Engelond, To make him live by his propre good, In honour dettelees, but he were wood, Or live as scarsly as him list desire; And able for to helpen al a shire In any cas that mighte falle or happe; And yit this maunciple sette hir aller cappe.

REVE. The REVE was a sclendre colerik man, His berd was shave as ny as ever he can. His heer was by his eres round y-shorn. His top was dokked lyk a preest biforn. Ful longe were his legges, and ful lene, Y-lyk a staf, ther was no calf y-sene. Wel coude he kepe a gerner and a binne; Ther was noon auditour coude on him winne. Wel wiste he, by the droghte, and by the reyn, The yelding of his seed, and of his greyn. His lordes sheep, his neet, his dayerye, His swyn, his hors, his stoor, and his pultrye, Was hoolly in this reves governing, And by his covenaunt yaf the rekening, Sin that his lord was twenty yeer of age; Ther coude no man bringe him in arrerage. Ther nas baillif, ne herde, ne other hyne, That he ne knew his sleighte and his covyne; They were adrad of him, as of the deeth. His woning was ful fair up-on an heeth, With grene treës shadwed was his place. He coude bettre than his lord purchace. Ful riche he was astored prively, His lord wel coude he plesen subtilly, To yeve and lene him of his owne good, And have a thank, and yet a cote and hood. In youthe he lerned hadde a good mister; He was a wel good wrighte, a carpenter. This reve sat up-on a ful good stot, That was al pomely grey, and highte Scot. A long surcote of pers up-on he hade, And by his syde he bar a rusty blade. Of Northfolk was this reve, of which I telle, Bisyde a toun men clepen Baldeswelle. Tukked he was, as is a frere, aboute, And ever he rood the hindreste of our route.

SOMNOUR. A SOMNOUR was ther with us in that place, That hadde a fyr-reed cherubinnes face, For sawcefleem he was, with eyen narwe. As hoot he was, and lecherous, as a sparwe; With scalled browes blake, and piled berd; Of his visage children were aferd. Ther nas quik-silver, litarge, ne brimstoon, Boras, ceruce, ne oille of tartre noon, Ne oynement that wolde dense and byte, That him mighte helpen of his whelkes whyte, Nor of the knobbes sittinge on his chekes. Wel loved he garleek, oynons, and eek lekes, And for to drinken strong wyn, reed as blood. Thanne wolde he speke, and crye as he were wood. And whan that he wel dronken hadde the wyn, Than wolde he speke no word but Latyn. A fewe termes hadde he, two or three, That he had lerned out of som decree; No wonder is, he herde it al the day; And eek ye knowen wel, how that a Iay Can clepen ‘Watte,’ as well as can the pope. But who-so coude in other thing him grope, Thanne hadde he spent al his philosophye; Ay ‘Questio quid iuris’ wolde he crye. He was a gentil harlot and a kinde; A bettre felawe sholde men noght finde. He wolde suffre, for a quart of wyn, A good felawe to have his concubyn A twelf-month, and excuse him atte fulle: Ful prively a finch eek coude he pulle. And if he fond o-wher a good felawe, He wolde techen him to have non awe, In swich cas, of the erchedeknes curs, But-if a mannes soule were in his purs; For in his purs he sholde y-punisshed be. ‘Purs is the erchedeknes helle,’ seyde he. But wel I woot he lyed right in dede; Of cursing oghte ech gilty man him drede— For curs wol slee, right as assoilling saveth— And also war him of a significavit . In daunger hadde he at his owne gyse The yonge girles of the diocyse, And knew hir counseil, and was al hir reed. A gerland hadde he set up-on his heed, As greet as it were for an ale-stake; A bokeler hadde he maad him of a cake.

PARDONER. With him ther rood a gentil PARDONER Of Rouncival, his freend and his compeer, That streight was comen fro the court of Rome. Ful loude he song, ‘Com hider, love, to me.’ This somnour bar to him a stif burdoun, Was never trompe of half so greet a soun. This pardoner hadde heer as yelow as wex, But smothe it heng, as dooth a strike of flex; By ounces henge his lokkes that he hadde, And ther-with he his shuldres overspradde; But thinne it lay, by colpons oon and oon; But hood, for Iolitee, ne wered he noon, For it was trussed up in his walet. Him thoughte, he rood al of the newe Iet; Dischevele, save his cappe, he rood al bare. Swiche glaringe eyen hadde he as an hare. A vernicle hadde he sowed on his cappe. His walet lay biforn him in his lappe, Bret-ful of pardoun come from Rome al hoot. A voys he hadde as smal as hath a goot. No berd hadde he, ne never sholde have, As smothe it was as it were late y-shave; I trowe he were a gelding or a mare. But of his craft, fro Berwik into Ware, Ne was ther swich another pardoner. For in his male he hadde a pilwe-beer, Which that, he seyde, was our lady veyl: He seyde, he hadde a gobet of the seyl That sëynt Peter hadde, whan that he wente Up-on the see, til Iesu Crist him hente. He hadde a croys of latoun, ful of stones, And in a glas he hadde pigges bones. But with thise relikes, whan that he fond A povre person dwelling up-on lond, Up-on a day he gat him more moneye Than that the person gat in monthes tweye. And thus, with feyned flaterye and Iapes, He made the person and the peple his apes. But trewely to tellen, atte laste, He was in chirche a noble ecclesiaste. Wel coude he rede a lessoun or a storie, But alderbest he song an offertorie; For wel he wiste, whan that song was songe, He moste preche, and wel affyle his tonge, To winne silver, as he ful wel coude; Therefore he song so meriely and loude.

Now have I told you shortly, in a clause, Thestat, tharray, the nombre, and eek the cause Why that assembled was this companye In Southwerk, at this gentil hostelrye, That highte the Tabard, faste by the Belle. But now is tyme to yow for to telle How that we baren us that ilke night, Whan we were in that hostelrye alight. And after wol I telle of our viage, And al the remenaunt of our pilgrimage. But first I pray yow, of your curteisye, That ye narette it nat my vileinye, Thogh that I pleynly speke in this matere, To telle yow hir wordes and hir chere; Ne thogh I speke hir wordes properly. For this ye knowen al-so wel as I, Who-so shal telle a tale after a man, He moot reherce, as ny as ever he can, Everich a word, if it be in his charge, Al speke he never so rudeliche and large; Or elles he moot telle his tale untrewe, Or feyne thing, or finde wordes newe. He may nat spare, al-thogh he were his brother; He moot as wel seye o word as another. Crist spak him-self ful brode in holy writ, And wel ye woot, no vileinye is it. Eek Plato seith, who-so that can him rede, The wordes mote be cosin to the dede. Also I prey yow to foryeve it me, Al have I nat set folk in hir degree Here in this tale, as that they sholde stonde; My wit is short, ye may wel understonde. Greet chere made our hoste us everichon, And to the soper sette he us anon; And served us with vitaille at the beste. Strong was the wyn, and wel to drinke us leste. A semely man our hoste was with-alle For to han been a marshal in an halle; A large man he was with eyen stepe, A fairer burgeys is ther noon in Chepe: Bold of his speche, and wys, and wel y-taught, And of manhod him lakkede right naught. Eek therto he was right a mery man, And after soper pleyen he bigan, And spak of mirthe amonges othere thinges, Whan that we hadde maad our rekeninges; And seyde thus: ‘Now, lordinges, trewely, Ye been to me right welcome hertely: For by my trouthe, if that I shal nat lye, I ne saugh this yeer so mery a companye At ones in this herberwe as is now. Fayn wolde I doon yow mirthe, wiste I how. And of a mirthe I am right now bithoght, To doon yow ese, and it shal coste noght. Ye goon to Caunterbury; God yow spede, The blisful martir quyte yow your mede. And wel I woot, as ye goon by the weye, Ye shapen yow to talen and to pleye; For trewely, confort ne mirthe is noon To ryde by the weye doumb as a stoon; And therfore wol I maken yow disport, As I seyde erst, and doon yow som confort. And if yow lyketh alle, by oon assent, Now for to stonden at my Iugement, And for to werken as I shal yow seye, To-morwe, whan ye ryden by the weye, Now, by my fader soule, that is deed, But ye be merye, I wol yeve yow myn heed. Hold up your hond, withouten more speche.’ Our counseil was nat longe for to seche; Us thoughte it was noght worth to make it wys, And graunted him withouten more avys, And bad him seye his verdit, as him leste. ‘Lordinges,’ quod he, ‘now herkneth for the beste; But tak it not, I prey yow, in desdeyn; This is the poynt, to speken short and pleyn, That ech of yow, to shorte with your weye, In this viage, shal telle tales tweye, To Caunterbury-ward, I mene it so, And hom-ward he shal tellen othere two, Of aventures that whylom han bifalle. And which of yow that bereth him best of alle, That is to seyn, that telleth in this cas Tales of best sentence and most solas, Shal have a soper at our aller cost Here in this place, sitting by this post, Whan that we come agayn fro Caunterbury. And for to make yow the more mery, I wol my-selven gladly with yow ryde, Right at myn owne cost, and be your gyde. And who-so wol my Iugement withseye Shal paye al that we spenden by the weye. And if ye vouche-sauf that it be so, Tel me anon, with-outen wordes mo, And I wol erly shape me therfore.’ This thing was graunted, and our othes swore With ful glad herte, and preyden him also That he wold vouche-sauf for to do so, And that he wolde been our governour, And of our tales Iuge and reportour, And sette a soper at a certeyn prys; And we wold reuled been at his devys, In heigh and lowe; and thus, by oon assent, We been acorded to his Iugement. And ther-up-on the wyn was fet anon; We dronken, and to reste wente echon, With-outen any lenger taryinge. A-morwe, whan that day bigan to springe, Up roos our host, and was our aller cok, And gadrede us togidre, alle in a flok, And forth we riden, a litel more than pas, Un-to the watering of seint Thomas. And there our host bigan his hors areste, And seyde; ‘Lordinges, herkneth, if yow leste. Ye woot your forward, and I it yow recorde. If even-song and morwe-song acorde, Lat se now who shal telle the firste tale. As ever mote I drinke wyn or ale, Who-so be rebel to my Iugement Shal paye for al that by the weye is spent. Now draweth cut, er that we ferrer twinne; He which that hath the shortest shal biginne. Sire knight,’ quod he, ‘my maister and my lord, Now draweth cut, for that is myn acord. Cometh neer,’ quod he, ‘my lady prioresse; And ye, sir clerk, lat be your shamfastnesse, Ne studieth noght; ley hond to, every man.’ Anon to drawen every wight bigan, And shortly for to tellen, as it was, Were it by aventure, or sort, or cas, The sothe is this, the cut fil to the knight, Of which ful blythe and glad was every wight; And telle he moste his tale, as was resoun, By forward and by composicioun, As ye han herd; what nedeth wordes mo? And whan this gode man saugh it was so, As he that wys was and obedient To kepe his forward by his free assent, He seyde: ‘Sin I shal biginne the game, What, welcome be the cut, a Goddes name! Now lat us ryde, and herkneth what I seye.’ And with that word we riden forth our weye; And he bigan with right a mery chere His tale anon, and seyde in this manere.

Here endeth the prolog of this book; and here biginnith the first tale, which is the Knightes Tale.

Sweet-smelling showers. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A root of a tree or plant. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A sap vessel of a plant; also, a vascular bundle of a leaf. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A liquid found in, or derived from, plants or animals (as juice, sap, blood, etc.), or by mixture of or operation on these. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

In this context, the quickening power of a flower or root; also, the life-sustaining force within a plant; the fruit of a plant. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A personification of the West wind. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

An astrological observation. The sun is halfway through its course through the constellation of Aries, a process that spans from about March 21 to April 19. This observation sets the poem somewhere between April 1 and April 5.

Eye. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

So Nature arouses them in their hearts. 'Priketh' means to arouse sexual instincts. It also means to stab or penetrate. Here Chaucer is engaging in a sexual pun.Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Metonymic term for a pilgrim. This is due to the practice of pilgrims to the Holy Land carrying palm leaves. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Foreign shores. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Distant shrines. 'Ferne' is cognate to modern 'far'. 'Halwe' is cognate to modern 'hallow'.

St. Thomas Becket, also known as St. Thomas of Canterbury or Thomas à Becket, was the archbishop of Canterbury in the late twelfth century. He was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II as a result of a conflict with the king over the investiture of bishops. He was very quickly canonized as a martyr; by the fourteenth century, when Chaucer composed the Canterbury Tales, he was one of the most popular saints in England. His shrine in Canterbury (destroyed during the Protestant Reformation) was purportedly the site for many miraculous healings.

A district of central London, on the south bank of the River Thames.

The Tabard was a real inn in Southwark, situated along the traditional pilgrim's route from London to Canterbury. It was demolished in 1873.

Something that happens; an event or occurrence; an experience; an accident. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

In accordance with reason.

"Before I proceed further in this tale." Take note of Chaucer's spatial conceptualization of his story.

Rank; social condition; position in a hierarchy of persons. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Territory inhabited or ruled by pagans; a heathen country; also, Moslem territory or country; pagan (or Moslem) lands in general; the non-Christian portion of the world. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Chaucer's coupling of "Cristendom" and "Hethenesse" encompasses the entire world.

Alexandria, Egypt. The Knight participated in the 1365 Crusade for Alexandria.

Prussia. The Knight participated in the Baltic Crusades, a series of campaigns against pagans and Orthodox Christians in Eastern Europe from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries.

Lithuania. The Knight participated in the Baltic Crusades, a series of campaigns against pagans and Orthodox Christians in Eastern Europe from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries.

Russia. The Knight participated in the Baltic Crusades, a series of campaigns against pagans and Orthodox Christians in Eastern Europe from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries.

Granada, a region in southern Spain. Ihe Emirate of Granada was the last Moslem-ruled state in the Iberian Peninsula, under constant seige from the Christian Spaniards to its north. It is in this conflict, part of the larger Spanish Reconquista, that the Knight has participated.

Algezir, a city in southern Spain. The town was captured by the Spaniards in 1344.

A Moorish state in North Africa, encompassing what is now the modern nation of Morocco.

A Mediterrian city in southern Turkey. It was previously called Aegeae, Ayas, Lyeys, or Laiazzo. Today the city is called Yumurtalık.

Another city on the southern coast of Turkey, also called Attalia.

The Mediterranean Sea.

A landing or disembarkation of an armed force. Other sources read "army." Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A city in northwestern Algeria. Today it is called Tlemcen.

An enclosed area used for military exercises, jousting, etc.; lists; arena; area of combat; battlefield. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Palathia. A Christian lordship in southwestern Turkey.

Bearing; demeanor; deportment; external appearance. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Exhibiting the indicated action or virtue or possessing the specified character in its full and genuine form; worthy of the name; knightly; wifely; faithful; etc. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A kind of cloth, apparently made from cotton, flax, or wool. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A coat or jacket of mail or scale armor, often worn under plate armor; also, a hauberk. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

An aspirant to knighthood in the feudal military system; an esquire or a personal servant attendant upon a knight; a soldier below the rank of knight. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

With curled locks [of hair], as if they had been laid in a curler.

Agile; nimble; quick. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A cavalry expedition or raid. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Flanders, Artois, and Picardy are counties in northern France. Note the discrepancy between the limited range of the squire's travels compared to that of the knight.

As if it were a meadow. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

To play the flute; also, to whistle. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

To write or compose (a book, poem, letter, etc.); to write; to compose; to sing or chant; also, to draf or write a legal document; to bring formal accusation against someone; to charge someone with a crime; to accuse falsely, to slander. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Nighttime; night. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

To carve (meat). The squire serves his the knight, his father, at the dinner table.

A free-born male attendant in a royal or noble household holding a rank above that of groom and page but below that of squire; a household official. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

An arrow plumed or fitted with peacock feathers. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Well knew he how to care for his equipment as a yeoman should. Source: Middle English Dictionary. 'Takel' is cognate with modern tackle, as in "tackle box".

Closely cropped hair. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

The yeoman wears a silver medal with the image of St. Christopher. Christopher was and is the patron saint of those travelling long distances, and was thus a favorite of pilgrims.

A woman who is the head of a community of nuns. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

St. Loy (French: Eloy. Latin: Eligius) was the bishop of Noyon in the seventh century. He is the patron of goldsmiths and blackmsmiths. The prioress' devotion to him is a matter of scholarly debate.

The Divine Service, or the Divine Office, is a set of canonical prayers sung or chanted by monks, nuns, and priests at different hours of the day.

"French according to the school of Stratford-at-Bow." Stratford-at-Bow (today simply Bow) is a district of East London. This line indicates that the prioress is not familiar with "proper" Parisian French. That is to say that she aspires to a certain cosmopolitan sophistication, but is nevertheless somewhat rustic.

In her cup was not seen a farthing of grease. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Dignified; noble; princely; regal; magestic; courtly. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A woman's headdress covering the top, back, and sides of the head, including the cheeks and chin, and wrapped so as to cover the neck; also, a veil; also part of a nun's official garb, bestowed ceremonially. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Cleverly fashioned; neat; elegant. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Because women are unable to be ordained into the priesthood in the Catholic Church, communities of nuns often had a priest assigned to them in order to administer the sacraments of Mass and Confession.

An excellent one to a well-nigh unequalled degree. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Outrider: An agent of a monastery who rides out to administer its affairs.

Venerye: Hunting. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

The superior of a convent of monks. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Prior of a subordinate monastic establishment. Chaucer is playing on the word "cell", which can also refer to the individual chamber in which a monk or nun would live. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

St. Benedict of Nursia and St. Maurus were two of the founders of the Benedictine Order of Monks. The Rule of Saint Benedict is a book of precepts and rules written by Benedict and delivered to Maurus that outlines the structure of the communal life lived by the Benedictines.

He didn't give a plucked hen for that text; i.e., he has little regard for the founding rule of his order.

Maddened; frenzied; raving; fervent; excited. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

To engage in physical labor; work hard; toil. Constant physical labor was an important aspect of the Rule of Saint Benedict and the Rule of Saint Augustine. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

St. Augustine of Hippo. His monastic rule is the oldest in Western Christianity.

A horseman; a mounted hunter. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Suffering (from wounds or disease); tormented (by thirst, weariness, etc.); wasted (by old age, by hunger); wretched. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A member of one of the religious mendicant orders; a friar, especially a member of one of the four principle orders: i.e., the Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians, and Carmelites. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Extravagant; also, overabundent; of a person: given to excessive pleasure-seeking; overexuberant; rowdy; as noun: a sportive or playful person; reveler; also as playful term of address. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A mendicant friar whoes begging, preaching, and hearing of confessions was limited to one of the subdivisions of the territory of a monastery. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

The four mendicant orders are Catholic religious orders characterized by poverty, traveling, and evangelization. They are: the Franciscans (Friars Minor, or Grey Friars), the Dominicans (Friars Preacher, or Black Friars), Augustinian Friars, and the Carmelites (White Friars).

'Curat' refers to any eccelsiastic responsible for the spiritual welfare of those in his charge. Clergymen such as these, usually parish priests, were generally the individuals to whom laypeople made their spiritual confessions. That the Friar offers this sacrament more frequently than a 'Curat' testifies to his popularity among the laity. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Mendicant friars were originally not permitted to hear confessions. To be 'licentiat' is to have an official ecclesiastic license to preach or here confession. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

The Friar gives light penances to those who offer him a 'pitaunce'—that is, a donation of money or food. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

To be 'shrived' is to have made confession. From 'shriven': to make confession. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

An ornamental piece of cloth, usually long and narrow, worn separately covering the shoulders or as part of a hood, the sleeves, etc. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A stringed instrument of the harp family. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A poem or a song; a saying; also, a recitation (spoken or sung) of a verse narrative. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

The fleur-de-lis is a decorative design common in French heraldry. It is a stylized representation of a lily. Here Chaucer is playing on both senses of the term. The Friar's neck is white as a lily, and we are meant to associate him with Continental French culture.

A leper. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Poor persons; the poor. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Food; food and drink, especially as needed for sustenance. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

He gave a certain fee for his grant. That is to say, he is a very profitable beggar.

"Amor vincit omnia" is Latin phrase meaning "Love conquers all." It appearss in Virgil's Eclogue X. That the Prioress has this phrase on her brooch is meant to communicate her education and her sentimentality.

Though a widow had not a shoe. That is to say, the Friar is very talented at getting money from the poor.

"In principio" is Latin for "In the beginning." The phrase begins the Latin Vulgate Bible; here it is meant to stand in as a synecdoche for his preaching.

Woolen cloth of some kind, used for making clothing, furnishings, etc. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

And he knew how to rage, as if he were a pup. The term 'rage' here is ambiguous. It can mean to be furious, to fight, to grieve, or to have sex. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A day appointed for a meeting between enemies, rivals, parties to a lawsuit, etc., for the purpose of reconciliation or arbitration; often, the meeting so arranged; also, the reconciliation or agreement reached at such a meeting. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Fabric woven in several colors; parti-colored or variegated cloth; motley. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A Flemish beaver hat. That is, a hat made from felted beaver fur. These were quite fashionable in the later Middle Ages and Renaissance. That the Merchant wears one reinforces his wealth and his international trade connections.

Middelburg and Orwell are towns in the Netherlands and Southern Britain, respectively. That is to say, the Merchant is invested in seeing the Crown protect trade routes between the Dutch and the English.

There was no man who knew that he was in debt. This phrase can have two meanings. Either the Merchant is in debt and no one is aware, or he is not in debt at all.

I do not know what men call him. That is to say, the pilgrim Chaucer cannot remember his name.

The term 'clerk' can refer to a member of the clergy. Here it refers to a university student. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

The University of Oxford, the oldest university in Britain, and the second-oldest university in the world (after the University of Bologna).

Very threadbare was his the top of his jacket. That is to say, the Clerk is so poor that his clothes are falling apart.

"Lever" means "more beloved; dearer." The Clerk values books more than conventional signifiers of wealth. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A bowed stringed instrument; viol; violin. Related to modern "fiddle." Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A stringed musical instrument; psaltery; also, the Book of Psalms. Chaucer's use of the term here is ambiguous. It may mean that the Clerk values Aristotle more than music; it may also mean that he values Aristotle more than the Bible.

Those that gave the Clerk the means to study at the university. Universities, in this period, existed principally for the education of priests and other clerics. It is not unusual, then, for the Clerk to offer prayers on behalf of his financial benefactors.

Doctrinal authority. That is to say, the Clerk's statements often make reference to scientific and theological authorities.

A lawyer. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Sagacious; wise; also, skillful; capable. Related to modern "aware" and "wary." Source: Middle English Dictionary.

An enclosure, portico, or porch in front of a church; especially St. Paul's, where lawyers often met. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A session of court charged with the deliberation and disposition of civil actions; the deliberations of such a court. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

In collections of legal statutes he had all cases and judgments. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

William the Conqueror, the French-speaking Duke of Normandy who conquered England in the eleventh century. The Norman Conquest saw a considerable increase in legal documentation. The most famous of these documents is the Domesday Book, a survey of the size and value of every piece of land in England.

Mixed, blended; of mixed or blended colors; multicolored; of different colored stripes; pied. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A landowner and member of the gentry ranking immediately below the nobility. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Of a blood-red color; ruddy. To refer to an individual as sanguine can also mean that htey are courageous, spontaneous, or amorous. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Epicurus (341-270 BCE) was an ancient Greek philosopher whose ethical system purports that the pursuit of pleasure and the absence of physical are the goals of human life.

Saint Julian the Hospitaller is a Catholic saint, and the patron of hospitality.

Stocked with wine. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Anlas: A two-edged stiletto or dagger.

Gipser: A pouch, often richly ornamented, which hangs from a girdle or sash.

Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A high elected or appointed official representing the Crown, having various legal and administrative duties; a sheriff.

An accountant; especially an official who oversees the collecting and auditing of taxes for a shire, a kingdom, etc. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A feudal tenant holding land of some other vassal; a subvassal; often used in contrast with a king, knight squire, etc. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A seller of various small articles of trade—caps, purses, beads, spurs, inkhorns, thread, stationary, etc. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

One whose occupation is weaving; a weaver. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

One who dyes cloth. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A maker or seller of upholstery-cloth furnishings and tapestries; a weaver of tapestry or figured cloth. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

The official garb of a guild; also, a distinctive hood. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Adorned. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A freeman of a town; a citizen with full rights and priviliges; usually used of city merchants and master craftsmen in guilds. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A building used by a guild; the meeting house of the guild merchant; the hall of the corporation of a town; town hall. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

The chief or warden of a guild; an official having jurisdiction over a municipal ward; a member of the ruling body of a city or borough. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

French for "milady." The wives' desire to be referred to as "madame" attests to the high social status of French culture.

A bone containing edible marrow; marrowbone. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

"Poudre-marchant" appears to be a word coined by Chaucer, and its meaning is unclear. It might refer to a type of seasoning, in this case one used by the Cook on tarts alongside galingale, a powdered root used for flavoring.

To boil. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A dish of thick consistency made with pounded and boiled chicken, pork, or fish. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A dry-scabbed ulcer; sore; an abscess. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A dish of chopped chicken or fish boiled with rice. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A sailor; a seaman. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

The act or action of living, dwelling. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Dartmouth is a town in southwest England, on the Southern coast of Cornwall.

A riding horse. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A kind of woolen cloth, probably coarse, sometimes napped, and often described as of Irish manufacture. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Bordeaux is a region in south-west of France. It was, and is today, renowned for its wines. That is to say, the Shipman has no qualms about stealing fine wine from the merchants on his ship.

Navigation; skill in navigation; also, a course followed. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Kingston-upon-Hull, usually referred to simply as Hull, is a port city in the north-east of England. Cartagena is a port city in the south-east of Spain.

Gotland is an island in the Baltic Sea to the east of Sweden. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Cape Finistere is a peninsula on the northwestern tip of Spain.

"Natural Magic" here refers to the use of specialist knowledge to cure disease. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

The Doctor can determine which zodiac is ascending for his patients. Astrology was seen in the Middle Ages as a foundational science for medical and theological inquiry.

According to ancient and medieval physiology, an individual's body consisted of four "humors": blood, phlegm, choler (yellow bile), and melancholy (black bile). The proportions of these humors in an individual determined their health and personality—hence the term "choleric" to refer to someone who is frequently angry, for example. Disease was seen as an imbalance of these humors.

Asclepius, the ancient Greek god of medicine. Asclepius commences a long list of physicians with whom the Doctor is familiar.

Pedanius Dioscorides.

Rufus of Ephesus.

Hippocrates.

Ali ibn Abbas Al-Majusi.

Galen.

Yuhanna ibn Sarabiyun, also known as Serapion of Alexandria.

Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya al-Razi.

Abu Ali al-Husayn ibn Abd Allah ibn Sina, also known as Avicenna.

Abu al-Walid Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Rushd, also known as Averroes.

St. John of Damascus.

Constantine the African .

Bernard de Gordon.

John of Gaddesden.

Gilbertus Anglicus.

Blue, bluish; purplish; blue-grey. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A costly woven, glossy silk fabric. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A costly kind of fabric, of comparable quality to silk. Purportedly the fabric with which the body of Jesus was wrapped. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A substance which stimulates or invigorates medicinally. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A medicine, usually in the form of a paste or syrup. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Bath is a city in southwest England, so named because of its ruins of Ancient Roman baths.

A matter of regret, sorrow, or pity. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A town in western Flanders, today Belgium. It was well known for its cloth industry.

Ghent, a town in eastern Flanders. Like Ypres, it was well known for its cloth industry.

Boulogne-sur-Mer, a town on the northern coast of France, near what is today the Netherlands. Its Basilica de Notre Dame de Boulogne was an important pilgrimage site in the Middle Ages.

Galicia, a region on the northwestern coast of Spain. Its town of Santiago de Compostela houses the purported remains of the Apostle St. James the Greater. Pilgrimages to venerate his relics were extremely popular in the Middle Ages.

The city of Cologne in western Germany houses the Shrine of the Three Kings, a reliquary purportedly containing the bones of the Three Wise Men who visited the infant Christ at the Nativity. It was also an extremely popular pilgrimage site in the Middle Ages.

The Wife of Bath is gap toothed. According to medieval physiognomy, this physical feature was indicative of being lustful.

A saddle horse. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Both terms "bokeler" and "targe" refer to a small shield. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A parson; a parish priest. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Proven; tempted; tested. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A shit-stained shepherd and a clean sheep—a metaphor for a parish priest who suffers in looking after his parishioners.

Old St. Paul's Cathedral was the Catholic cathedral of the city of London before the Great Fire of London in 1666.

A position as a chantry priest; an individual who sings prayers in the cathedral on behalf of patrons and the faithful departed. A relatively cushy position, it is to the Parson's credit that he shuns such ambition on behalf of his parishioners.

A fraternal order of friars or monks. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Contemptuous, scornful, insulting. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

To rebuke, reprove. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

An overly scrupulous conscience. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A plowman; a farmer; one of low social status. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

That had hauled very many a cartload of dung. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A laborer, epecially a manual or farm laborer. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

He loved God at all times, whether it pleased (gamed) or pained (smerte) him.

One who runs a mill, grinding grain. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A man (usually of low estate); often patronizingly or contemptuously: a fellow. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

To 'have the ram' means to take the prize—that is, the Miller always wins at wrestling. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

There was no door that he could not heave off its hinges.

A muscular, thick-set man. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Janglere: An idle talker; an excessive talker; a chatterbox.

Goliardeys: A buffon.

Source: Middle English Dictionary.

That is, the Miller withholds some of the grain given to him to grind to flour.

An officer or servant who buys provisions for a college, inn of court, or other institution. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A buyer of provisions, especially for the household of the king or a lord. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A tax; a tribute. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

In all ways; in every way or respect; entirely, altogether. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Uneducated, ignorant; unlettered, unable to read Latin; lay, non-clerical. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

'Set all of their caps'—that is, he has fooled them all. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

An officer of the king, usually charged with the administration of the affairs of a town or district, a local magistrate or municipal official. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Slender. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A granary and a storage bin. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Cattle. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A room or building for making butter and cheese; also, a room for keeping food, a pantry; a dairy farm. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Livestock. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

The condition of being behind in payments or short in one's accounts. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Fraud, deceit, guile. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Dwelling place. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A county in the East of England.

Bawdeswell is a small rural village in Norfolk, in the East of England.

An officer of an ecclesiastical court responsible for citing persons to appear before the court. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

An angel of the second order in the hierarchy of the nine orders of angels. The term as Chaucer uses it does not carry the connotation of childlike innocence that it does today. Rather, it is simply meant to communicate that the Summoner has an angelic appearance.

Afflicted with saucefleume, a skin ailment considered symptomatic of a type of leprosy originating in a humoral disorder, caused by sexual and dietary excess and characterized by red and black discoloration, pustules, swelling, loss of hair, etc. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Mercury, lead-monoxide, or sulphur. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Borax, white lead, nor any oil of tarter. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Referring to the white pustules on the Summoner's face.

A jay can call out "walter" as well as the pope. That is to say, the Summoner calls out and recites dense Latin phrases, but does not actually understand them.

A trifler; a parasite. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Fear; terror; dread; also, reverence; veneration; awe. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

The "archdeacon's curse" is excommunication, or the formal exclusion of an individual from participating in the sacraments and services of the Catholic Church. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Sacramental absolution; removal of an excommunication or other ecclesiastical sentence; canonical absolution. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

In English ecclesiastical law, the formal writ declaring excommunication was called de excommunicate capiendo. It's first word, "Significavit," was often used as a synecdoche to refer to it.

A pardoner was a clergyman with a special license granted by the Church to sell indulgences. An indulgence is a remission of the corporal punishment merited by individuals in Purgatory after they die.

The Pardoner works at The Chapel and Hospital of St. Mary Rounceval .

A piece cut off, a slice a chunk; a bunch; a section, a segment. That is to say, the Pardoner's hair is thin, and hangs in stringy bunches.

He thought that he rode in the latest style. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

The Vernicle is a famous Christian relic. It is a cloth or kerchief, said to have beonged to a woman named Veronica, upon which an image of the face of Christ was impressed. A stylized image of the Vernicle (or of Saint Veronica) was referred to in this period as a vernicle.

A gelding is a horse that has had his testicles cut off. A mare is a female horse. Here the pilgrim Chaucer is speculating that the Pardoner is either a eunuch or a homosexual.

Berwick-upon-Tweed, sometimes abbreviated to Berwick, is a town in the north-east of England, near the Anglo-Scottish border.

Ware is a town in Hertfordshire, just to the North of London.

A pillowcase. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

The Veil of the Virgin Mary (in Latin, the Sancta Camisia), is a cloth purportedly worn by Mary while giving birth to Christ and while standing at the foot of the Cross. It is an extremely important relic, currently housed at the Catholic Cathedral of Chartres. That the Pardoner fraudently claims a pillowcase is this relic attests to his flagrant disrespect for the laity and their credulity.

A fragment. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Saint Peter the Apostle was a fisherman before he was called by Christ. That the Pardoner claims to have a piece of his sail, while less outrageous than claiming to have the whole of Mary's veil, is nevertheless outlandish.

Latoun (today, latten) is an alloy of copper, tin, and other metals. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

The Pardoner carries pig bones in his reliquary, which he fraudulently claims to be the bones of saints.

The Pardoner sells his fake relics to the unsuspecting and uneducated poor.

A church official. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

An antiphon sung or said in the Mass during the collection of the offering. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

To polish (one's tongue); improve (one's speech). Source: Middle English Dictionary.

The Summoner accompanied the Pardoner's song with a strong base. There may be a phallic or otherwise sexual pun here, as the term "burdoun" can salso refer to a stick. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

"Bell" here is a synecdoche for Southwark Cathedral.

A journey by land or sea; a pilgrimage. Related to contemporary "voyage." Source: Middle English Dictionary.

In this passage, Chaucer is arguing that he is obliged to accurately present the actions and words of the pilgrims, regardless of how crude or sinful they might be.

The words must be closely related to the deed. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Chaucer's appeal to Christ and Plato is playful. In the texts and sayings attributed to them, neither spoke plainly—Christ spoke in parables, and Plato in extended dialogues. By referencing these two figures, moreover, Chaucer is situating The Canterbury Tales in a broad literary tradition, spanning from the classical world to contemporary Christian society.

Because the term 'burgeys' typically referred to master craftsmen in guilds or other professional tradesmen, Chaucer's use of the term to refer to the Host is meant to reinforce his wealth and social status.

Worthy of respect; honorable; virtuous; pure; perfect; handsome; good-looking. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

The chief officer of a kingdom, steward; an official in a royal or noble household in charge of ceremonies, protocol, seating, service, etc; a military commander. That is to say, the Host runs a tight ship.

A temporary dwelling place; quarters; lodgins; an inn; a chamber. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Cheapside is a ward in the City of London, and, in the Middle Ages, was a major financial district. Chaucer's decision to set the General Prologue here is fortuitous; he grew up in Cheapside, as his father, John Chaucer, was a wine merchant.

May the blissful martyr give you your reward. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

A decision rendered by a jury in a court case; verdict; a pronouncement, ruling, or binding decision made by someone empowered to render judgment. Chaucer's use of the legal terminology with reference to the Host is meant to reinforce his role as final arbiter in the competition.

As the Host frames the competition, each pilgrim is to tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two tales on the way back, or four tales total. The existence of only one tale from each of the pilgrims has left it a matter of scholarly debate whether Chaucer left The Canterbury Tales incomplete, or if his ommission was intentional.

A wise saying; maxim; precept; docrinte; authoritative teaching. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Joy; pleasure; happiness; entertainment; merrymaking; relaxation; recreation. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

To speak against someone or something; make a protest; voice opposition. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

One who reports what was said or done by another; a talebearer; a judge; also, an umpire; a counselor or supporter. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

He was the rooster for us all. That is to say, he woke everyone up. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

At a little more than a walking pace. Source: Middle English Dictionary.

Pilgrims at the Shrine of Saint Thomas could purchase small vials of the 'Water of Saint Thomas'—purportedly a mixture of Holy Water from his tomb with a drop of his blood. The mixture was said to contain healing properties. This practice was popular among the laity, but controversial among the clergy, reminiscent, as it was, of the Eucharist.

Chaucer's terminology here is intentionally vague, as all three terms here can refer to destiny, accident, fate, or chance. Regardless, here Chaucer is communicating that it's uncertain whether the arrival of the pilgrims at the Tabard was a happy coincidence or an act of Fate.

The truth of a situation; the actual facts; the truth about. Source: Middle English Dictionary.