{"id":2170,"date":"2022-01-12T14:28:29","date_gmt":"2022-01-12T14:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/?p=2170"},"modified":"2022-01-12T14:28:29","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T14:28:29","slug":"the-canterbury-tales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/middle-ages\/the-canterbury-tales\/","title":{"rendered":"The Canterbury Tales"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is thought that Geoffrey Chaucer<\/a> started The Canterbury Tales in the 1380s, but he never finished them. They are a collection of 24 stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English, mostly in verse, although some are in prose.<\/p>\n

They are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return.<\/p>\n

The tales paint an ironic and critical portrait of English society at the time, and particularly of the Church. While Chaucer seems to have respected and admired Christians and to have been one himself, he also recognised that many people in the church were venal and corrupt. He writes in Canterbury Tales, \u201cnow I beg all those that listen to this little treatise, or read it, that if there be anything in it that pleases them, they thank our Lord Jesus Christ for it, from whom proceeds all understanding and goodness.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Canterbury Tales are also sometimes considered the source of the English vernacular tradition, as opposed to French, Italian or Latin. English had, however, been used as a literary language centuries before Chaucer’s time.<\/p>\n

The 24 Tales include:<\/p>\n