Social Class Context

Question 1

When were the Canterbury Tales written?

Answer 1

• between 1387-1400
• collection of tales told by pilgrims on their way to Canterbury Cathedral
• during this time - English society was extremely rigid in terms of its social hierarchy - a person’s clothes governed their place in society

Question 2

What were the three estates?

Answer 2

• First Estate = the Church
• Second Estate = Lords, Nobles + knights
• Third Estate = workers, peasants, farmhands and everyone else
• freedom of movement ONLY through marriage

Question 3

What estate did the merchant belong to?

Answer 3

• none; the merchants were a new class
• merchants were part of an increasingly fluid social hierarchy which threatened the order of society

Question 4

What type of system was England governed by?

Answer 4

• feudal system- no one but the king could own land
• land could be given to people by the king (given to favourites) - had to earn it through military service
• the rise of the merchant class and the military’s shift from armies consisting of the nobility to professional fighters eventually brought feudalism to an end in practice - legally abolished in 1660

Question 5

What were the Sumptuary laws?

Answer 5

• introduced in 1363 - Statue Concerning Diet and Apparel
• the act detailed the style of dress that people of each class were allowed to wear
• created to tackle a burgeoning trend for the lower classes to wear similar fashion to the elite - wanted it to make it easier to distinguish between social classes

Question 6

How is the Merchant portrayed socially in the prologue?

Answer 6

• seems to be aspiring to raise his status by wearing clothes associated with the second estate and showing off his wealth - later he tries to show off his intellect
  -wealthy and well dressed and authoritative ; but does not fit into the second estate as he does not own land - also implied that he is in debt

Question 7

Importance of language in medieval England

Answer 7

• English was seen as the language of the ‘common man’
• Latin used in churches, french commmonly used in court
• Chaucer was one of the first to write in vernacular English - he legitimised the use of English as a sophisticated language
• Chaucer however does throw in french + Latin vocab for socially elevated characters - eg Januarie’s use of ‘heritage’ and ‘Chartres’
• characters of low social rank speak old English - eg May saying ‘wenche’ + ‘kepe’