Who is Geoffrey Chaucer and what is The Canterbury Tales?

Who is Geoffrey Chaucer and what is The Canterbury Tales?

What class was he born into?
Middle class
What was his contact with the upper class?
King paid ransom for his release as a prisoner
Research this:
Which king paid a ranson for his prison release and why?
King Edward III because he was connected with him in work.
One of the windows in his home overlooked what road?
The road that led to Canterbury
Why did Chaucer not finish The Canterbury Tales?
Because he passed away
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How did Chaucer die?
He died from unknown causes
How many tales did Chaucer write before he died?
Twenty-Four
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What is a pilgrimage?
A pilgrims journey
Why was Canterbury a pilgrimage destination?
Soon after the death of Thomas Becket, Pope alexander canonized him and the
Murdered priest was elevated to sainthood. Beckets shrine at Canterbury now
Became the most important plact in the country for pilgrims to visit.
Who is Thomas Beckett, and what happened to him?

He was the Archbishop of Canterbury, the king had ordered his murder for refusing
To give the monarchy power over the church.
What is a martyr?
A person who is killed because of their religious or other beliefs.
What is a frame story
A story within a story
What is the outer story of The Canterbury Tales?
The pilgrimage from Tabard Inn and back
Chaucer is the narrator
What are the inner stories?
Each pilgrims tales to Canterbury and back

What are the 3 social classes of the middle Ages?

Feudal class, mercantile class, ecclesiastical class
Who belonged in each class?
Landowners, farmers, countryside in the feudal class. Business owners, city
dwellers in the mercantile class. Those affiliated with the church in the
ecclesiastical class.
What is direct characterization?
The writer tells us outright what the characters personality is like.
What is indirect characterization?
We have to put together clues to figure out what a character is like.
How does Chaucer reveal his characters?
By telling us directly what the character is like
By describing how the character looks and dresses
By presenting the characters private thoughts and feelings
By presenting the characters words and actions
By showing how other people respond to the character
What did people in the middle Ages believe about certain physical features?
High foreheads, gap teeth, wide hips, weight, hair (or the lack thereof), Skin
undertones (humors)

Research this:
The meanings of:
High foreheads:
a wide and high forehead was an essential trait of beauty during that era.
Gap teeth:
A space between your teeth
Wide hips:
The ideal beauty of that era was more voluptuous than perhaps any other time
in history.
Weight:
The idea weight in the Middle Ages was now what people consider fat today.
Hair (or lack of it):
What did a persons clothes tell about him/her in the Middle Ages?
Earth tones, coarse cloth, tattered and dirty clothing meant you were poor. Colors,
fine cloth such as silk and fur meant you were either middle class or
What are the 4 body humors and what do they represent?
Sanguine: Blood. Ruddy, reddish, passionate
Phlegmatic: Mucus. Calm, down to earth, quiet and unmotivated.
Melancholy: Black bile. Depressed, sad, solitary.
Choleric: Urine. Bitter, mean and bad tempered.