EN 572 The Canterbury Tales and the Late Medieval World

This course explores both the artistic mastery Chaucer exhibits in The Canterbury Tales and the historical context in which his story collection took shape. Chaucer's life intersected with major historical turning points: the Black Death, the Hundred Years' War, the Avignon papacy and the Great Schism, the Peasants' Revolt, the rise of the Wycliffite heresy, the emergence of diplomacy in international politics, the increasing importance of the English language, and the shift from a primarily oral to an increasingly literate culture. The course strives to illuminate both the external world of business and politics and the inner world of philosophic and poetic insight. (3)