Week #36 – The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

Welcome to 2023!  On Mondays this year, let’s discuss and have fun with books. No I’m not writing book reviews. But this website is for writers, and writers like books right? So let’s have FUN with books!

Week #36 – The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, 1876

A collection of twenty-four stories written in Middle English between 1387 and 1400, presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims traveling together from London to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Canterbury_Tales

Canterbury Cathedral

General Prologue
The Knight's Tale
The Miller's Tale
The Reeve's Tale
The Cook's Tale
The Man of Law's Tale
The Wife of Bath's Tale
The Friar's Tale
The Summoner's Tale
The Clerk's Tale
The Merchant's Tale
The Squire's Tale
The Franklin's Tale
The Physician's Tale
The Pardoner's Tale
The Shipman's Tale
The Prioress's Tale
Sir Thopas' Tale
The Tale of Melibee
The Monk's Tale
The Nun's Priest's Tale
The Second Nun's Tale
The Canon's Yeoman's Tale
The Manciple's Tale
The Parson's Tale

The best tales

https://interestingliterature.com/2017/01/the-best-canterbury-tales-everyone-should-read/

You can read the entire manuscript here

https://pracownik.kul.pl/files/10791/public/the_canterbury_tales_penguin_classics_by_geoffrey_chaucer_nevill_coghill_z-lib.org.pdf

And here

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/22120/22120-h/22120-h.htm

The Medieval or Middle Ages began in 476 with the fall of Rome and ended in 1453 with the fall of Constantinople. Then the Renaissance began.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1300%E2%80%931400_in_European_fashion

The Black Death [Bubonic Plague] killed 30-40 million people [in England between 1/3 and 1/2 of the population died] between 1347-1352. The Hundred Years War between France and Britain began in 1337 and ended in 1453 with a French victory. The Peasants’ Revolt began in May 1381.

https://brumafriend.medium.com/what-was-life-like-in-14th-century-england-ec08a1316973

Do you enjoy learning about history? I do! Tell us in the comments!