Text-in-Context

 

CHRISTINE BEGUIN

 

Post Plague Social, Economic, and Historical Characteristics of Chaucer’s Pilgrims

         

Waking up to the familiar sounds of a small English town is no longer an option. The stench of death permeates every inch of existence. Peering out of the window, afraid of stepping outside into the pestilence formerly known as home, you gaze past the mounds of rotting townspeople who used to be known as friends. Every breath catches, because breathing too deep may be too risky. A disease of unknown origin plagues the countryside farther than you can travel in a lifetime. Thoughts run through your mind as you watch your suffering family. The only chance to save them is to confess your sins in hopes that God’s wrath will end with you. There is nothing; everything you have known for all of your life is gone. And there is silence.

Throughout the late Middle Ages, there were many historical landmarks that affected the world in which we now live. These landmarks include the Great Schism, the Hundred Years War, the Renaissance, and most infamous, the Black Plague (Given-Wilson 4). The plague is now believed to have infringed upon European peoples due to the ecological changes in Asia. These changes forced wild rodents carrying the Yersinia pestis bacillus into heavily populated European towns (Horrox 5). Through trade, fleas and rodents carrying this bacillus made their way into English society. Three forms of the plague ran rampant throughout England: bubonic, pneumonic, and septicaemic. The bubonic plague was most notorious due to the visual dark spots located in the armpits and groin area called buboes. In Latin, Bubo means owl: just like owls, buboes preferred the dark places on the body (Given-Wilson 97).

The first epidemic began in 1347 and lasted through 1350. Subsequently, England suffered three centuries of the plague as it reappeared in 1361, 1369, 1374-1379, and 1390-1393, etc., putting a damper on population and economic growth. Between one third and one half of England’s entire population was wiped out due to the Black Plague of 1347-1350 (Given-Wilson 4). Geoffrey Chaucer (1342-1400), lived through the worst epidemics this world has seen. Growing up as a child, he was exposed to the effects of the plague daily. Throughout his life, it was almost impossible that the plague did not touch some aspect of his life. Chaucer uses his experiences and his observations, to accurately illustrate a proportionate cross section of English society in The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer capitalizes on social, economical, and historical events to place each pilgrim in his/her proper place in society. Most, if not all, of these events were created or effected by some aspect of the plague. Most important were the impacts on the Church, the economic stability of the lower classes, the negative effects on education, and the effects upon the economic markets.  In turn, Chaucer’s pilgrims, most notably the clergy members, the laborers, and the learned, noticeably show some attitude or action influenced by an ill-fated age filled by disease and hardship.

In 1300, the population in England was six million. Trade expanded, new towns were founded, but the standard of living was very low for many. The beginning of the fourteenth century marked an age of overpopulation, unemployment, and overpricing of staple goods. By 1400, the population had fallen to two and a half million. There was a period of “economic stagnation,” but as time passed, the living conditions for the majority improved (Given-Wilson 5). Eighty percent of the English population consisted of laborers, tenant farmers, and their families. With the decrease of population, the existing farms had very little help to employ. The landlords were forced to pay higher wages to their employees and accepted lower prices for their goods because of the reduced demand for their products (Ziegler 233). Also due to the decrease in population, farmers were forced to farm in enclosed areas instead of arable farms (Given-Wilson 39). This was significant due to the fact that it restricted the area that could be used for farming and profitable crop growth. However, it had little effect for the basic reason that there were very few people to provide for or to trade with. This switch to enclosed farms is just one of the many noticeable changes not only on society, but also on how the land was proportioned and divided among people. The long-term significance of the Black Plague was the improvement of material wealth for those that survived the pestilence (Given-Wilson 4). Unfortunately, this raised the expectations of the peasant peoples. Landlords were forced to “adopt harsh measures to prevent profits from declining”(Givens-Wilson 4). In 1381, after the third poll tax, there was a popular peasant uprising throughout England. The peasants demanded cheaper rents, and an end to serfdom. Unfortunately, due to the death of their leader, the Peasant’s Revolt ended without any of their goals achieved (Given-Wilson 12).

Among many of the pilgrims, Chaucer includes one that would have been affected by this economical and historical event: the Franklin. A franklin is not only a landowner, but also a freeman. In the words between the Franklin and the Squire, the Franklin discusses his land and his son, stating, “A plague upon possession! What use is property if you’re a dunce?” (Chaucer 407)  Due to the large amounts of land left uncultivated and uninhabited, landlords often acquired the land on which they rebuilt their lives. It is almost as if the Franklin has enough land to be flippant about what happens to it. While many struggled to receive fair wages under the commitment of serfdom, the Franklin probably acquired the land of the dead. He may even be one of the landlords who had serfs working upon his land, yet the prologue never specifies. As mentioned in the General Prologue, the Franklin acts as if he is one of the gentry, but under normal social status, a franklin does not serve as one. It was not uncommon, however, for a peasant or landowner to aspire to an aristocratic diet and style of dress. These people used their

wheat to bake bread, ate more meat, and drank increasingly more ale (Given-Wilson 87). These characteristics are shown in the description that his home had the “fine bread, his ale were finest of fine…it positively snowed with meat and drink” (Chaucer 12).

Due to the “prosperity” of the lower class after the Black Plague, woolen fabrics were in demand across northwest Europe. England was able to capture this growing market due to the low taxes on actual cloth, the local supplies of wool, and the number of mills located throughout the country (Given-Wilson 52). Unfortunately, there was a shortage of knowledgeable textile workers. Chaucer illustrates the laboring class after the Plague through the Weaver, included among the guildsmen described in the General Prologue, and the Wife of Bath. Wool and fabric production became an industry that grew exponentially with the rise of the lower class. In an attempt to dress at a higher level of social status, the peasants could now afford the garments of the wealthy. Chaucer notes that not only were the peasants reaping these benefits but the Weaver also “had the capital and revenue” (Chaucer 13). The Weaver, once one of the lower class, was able to sport “pouches” and “knives…wrought with the purest silver” (Chaucer 13). The Wife of Bath is referred to “making cloth” (Chaucer 15). She seems to take pleasure in wearing her goods of “finely woven” cloth (Chaucer 15). Yet again, a widow five times over should not be in such a financial position as to wear such fine clothing, but due to the circumstances, she was able to afford her garments. Not only do the Wife and the Weaver show their wealth through their clothing, but the cost of the pilgrimage must also be taken into account. One that lives day by day on his wages surely cannot afford to attend a frivolous pilgrimage.

One of the social areas of England and Europe affected the most by the plague was education. Many of the most powerful men in the educational hierarchy were also some of the oldest. During the plague, elders were most vulnerable to the disease and met their demise. Out of the thirty universities that existed in Europe and England, four vanished during this period of pestilence (Ziegler 252). The speculation is that the administration of these universities, their professors, and the employed laborers all either fled, or died. There is little mention of this in Chaucer’s writings, yet through close examination, it may become evident that he does in fact reference this unfortunate fact. In the Reeve’s Tale, the two young men come from college and travel to a mill. However, it is why the students are traveling that is interesting. The “college manciple,” the “man who was ought to mind” the job, was in bed sick. Not only sick, but also “some reported him as good as dead” (Chaucer 110). This is not clear whether it could be the plague, but there is a good chance that the manciple was ill with the plague.

Among other learned peoples of the fourteenth century were the ones who survived and made a profit off the ones who died. Medical doctors were known to do this. A man of medicine would often be seen wearing expensive clothing made from the money earned during the years throughout the epidemic (Lambdin 221). The doctors that perished during the Black Plague were the “good” doctors. They made their way into the infected populations to reach out to the dying, risking their health and gaining little. The doctors that were spared from illness were only spared for selfish reasons. They stayed “behind the lines” and let the good doctors do the work as they acquired the money in the name of medicine by not doing nearly as much. Chaucer’s man of medicine is no different as he keeps close “the gold he won in pestilences” (Chaucer 15).      

During most of the fourteenth century the plague ruled the lives of many throughout England and Europe. Many sought a reason why their lives had become a sudden upset. The religious leaders and the churches of this period were convinced that the cause of the plague was God’s wrath. They believed that men and women were leading sinful lives. The recurring pestilence was blamed on shameful dress in 1369 and due to the number of child deaths, disobedient children in 1361 (Horrox 11). Many in the scientific community recommended such plague preventative measures as purifying air with sweet smelling herbs, light diet, and exercise (Givens-Wilson 98). However, the Church saw only one way to end the wrath of God: one had to “have regard to one’s soul and God whose divine anger had to be appeased” (Givens-Wilson 99). The clergy taught that the way to averting the plague was by asking God for help and “backing up the appeal with contrition and penance” (Horrox 95). However, regardless of what the Church was proclaiming, the average man felt that his church “had let him down” and had not saved him from the imminent doom which was quickly approaching and infringing upon their lives (Ziegler 260). The “people of God” had realized that all of their efforts to pray, confess, and even pay to have their sins pardoned were to no avail. The thought of this scared the clergy and even worse, they began to dread that the parishioners were thinking about “fear, morbidity, nihilism, hedonism, loss of confidence in traditional religious and social precepts and practices, the growth of individualism, and detachment from the church” (Givens-Wilson 104).

However, due to the loss of population, there was a need for priests and other clergy. As with the medical men, the priests who took better care of themselves lived, while those who exposed themselves to their people died. The self-preservation of the clergy was exactly the opposite of the Church’s beliefs, yet there was very little that could be done about the erosion of the quality of the Church officials.   There was little time or resources to teach the incoming clergy. Thus, the monastic communities had very little discipline because of the “loss of eminent members” and the “relaxation of rules” which was a result of the tragedy of the plague (Ziegler 266). Because there were very few clergy members to travel and hear the sins, the Church allowed for the common man to hear a confession in an emergency.   This also led to further corruption and allowed for people to profit from the death of the ill. By allowing the common man to substitute for a priest, the Church actually contributed to moral laxity among society. It  added to the deep-seated distrust issues already arising in the minds of the suffering. The trust issues and the morally wrong actions taken by those who posed as Church officials for negative reasons challenged the authority of the Church. There were very few places in which one could seek sanctuary from everyday problems, and the comfort of that was slowly slipping away.

Chaucer makes a point of including many clergy members into The Canterbury Tales. Two of the most interesting to examine under this pretense would be the Pardoner and the Prioress. Chaucer’s Pardoner was the epitome of the corrupt religious man. The Pardoner capitalized on the fact that the Church allowed for sins to be heard by a layman rather than a priest in an emergency. The Pardoner also capitalized on the fear that people had of dying and the afterworld. He would sell forgiveness to “save their souls.” Regardless of the feelings of distrust towards the religious community, the common man had only God’s grace to hope for. Therefore, they were willing to pay for forgiveness of their sins, seemingly unaware that it made very little difference to who lived or died. As stated in the General Prologue, the Pardoner may have been able to give a sermon, but was only able to make it seem believable through his charm. It was his charm, not his holiness that was able to collect the silver from the crowd. This is against the Church’s teachings to collect money for selfish reasons yet the Pardoner seems to have too many expensive trinkets to have been using the money for the poor. It is ironic that the Pardoner’s tale states that greed is the root of all evil when he himself collects money under false pretenses.

The Prioress, at first glance, seems to be out of place. A nun is expected to speak the language of the common person, live a modest lifestyle, and be kind and helpful to others. This is quite the contrary for our Nun. The Prioress speaks “French in Paris style,” wears a “golden brooch,” and seems to feed her pets better food than many of the travelers are eating (Chaucer 6-7). The Prioress, in her tale, seems to capitalize on the anti Semitism of the age. Not only is it unlike a Nun to project such disdain towards another religion, but she also utters such blatant hateful remarks such as, “Where there were Jews, supported by the Crown / For the foul lucre of their usury” (Chaucer 170). It was common during this time for people to show dislike towards the Jewish faith. It was commonly thought that they were the cause of the plague. Many Jewish people were accused and persecuted on the belief that they had poisoned the wells of the good Christian people living in Europe and England. Many learned people often as not believed this ludicrous idea. The Prioress is an example of the damage on the moral character of the clergy during this period of religious need. She seems to demonstrate very little religious knowledge or the caring and kindness expected of someone in her position. 

Geoffrey Chaucer uses his pilgrims as a way to show an accurate depiction of the different people who contributed to English society during the late Middle Ages. These pilgrims are able to demonstrate the differences in social and economical status as they previously were regarded. The Clergy demonstrate the erosion of the moral character not only of the Church but the moral laxity of society. The Weaver and the Wife illustrate the rising of the lower class into a life that provides them with opportunity. Chaucer shows his pilgrims in their different elements not only to show the negative effects of the plague upon society, but also the positive. The Black Plague, possibly the most devastating landmark of English history, changed the lives of so many and provided the poor with a chance to lead a better life and provided the average laborer the opportunity to make a living for himself. However, there were negative implications seen in the Church and throughout several learned professions. It is evident that throughout high society to lower class, the plague and its social, economical, and historical implications changed or affected the lives of every person during the fourteenth century and for centuries to come.

 

Works Cited

 

Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Trans. Nevill Coghill. London: Penguin 

Books, 1977.

Given-Wilson, Chris, ed. An Illustrated History of Late Medieval England.

Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1996.

Horrox, Rosemary, ed. The Black Death. Manchester: St. Martin’s Press, 1994.

Lambdin, Laura C., and Robert T. Lambdin, eds. Chaucer’s Pilgrims: An Illustrated

Historical Guide to the Pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales. Connecticut:

Greenwood Press, 1996.

Williman, Daniel, ed. The Black Death: The Impact of the Fourteenth Century

Plague. New York: Center for Medieval and Early Renaissance Studies, 1982.

Ziegler, Philip. The Black Death. New York: The John Day Company, 1969.