Middle English (pre-1500)

Question 0

Gutenberg Bible

Answer 0

1456

Question 1

Battle of Hastings

Answer 1

1066

Question 2

Battle of Agincourt

Answer 2

1415; major English victory in the Hundred Years War

Question 3

Sir Thomas Mallory

Answer 3

Le Morte d’Arthur

Question 4

Key names from Mallory: Le Morte d’Arthur

Answer 4

King Uther Pendragon
Merlin
Mordred
Excalibur
Holy Grail
Round Table

Question 5

Facts about Mallory: Le Morte d’Arthur

Answer 5

Difficult English

Written in prose

Don’t confuse with Sir Gawain or Wife of Bath

Question 6

Margery Kempe

Answer 6

Wrote The Book of Margery Kempe

Experienced conversion which leads her to take pilgrimages

Question 7

The Book of Margery Kempe

Answer 7

One of the earliest autobiographies in English

Her persecutions by Devils & men

Accusations of Lollardism (following Wycliffe)

Pilgrimages to Rome, Jerusalem, Germany

Question 8

William Langland

Answer 8

Lived and wrote around the same time as Chaucer

Wrote The Piers Plowman

Question 9

The Piers Plowman

Answer 9

Social satire & vision of simple Christian life
POEM
3 dream visions:
1. Holy Church & Meed the Maid (rep temptation of riches) woo the dreamer
2. Piers leads penitents in search of St. Truth
3. Do-well (virtues) Do-bet (charity–piers becomes Good Samaritan) Do-best (piers identified with Christ)

Question 10

Facts about Sir Gawain & The Green Knight

Answer 10

Anonymous author

Written same time as Canturbury Tales

Difficult read; uses “thorns” & mid eng conventions; 101 laisses or verse paragraphs of varying length, head-rhymed on the head-stave, each w end-rhymed bob-and-wheel refrain.

Question 11

Plot summary of Sir Gawain & The Green Knight

Answer 11

Gawain at Arthur’s Castle, Green Knight walks in; Gawain cuts off his head; Gawain goes to find him & almost gets head cut off but is spared bc he was honorable.

Question 12

“The Knight’s Tale”: Description of the knight

Answer 12

But for to tellen yow of his array,
His hors were goode, but he was nat gay.
Of fustian he wered a gypon
Al bismotered with his habergeon,
For he was late ycome from his viage,
And wente for to doon his pilgrymage.

Question 13

“The Knight’s Tale”: summary of the tale

Answer 13

Arcite and Palamon are friends held in a tower as prisoners of war. They see from the tower Emily and both fall in love. They hold a joust and, according to the blessings of Mars and Venus, both win—Arcite wins the joust but dies in the process so Palamon gets the girl.

Question 14

“The Prioress’s Tale”: description of the prioress

Answer 14

She loves her little dogs and is superficial. Has a brooch that says “Love Conquers All.” The Prioress rides side-saddle, a lady-like practise that had but recently come into style:

Ful semyly hir wympul pynched was,
Hir nose tretys, hir eyen greye as glas,
Hir mouth ful smal, and therto softe and reed.
But sikerly she hadde a fair forheed;
. . .
Ful fetys was hir cloke, as I was war.
Of smal coral aboute hire arm she bar
A peire of bedes, gauded al with grene. . .

Question 15

“The Prioress’s Tale”: summary of the tale

Answer 15

Told in rhyme royal. Story of Christian boy walking in Jewish neighborhood and gets killed for singing “Alma Redemptoris.” But he keeps singing even tho he’s thrown in a well. The Christians hear the singing and find him. From this comes the phrase “Murder will out.”

Question 16

“The Nun’s Priest’s Tale”: description of the nun’s priest

Answer 16

The Nun’s Priest is barely mentioned in the General Prologue, where we are told only:

Another NONNE with hire hadde she,
That was hir chapeleyne, and preestes thre.
We learn later, in the Prologue to the Nun’s Priest’s Tale that his horse is a very poor one:
Be blithe, though thou ryde upon a jade,
What though thyn hors be bothe foule and lene?

Question 17

“The Nun’s Priest’s Tale”: summary of the tale

Answer 17

Chaunticleer and Perteltote live in the farmyard. One night Chaunticleer dreams of a fox getting him. The next day he gets gotten. The fox, named Sir Russell is so happy that he opens his mouth to gloat and loses Chaunticleer.

Question 18

“The Merchant’s Tale”: description of the merchant

Answer 18

He’s in debt, but covers that up so discreetly that no one knows it.
 A MARCHANT was ther with a forked berd,
In mottelee, and hye on horse he sat;
Upon his heed a Flaundryssh bever hat,
His bootes clasped faire and fetisly.

Question 19

“The Merchant’s Tale”: summary of the tale

Answer 19

The old night January decides he needs to marry May, a beautiful young girl. They have sex a lot. One day January goes blind and May meets her lover, Damian, up in a tree, where they have sex while January is standing on the ground. Right when they’re in the act, Pluto restores January’s sight and May convinces him she only did it to restore his sight.

Question 20

“The Wife of Bath’s Tale”: description of wife of bath

Answer 20

The Wife of Bath— [Alisoun, the Wife of Bath, has been married five times and is ready for another husband: Christ never specified how many times a woman should marry. Virginity is fine but wives are not condemned; the Apostle said that my husband would be my debtor, and I have power over his body. Three of my husbands were good and two bad. The first three were old and rich and I picked them clean. One of my old husbands, emboldened with drink, would come home and preach against women; but I got the better of him. My fourth husband was young and he had a mistress. I pretended to be unfaithful and made him burn in his own grease. I already had my eye on young Jankin, pall-bearer for my fourth, and he became my fifth and favorite husband. He beat me. Once when he was reading aloud from his Book of Wicked Wives, I tore a page from his book, and he knocked me down (so hard I am still deaf from it). I pretended to be dying, and when he leaned over to ask forgiveness, I knocked him into the fireplace. We made up, and he gave me full sovereignty in marriage; thereafter I was kind and faithful, and we lived in bliss.]

Question 21

“The Wife of Bath’s Tale”: summary of the tale

Answer 21

A knight in King Arthur’s court rapes a lady and Arthur turns the matter over to the Queen. She tells him to go find out what women want, in order to save his life. He finds an old woman who agrees to tell him if he’ll marry her. The answer is “sovereignty” and the woman turns beautiful.

Question 22

“The Miller’s Tale”: description of the miller

Answer 22

has huge nostrils. Tough fighting and drinking. Weighs sixteen stone.
A swerd and bokeler bar he by his syde.
. . .
A whit cote and a blew hood wered he.
A bagpipe wel koude he blow and sowne,
And therwithal he brought us out of towne.

Question 23

“The Miller’s Tale”: summary of the tale

Answer 23

Carpenter has a beautiful wife and house servant Nicholas. They fall in lust and want to have a steamy night, Convince carpenter the second flood is coming so they all go to sleep on roof. Nicholas and Alison sneak down into the bedroom, when Absolom comes to the window wanting a kiss. Alison stick out her rear and Absalom kisses it. He’s mad, gets a poker and comes back. Burns Nicholas’s rear.

Question 24

“The Pardoner’s Tale”: description of the pardoner

Answer 24

He’s like a gelding or a mare.
This Pardoner hadde heer as yelow as wex,
But smothe it heeng as dooth a strike of flex;
By ounces henge his lokkes that he hadde,
And therwith he his shuldres overspradde;
But thynne it lay, by colpons oon and oon.
. . .
Swiche glarynge eyen hadde he as an hare.
A vernycle hadde he sowed upon his cappe.
His walet, biforn hym in his lappe,
Bretful of pardoun comen from Rome al hoot.
. . .
He hadde a croys of latoun ful of stones,
And in a glas he hadde pigges bones.

Question 25

“The Pardoner’s Tale”: summary of the tale

Answer 25

Three immoral drunkards set out to find Death. They find gold and wind up killing eachother in order to have it all for themselves.

Question 26

“The Franklin’s Tale”: summary of the tale

Answer 26

romance about Aurelious, Dorigen, and Arveragus.

Question 27

“The Reeve’s Tale”: summary of the tale

Answer 27

Miller named Simkin has wife enjoyed by John and Alan.

Question 28

“The Clerk’s Tale”: summary of the tale

Answer 28

Griselda endures her jealous husband, Marquis Walter.

Question 30

“The Doctor’s Tale”: summary of the tale

Answer 30

Virginius cuts off the head of his daughter in order to protect her virtue from evil judge Apius.