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Medieval Pilgrimage

The Wife of Bath, the Friar, and the Knight

Traveling to a sacred place for the purpose of penance is called a Pilgrimage.

Pilgrimages have a long tradition in the Catholic church.  In the Middle Ages it was an important part of Western culture. It was a sort of status symbol, since the farther you went, the more dangerous (and expensive) the journey.  Greater distance could be claimed as greater penance, so the most wealthy were effectively able to prove they were the most holy.

Distance was not the only factor in determining the sacredness of a place.  Holy sites were frequently locations where a holy vision had been seen.  Lourdes in France is a more recent example.

A pilgrim could not set out on his own.  The journey had to be approved by a priest, and acts of confession and spiritual preparation came first.  Then a host, essentially a tour guide, would lead a group of pilgrims.

In Chaucer's time, Canterbury Cathedral was a very popular destination.  The murder, in 1170, of Thomas Becket remained even centuries later as an important symbol of the pre-eminence of spiritual values over the worldly powers.  Of course Jerusalem remained the top holy destination, but Canterbury was closer, safer, and cheaper.

The pilgrimage soon became hardly more than a sightseeing with a saintly pretense.  Some people even managed to make a living for years afterwards by telling stories of their adventures while on pilgrimage, inventing yarns for those too poor to make their own journey.  Chaucer alludes to this, as did many writers of the time.

But whether the pilgrimage was a saintly penance or not, Chaucer saw an opportunity to reflect upon the times and the culture around him by writing about a cross section of society, telling stories to pass the time while on a journey to the holy shrine of Canterbury.

Little Rock Central High Fishing Team

We went on our first fishing team outing Sunday afternoon after church.  I'd say it was a successful trip.  We launched our boats at the Sleepy Hollow boat ramp right off of Highway 10 on the Maumelle River and fished upstream and down to Lake Maumelle, which was swelling with white-cap waves from the gale-force winds.

Junior Andrew Ingram won the first fishing tournament catching the largest (and only!) fish of the day, a nice keeper-sized largemouth bass.  My picture of Andrew and the fish didn't come out cause the sun was so beautiful and bright, but I snapped this one of Hunter's boat.

Notice chick talking on cell phone.  J/K, she fished as hard as the boys!

Quarterback Hayden Wynne took more hits on Friday night against Conway than he got fishing Sunday afternoon.  (Ouch.)  And Brandon won the award for catching the most stick fish.  Hard to catch a fish in a tree lol.  Here's a pic of my boy, Rome, showing the big kids how it is done:

Alex's grandfather from Augusta came up and joined us so it was definitely a full, multi-generational, family affair.  We ended up with 9 guys, a gal, and 4 boats out there tooling around, and a good time was had by all, with or without a ton of fish in the boat.

The Murder of Thomas Becket, 1170

More from the old school with James Steed (see note from previous post):

A sword's crushing blow extinguished the life of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury.  His murder had been ordered by his friend, King Henry II.  The brutal event sent a tremor through Medieval Europe, and created a saint.

Becket was born in 1118, the son of an English merchant.  Becket went to Paris to study law.

In 1154 he was introduced to King Henry II.  The two hit it off immediately, forming a strong friendship. Henry saw the opportunity to increase his influence over the Church by naming his friend to the highest ecclesiastical post in the land.  Henry petitioned the Pope who agreed.  Becket was made Archbishop of Canterbury.

King Henry tried to change the laws to extend his power over the clergy.  But he had underestimated his friend: Becket's allegiance shifted to the church.  Becket excommunicated the Bishops of London and Salisbury for their support of the king.  This threw King Henry into a rage in which he shouted, "Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?!"

Twelfth century manuscript depicting the attack on Thomas at the altar of
Canterbury cathedral.

Four knights searched for the Archbishop.  Becket fled to the Cathedral where a service was in progress.  The knights found him at the alter, drew their swords and began hacking their victim, splitting his skull.  A witness said that the sword that broke Becket's skull, itself was broken, as if by a miracle.

The King fell into disgrace.  Several miracles were said to occur at the tomb of the martyr.  The pope declared Becket a saint.  From that day onward hordes of pilgrims transformed Canterbury Cathedral into a shrine.

We should all go their someday and tell some stories along the way.

Life of Chaucer

The following material was co-written with a former student teacher, Mr. James Steed, in 2003, before the days of the blog, when we used to cut and paste good ole fashioned handouts.  I'm getting Medieval on ya'll, going old school.

Geoffrey Chaucer was born in 1340, the son of a wine maker.  His father became a bottler, or butler, to King Edward III.

As a teen Geoffrey was made a page to the Countess of Ulster, wife of one of King Edward's sons.  In 1359 Chaucer served as squire to a knight in the invasion of France.  While at war in France he met two great French poets, Deschamps and de Machaut, and was captured.  (The details of this event raise some questions.  In the middle of a war he managed to get captured by two French poets?)  He was finally ransomed by King Edward.  The price of his ransom was sixteen pounds, or about $24.50 at current exchange rates.

Chaucer was not of royal stuff, but he was popular with the right people.  His poetry and personality seem to have kept him popular.  Reading his biographies I get the picture of a man of supreme wit, a man of great feeling for the broad spectrum of humanity.  In his day it was common to see hangings, beheadings, burnings at the stake.  Drawing-and-quartering, public whipping, blindings and castrations were normal punishments.  Prison meant being chained in total darkness for years.  An adulteress would be punished by having her nipples cut off, or by branding with a red hot iron on her forehead.  Chaucer, any day of the week, would have seen the hanged bodies of criminals, men, women and even children, left hanging for days, weeks, covered with flies, eaten by birds.  For him to protest such inhumane punishments would have been simply to to join them, hanged for being disloyal to the crown.

Chaucer avoided this.  He possessed a talent for seeing opportunity, getting ahead when others were losing a head.  One rumor has it that Chaucer's son Thomas was actually the bastard son of the king, placed in Chaucer's household to cover up the king's indiscretion.  Thomas never used Chaucer's coat of arms, but instead used his mother's.  (And he received many favors from the king.)  Chaucer stayed popular with the crown, living off a modest royal allowance.  Through his writing he brought sly wit, rich humor, and keen observation of the people around him and the bleak world he inhabited.