Medieval Imagination:
Chaucer Resources
Questions? Problems?
Broken Links? Contact Me!
Don’t forget to consult the
Booknotes Online on the Medieval Imagination Homepage.
A.
Interlinear Translations at the Chaucer Harvard Page
If reading Middle English is new for you; these are an invaluable help. Print out those you need. |
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B. Chaucer Metapages
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This excellent website defines terms, gives short
biographies, gives background information and should be visited |
If it is a scholarly Chaucer website, it is probably linked to this mega-site |
Geoffrey
Chaucer: Annotated Guide to Online Resourcesc “The purpose of this site is not to duplicate the vast amount of Chaucer material that has appeared on the internet in the last five years, but to sift and sort” |
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The Electronic
Canterbury Tales This website attempts “to imitate at least in form the spirit of the Canterbury Tales while assembling and annotating useful links by Tale.” Some broken links |
“Online Assistance for Teachers and Students of Chaucer and the Later Middle Ages” |
Jane Zatta's Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales Good site whose most valuable contribution may be the illustrated guide to “Important Events in the Fourteenth Century” |
C. Chaucer Biography
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Verbose, but the best on the net |
Chronology of Geoffrey Chaucer's
Life and Times One column shows events in Chaucer's life, another shows
events in political and intellectual history |
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D. Pilgrims and Pilgrimages
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Catholic Encyclopedia article on “Pilgrimages” Definitive site; definitive definition |
From the Harvard Chaucer Page |
Donald C. Howard’s well-known essay on the role of the
pilgrimage in Chaucer |
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A virtual experience of what pilgrims might endure on
their journey |
If the characters of Canterbury Tales had actually
existed, what would their lives and this pilgrimage have been like? |
A Pilgrimage to Canterbury to the Shrine of St. Thomas Make a virtual pilgrimage |
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Medieval Writing: Travel Literature A thorough exploration of this popular medieval genre,
the motivation which prompted it, and the culture which fostered it |
An illustrated time-trail |
A virtual pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the time of the
Crusaders (or Chaucer’s Knight?):
take the vow, do the penance, begin the journey |
E. St. Thomas à Becket
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From Britain Express |
The Murder of Thomas Becket in 1170 Part of the Eye-witness History Site |
Becket, the Church, and Henry II From the BBC Website |
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William of Newburg’s account of the dispute and murder,
written 30 years later. More critical
of Becket than most other accounts |
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Web page devoted to collecting resources for the study
of Thomas Becket and the controversies surrounding him |
F. Interesting Notes, Commentaries, and
Essays
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Includes lectures on Chaucer's Life, Becket, Richard II, the English Rising of 1381, Rape and Prostitution, Corrupt Clerics, Courtly Love, the Plague, among others |
Donald C. Howard’s deservedly famous essay on the “carnival world of medieval popular life.” Excellent |
Index Page on the Chaucer Harvard Site Offers a multitude of resources, including critical
studies. Well worth exploring. |
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An Electronic
Edition of the General Prologue An
exceptionally useful annotated version of the GP: touch a Middle English word
and get a modern English gloss |
The General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales A “general introduction for those of you who are
terrified of the thing!” |
Study Guide by Dr. Deborah Schwartz provides excellent background concepts and literary contexts |
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The Miller’s Prologue and Tale Study Guide Another guide for students taking the British A-level examination and equally worthwhile |
Chaucer’s Miller and his Tale: Medieval ribaldry at its very best |
Chaucer's "The Miller's Tale": Exemplum of caritas An example of
what happens when you read the tale and have no sense of humor! |
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Commentary on Chaucer’s “Miller’s Tale” An example of what happens when you read the tale and
have only a sense of humor |
“The folly of the carpenter in the Miller's Tale is by
no means the only comic device used by Chaucer to create humour, but it is
central in many ways” |
The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale Study Guide A “guide for students taking GCE Advanced level courses
(a British examination),” this page is an excellent commentary on the “Wife’s
Prologue and Tale” |
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S-Cool's Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale Another British Study Guide, including introduction,
brief interpretations, detailed interpretations, other helpful tools |
Yet another British study
guide, including background information and commentary (see the Index on the
left side of the page) |
Robert Levine’s interesting reading of the tale as “an extended fantasy about sex and power” |
F. The Fabliau
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Discusses the French origin of the genre |
Short
Speech on the Essence of the Fabliau:
The Bawdy BardsThe subtitle here says it all |
Part of the Harvard Chaucer Page |
H. Audio-Visual Resources
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"The Crying
and the Soun": Chaucer Audio Pages Excerpts from
Chaucer's works read by professors in Middle English |
The tour contains 500 pages, each with a photo and some text |
Virtual
Tour of Canterbury Cathedral Tour the
interior and exterior of the Canterbury Cathedral (requires QuickTime) |
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Chaucerian Images from
the Ellesmere Manuscript See Chaucer the
Pilgrim, the Prioress, the Wife of Bath, the Franklin and the Pardoner |
Links to some excellent sites from geoffreychaucer.org |
From the Harvard
Chaucer Page |
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Problems?
Questions? Broken Links? Email Me! |
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Copyright
2002, Updated for Spring Term (Jan.-April) 2008, Joanne
J. Viano