THE PARDONER’S TALE

In a small village, at the height of a black plague, three young men were sitting in an inn when they noticed the passing of a coffin. When they asked who had died a servant told them that the dead man was a friend of them who had been killed by a thief called ‘Death’.

The three young men decided to find Death and kill him. On the way, an old man told them the place where ‘Death’ was. The men went there and they found some gold coins, which they decided to keep.

Finally the three young men killed each other because all of them wanted to keep the gold. They finally dad found the thief ‘Death’.

Pilgrimages

In the middle Ages the Church encouraged people to make pilgrimages to special divine places called shrines. It was believed that if you prayed at these shrines you might be forgiven for your sins and has more chance of going to heaven. Others went to shrines hoping to be cured from an illness they were suffering from.

The most popular shrine in England was the tomb of Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. When Becket was murdered local people managed to obtain pieces of cloth soaked in his blood. Rumours soon spread that, when touched by this cloth, people were cured of blindness/ epilepsy and leprosy. It was not long before the monks at Canterbury Cathedral were selling small glass bottles of Becket's blood to visiting pilgrims.

The Way of St. James has existed for over a thousand years. It was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during medieval times, together with Rome and Jerusalem, and a pilgrimage route on which a plenary indulgence could be earned; other major pilgrimage routes include the Via Francigena to Rome and the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

The most popular shrine in England was the tomb of Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. When Becket was murdered local people managed to obtain pieces of cloth soaked in his blood. Rumours soon spread that, when touched by this cloth, people were cured of blindness/ epilepsy and leprosy. It was not long before the monks at Canterbury Cathedral were selling small glass bottles of Becket's blood to visiting pilgrims.

The Way of St. James has existed for over a thousand years. It was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during medieval times, together with Rome and Jerusalem, and a pilgrimage route on which a plenary indulgence could be earned;^[1] other major pilgrimage routes include the Via Francigena to Rome and the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

The Cook by Irene

The Cook who knew how to cook delicious meals with herbs ans spices. Then there was a brown-faced Sea-Captain who looked like a pirate. He had fought battles at sea and made his prisoners walk the plank.

PREFACE TO THE STORY OF COOK

As he spoke the manager, the cook of London burst into laughter as if he were being tickled on the back.
- Ha! Ha! For the Passion of Christ! The arguments about the accommodation you have brought painful consequences to this miller. Solomon said it best: "Watch who covers your house." It is dangerous for a stranger in a strange house overnight. Who gives shelter should be aware of these dangers. May the Lord give me miseries and penalties if, as my name is Hodge of Ware, I heard one story with more shorn miller. The night tricks worked perfectly. But God does not allow us standing here. If you want to hear my story, I will relate what happened in my city, the best way possible.
-You have permission, Roger. Try to be good. You have lowered the sauce of many stews. Have you sold many Jacks of Dover doubly reheated and cooled. Many pilgrims have cursed you greatly because they suffered the effects of your parsley when they tested your old stuffed geese stubble. Many flies loose in your kitchen. Start your story, my dear Roger. I beg you not be angry if I tease you. Joke, you can say many truths.
'Upon my life you're right, Roger said. The Flemings say, "A joke seriously is a bad joke." Therefore, Harry Bailey, do not give vent to your anger before we part if my story is about a host. However, I have no intention of telling yet. I'll pay before we say goodbye.
Then began to laugh and joke and was immediately afterwards that will listen.

The Plowman

My character is a plowman. He plows the fields with manure.The plowman uses manure from animals to plow the fields to fertilize the soil. The plowman is a peasant, which is a low social standing. There is no education needed to be a plowman, and the majority of plowmen at this time cannot read or write. This indicates that he is poor but earns enough to pay his taxes and therefore is not living in complete debt and poverty.

This character is a very chivalrous workman, just as the knight was. By looking closely at this character's, it can be inferred that he is the type of individual who would gladly work for a person without pay. He pays all his Church taxes on time, and is a devoted churchgoer. This citizen treats his neighbour as he would want to be treated, making him well-liked. He is a decent human being, and portrays a hard-working, devoted citizen, giving him much in common with the chivalrous knight. The Plowman is stressed as the example of an ideal middle class citizen.

"A trewe swinker and a good was he,

Living in pees and parfit charite;"

The Plowman wore a tabard smock and rode a Mare. The plowman had many job skills such as: thrashing corn, digging ditches, scooping manure, or crushing and plowing soil.The Plowman's brother is the Parson. He does not tell a tale.

ST THOMAS BECKET

St Thomas Becket

St Thomas, or Thomas à Becket, served as chancellor of England from 1155 to 1162, during which time he won the trust of King Henry II. In 1162, the king appointed him Archbishop of Canterbury. After he refused to give the royal court powers over the church, Henry sent him into exile. He returned in 1170 and was murdered in the cathedral by Henry's knights. Roman Catholics venerate him as a saint.
He was born in 1118 in Cheapside, London, Eng and he died on Dec. 29, 1170, Canterbury, Kent; he also was canonized 1173; feast day December 29) Archbishop of Canterbury (1162–70). The son of a Norman merchant, he served as chancellor of England (1155–62) under Henry II, whose entire trust he won. A brilliant administrator, diplomat, and military strategist, he aided the king in increasing the royal power. Resistant to the Gregorian reform movement that asserted the autonomy of the church, Henry hoped to reinforce royal control of the church by appointing Becket archbishop of Canterbury in 1162. Becket, however, embraced his new duties devoutly and opposed royal power in the church, especially proclaiming the right of offending clerics to be tried in ecclesiastical courts. The king issued the Constitutions of Clarendon (1164) listing royal rights over the church, and he summoned the archbishop to trial. Becket fled to France and remained in exile until 1170, when he returned to Canterbury and was murdered in the cathedral by four of Henry's knights, traditionally said to be acting in response to the king's angry words. Becket's tomb, which was visited by Henry in an act of penance, became a site of pilgrimage.

The Prioress

THE PRIORESS

The Prioress is trying to be very well, dainty. She has all these funny habits, like singing through her nose, speaking incorrect French, and eating so carefully that she never spills a drop. When she sees a mouse caught in a trap, she weeps, perhaps believing that this is how a damsel of the court would behave. Of course, two lines later, we learn that she has no problem feeding her hounds flesh, so her weeping over the trapped mouse is probably, like most of her habits, an affectation – a behavior the Prioress adopts to seem a certain way (in this case, like a courtly damsel), but which doesn't really reveal her true feelings.

Though the Prioress may try to seem dainty, in point of fact she's a very large woman: Chaucer tells us her forehead is a full hand-span broad and, come to think of it, she's not underfed. In keeping with her goal of seeming courtly, the Prioress is very elegantly dressed, with a string of coral beads attached to a pendant that reads "Amor Vincit Omnia," or "Love Conquers All." The beads and the pendant are interesting because this being a prioress, or nun who is in charge of a convent, we would expect her to be carrying rosary beads with a crucifix on the end. But instead she is carrying vanity beads. The pendant, which could refer to God's love, in her case more probably refers to the courtly love between a damsel and hero in one of the romances that were popular reading material for women of this time period.

So here's the thing about the Prioress: as a religious figure, she should be all kinds of things that she very clearly is not. What are these things? Well, take a look at the Parson's portrait, which represents an ideal religious figure in the General Prologue, to find out the answer. With the Prioress, our first example of someone from the religious life, we have not only our first supposedly pious person with her priorities out of whack (a situation we'll definitely see again), but also our first example of someone who's trying way too hard to be perceived a certain way, and how ridiculous that looks.

We should note that the Prioress has a nun with her who serves as her "chapelyne" or secretary, and three priests, who probably help her out by saying mass and administering the sacraments in the abbey she runs. Although we get no portraits of these pilgrims, two of them, the Second Nun, and the Nun's Priest, tell tales later on.

Henry II

Henry II was born at Le Mans on 5 March 1133 and he died on 6 July 1189, aged 56.

Henry II ruled as King of England in 1154 when he was twenty-one. He married Eleanor of Aquitanie.

Henry was good.looking, red-haired, freckled, with a large head. He had a short, stocky body. Henry was famous for his energy. Henry spoke only Latin and French.

Henry was an energetic and sometimes ruthless ruler. Henry wanted to rebuild the terriroties that his granfather, Henry I, has once controlled. During the early years of the younger Henry's reign he restored the royal administration in England. He soon came into conflict with Louis VII and they fought over several decades. Henry expanded his empire. He undertook various legal reforms in England.

He appointed his best friend, Thomas Becket, as Archbishop of Canterbury.

Although Henry usually worked well with the Church, his desire to control and reform the relationship between the churches and Englnad led to conflict with his friend Thomas Becket. Henry became so angry with Thomas because he defended the power of the Church. As a resulte, Becket was murdered by four knights of Henry.

After the murder, King Henry II showed his sorrow and he walked barefoot through Canterbury and was whipped by the monks. He was the first pilgrim to Canterbury.