Chaucer's Life || Canterbury Links
During the period of ROMANESQUE (11th - 12th Centuries), pilgrimages -
somewhat like the one depicted in The Canterbury Tales - and
monasticism were major influences, for the dominating belief was that man
was by nature sinful and ultimately unworthy of entrance into heaven.
Worshippers scrambled to salvage their doomed souls by entering
monasteries and subjecting themselves to rigid routines, such as the Rule
of St. Benedict. Pilgrims by the thousands traveled from cathedral to
cathedral, caressing the relics. They hoped that their physical
proximity to the remains of saints and other highly revered religious
figures would bring their souls closer to God. They hoped, as many
flooded worship-houses like Santiago de Compestella, their long journey
and their CockleShell Badge proved superior devotion to faith, thus,
worthiness of salvation.
Medieval obsession with salvation can be seen through Romanesque
architecture. Heavy columns, barrel vaults, and stone roofs characterized
Romanesque cathedrals, such as Autun. Sculpture figures were stiff, dark,
aloof, and unforgiving. Humans had no real role in the eternal struggle
between good and evil. The popularity of monasteries and pilgrimages were
attempts to achieve some control in the rulings of destiny.
However, the period of GOTHIC (mid-12th - 15th Centuries) ushered in a
new, more optimistic view of human destiny and our role in it. In
Contrapposto, stone figures leaned more casually and naturally -
human-like - on one side and possessed a serenity and approachability
that Romanesque never had. Gothic churches were characterized by thin
columns, rib vaults, flying buttresses, and windows - magnificent,
gigantic masterpieces of colored glass and light - "heavenly light." The
radical design that was Gothic was introduced by Abbot Suger of St. Denis
Cathedral. Clerestory windows lined the open walls, making Romanesque in
comparison suffocating and dark. By 1174, the European "craze" for the
Gothic style reached England and Canterbury Cathedral was the first major
Gothic church built (after a devastating fire) in England.
Which returns us to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales . We have the
Knight, Miller, Prioress and the other "pilgrims." The variety of
characters and their intentions on this journey indicate that the
desperation for entrance into
Heaven had dulled a bit. Instead, people like the Wife of Bath appear to
be more on vacation and taking in the sites than fighting to fondle the
bones of a dead saint. However, they were headed toward Canterbury, where
"the martyr," St. Thomas a'Becket, lies in the Trinity Chapel. (St.
Thomas a'Becket was murdered in 1170 for his religious convictions by
four of King John. Three years later, he was sainted.)
Works Cited
Professor O'Connor's Lecture and Class Presentation.
Saul, Nigel, ed. Historical Atlas of Britain: Prehistoric and Medieval . Phoenix Mill: Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd, 1994.