List of Fragments and Tales

Canterbury TalesThe Company Assembles: Art as ExperimentThe General Prologueand the Fragments

List of Fragments and TalesFRAGMENT I:The General PrologueThe Knight's TaleThe Miller's Prologue and TaleThe Reeve's Prologue and TaleThe Cook's Prologue and Tale FRAGMENT II:The Man of Law's Prologue and TaleFRAGMENT III:The Wife of Bath's Prologue and TaleThe Friar's Prologue and TaleThe Summoner's Prologue and Tale FRAGMENT IV:The Clerk's Prologue and TaleThe Merchant's Prologue and TaleFRAGMENT V:The Squire's Introduction and TaleThe Franklin's Prologue and Tale

FRAGMENT VI:The Physician's TaleThe Pardoner's Prologue, and Tale FRAGMENT VII:The Shipman's TaleThe Prioress's Prologue and TaleThe Prologue and Tale of Sir ThopasThe Tale of MelibeeThe Monk's Prologue and TaleThe Nun's Priest's Prologue and TaleFRAGMENT VIII:The Second Nun's Prologue and TaleThe Canon's Yeoman's Prologue and TaleFRAGMENT IX:The Manciple's Prologue and TaleFRAGMENT X:The Parson's Prologue and TaleChaucer's Retraction

Portraits in General PrologueKnight Squire - Yeoman

Prioress "Another nonne "Preestes Thre (Nuns Priest)

MonkFriarMerchantClerkSargeant of LawFranklin

Haberdasher - Carpenter - Webber - Dyer - Tapicer Cook (1/2 tale plus second attempt)

ShipmanDoctor of PhisickWife of BathParson - Plowman

ReeveMillerSummonerPardonerManciple

Myself (x2)

Host

(Canon and Canons Yeoman not mentioned)The Ellesmere ChaucerOne of the two earliest important manuscripts of The Canterbury Tales: a de luxe copy with goldleaf and a number of portrait miniatures of the pilgrims. Made around 1410-20, and possibly copied by Chaucers scribe, Adam Pinkhurst

The Ellesmere Chaucer: FirstFolio (recto) of The KnightsTaleThe Hosts Original Proposition.. ech of yow, to shorte with oure weye, In this viage shal telle tales tweye To Caunterbury-ward, I mene it so, And homward he shal tellen othere two, Of aventures that whilom han bifalle. (GP 791-95)

(potentially about 120 tales)"Chaucers wordes unto Adam, his owne scriveyn"

Adam scriveyn, if ever it thee bifalle Boece or Troylus for to wryten newe, Under thy long lokkes thou most have the scalle, But after my makyng thow wryte more trewe;So ofte adaye I mot thy werk renewe,It to correcte and eke to rubbe and scrape,And al is thorugh thy negligence and rape. Scribe Adam, if ever it falls to you / To write again Boece or Troilus, /May you have the scab under your long locks, /Unless you write more truly after my composition; /So many times a day I must redo your work /To correct it, and also to rub and scrape; /And all is through your negligence and haste.Reader PowerWhat sholde I moore seyn, but this millere He nolde his wordes for no man forbere, But tolde his cherles tale in his manere. M' athynketh that I shal reherce it heere. And therfore every gentil wight I preye, For goddes love, demeth nat that I seye Of yvel entente, but for I moot reherce Hir tales alle, be they bettre or werse, Or elles falsen som of my mateere. And therfore, whoso list it nat yheere, Turne over the leef and chese another tale; For he shal fynde ynowe, grete and smale, Of storial thyng that toucheth gentillesse, And eek moralitee and hoolynesse. Blameth nat me if that ye chese amys. (Millers Prologue, Fragment I.3167-3181)

People PowerWhan that the knyght had thus his tale ytoold, In al the route nas ther yong ne oold That he ne seyde it was a noble storie, And worthy for to drawen to memorie; And namely the gentils everichon. Oure hooste lough and swoor, so moot I gon, This gooth aright; unbokeled is the male. Lat se now who shal telle another tale; For trewely the game is wel bigonne. Now telleth ye, sir monk, if that ye konne Somwhat to quite with the knyghtes tale. The millere, that for dronken was al pale, So that unnethe upon his hors he sat, He nolde avalen neither hood ne hat, Ne abyde no man for his curteisie, But in pilates voys he gan to crie, And swoor, by armes, and by blood and bones, I kan a noble tale for the nones, With which I wol now quite the knyghtes tale. (Millers Prologue, Fragment A, 3109-27)Portraits in General PrologueKnight Squire - Yeoman

Prioress "Another nonne "Preestes Thre (Nuns Priest)

MonkFriarMerchantClerkSargeant of LawFranklin

Haberdasher - Carpenter - Webber - Dyer - Tapicer Cook (1/2 tale plus second attempt)

ShipmanDoctor of PhisickWife of BathParson - Plowman

ReeveMillerSummonerPardonerManciple

Myself (x2)

Host

(Canon and Canons Yeoman not mentioned)Ellesmere Chaucer: Visual Reminders of the Narrative Frame at the Outset of Each Tale

The Franklin:EllesmereChaucer

The Cook:EllesmereChaucer

The Friar:EllesmereChaucerFriars in Under a Hundred Words* Itinerant monastic order, highly educated, highly prestigious, vowed to poverty, created (in early C13) to address deficiencies in pastoral care and the poor education of many parish priests. Often urban.* Concept invented by St. Francis and St. Dominic, who gave their names to the two most famous orders. * Attacks on friars asserted that they were 1) morally lax, especially around women; 2) morally compromised by the fact they begged for a living, 3) were not firm enough with their spiritual charges as a result, but gave easy penance for sins; 4) were all charm, no substance. Fierce institutional competition behind these charges.Chaucers Friar: Anti-Fraternal SatireThei studien on the holy day aboute experymentes or wiche craft or veyn songis and knackynge and harpynge, gyternyne and daunsynge and othere veyn triflis to geten the stynkyng love of damyselis. (Fourteenth-century homiletic treatise)[They study on the holy day about experiments or witchcraft or vain songs and shaking the bones and harping, fiddling and dancing and other vain trifles to get the stinking love of damsels.]And certainly he hadde a murye note:Wel koude he synge and pleye on a rote...And in his harpyng, whan that he hadde a songe,His eyen twynkled in his heed aryght,As doon the sterres in the frosty nyght. (GP 235-6, 266-8)