Bryan Ramos
Plutro 12-2
Oct 20, 2017
“Certain, when I was born, so long ago, Death drew the tap of life and let it flow; And ever since the tap has done its task, And now there's little but an empty cask.” The 15th century for England included it’s up and downs.first the Black Death hit Europe hard and wiped out nearly one third of Europe’s population. After the Black Death the peasants revolt marched to London to let the opinions of all of the little town be heard. In the midst of the Black Death Geoffrey Chaucer arose and fought beside king Edward III in the Hundred Years’ War.
Medieval times, the Black Death awakens. The Black Death was one of the biggest pandemics in human history. The Black Death was given its name from the symptoms that caused blackening of the skin. The symptoms of the plague were painful swellings that were called buboes. The buboes appeared on the neck, legs, groin and armpit area. Skin around the buboes were would turn black and ooze pus. Other symptoms of the Black Death included; vomiting, high fever, diarrhea, delirium, and bleeding of the lungs. Victims of the plague rarely lived more than a couple of days, and died a quick but painful death. When a person died from the disease many were thrown in communal pits, communal pits were pits that were dug by a compound and usually used for garbage. These communal pits though were used for bodies and were located near water. The spread of the Black Death was caused by rodents and their flees, and dead bodies in the communal pits that were too close to the water supply that contaminated the water. There was no known cure for the disease itself but there was cures for some of the symptoms. The most common “treatment” for the Black Death was bloodletting. Bloodletting was a technique that was said to be the best ways to treat the plague victims. Bloodletting was draining the blood out of the buboes, this blood was thick, black, and foul smelling. The Black Plague caused a rapid decrease in the population, wiping out nearly one third of England’s population. The Black Death caused a huge population drop that caused a higher value to be placed on labor, this event caused the peasants revolt (Medieval Life and Times).
The peasants revolt of 1381 was the great uprising. The immediate cause of the uprising was the poll tax which affected peasants, who were attempting to fix maximum wages. The rebellion pressed towards London, when the rebellion arrived the government was forced to negotiate. King Richard II met the rebellion and promised cheap land, free trade, and to get rid of forced labor. When the King Richard II left, the rebels forced the surrender of the Tower of London. The archbishop and the treasurer who were responsible for the poll tax were beheaded. King Richard II came back to deal with the angered mayor of London. The king appealed to the rebels as their leader and after promising them reforms, persuaded the rebellion to dismember. The crisis was over in London and the rebellion was over in less than a month. The peasants revolt however succeeded against the unfair tax on poorer classes (Britannica).
In the midst of the era, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote one of his most famous works, the Canterbury tales. Chaucer had held several positions as a young man he was a page, diplomat, a civil servant, and a collector of scrap metal. Chaucer had joined with king Edward III and the English army and went to battle against France. The battle that took place was the Hundred Years’ War, at this time the French had captured Chaucer and forced King Edward III to pay ransom. After the war Chaucer married Philipa de Roet, who was one of the kings ladies in waiting. Times were good for Chaucer and Philippa because they were economically secure. John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster, gave Chaucer a yearly salary of ten pounds, the normal income for a squire in an aristocratic household. Geoffrey was given a life pension allowing Chaucer to travel to Italy for diplomatic missions. While in Italy Chaucer discovered the works of Dante and Petrarch. Dante and Petrarch had a heavy influence on Chaucer’s writing.
Chaucer’s career in writing started when a memorial poem was written for the Duke of Lancaster’s deceased wife. Chaucer later started his work with The Canterbury Tales, which he worked in for several years. Chaucer was planning on writing one hundred and twenty tales, but fell short and only wrote twenty-nine tales. The purpose of the tales that Chaucer wrote were for passing time on traveling to Canterbury. Chaucer’s tales gather archetypes of late English Society and presented them with insight and humor. Geoffrey Chaucer is considered to be “The Father of Literature.” The Canterbury Tales are still commonly read today even though they were written during medieval times. After The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer still continued to write short poems until Chaucer died in 1400.
One of Chaucer’s characters in The Canterbury Tales was called The Second Nun. The Second Nun’s tale was about Saint Cecilia, The second nun who is devoted to God. Cecilia was convinced that to stay a pure virgin because it was God’s will . Cecilia was to be wedded by a man named Valerian. Cecilia tells Valerian that if he takes her virginity the guardian angels that is the protector will slaughter him. Valerian wants to see this guardian angel but has to be baptized by the pope first. When being baptized Valerian catches a glimpse of Cecilia’s guardian angel and requests the brother be baptized too. Cecilia is arrested and is harshly questioned, the nun answers cleverly and quickly but still condemned to death. Cecilia is first placed in scalding hot water but survives, then the executioner tries the cut off Cecilia’s head three times but fails to do so. Cecilia lives for three more days, during the three days she sings and converts non-believers. Following her eventual death, Pope Urban makes declared Cecilia to be one of the saints. Chaucer decided to make the Second Nun faceless