Chaucer, Geoffrey 173left the Franche-Comté for Lorraine to lay siege to Nancy.
There he was killed in battle on January 5, 1477. The
marriage of his daughter Mary of Burgundy (r. 1477–82)
to Maximilian of Austria (1459–1519) united Burgundy
with the Holy Roman Empire.
Further reading:Joseph Calmette, One Golden Age of
Burgundy: The Magnificent Dukes and Their Courts,trans.
Doreen Weightman (London: Weidenfield and Nicolson,
1962); Richard Vaughn, Charles the Bold: The Last Valois
Duke of Burgundy(London: Longman, 1973).
charms Medieval charms were descended from ancient
pagan oral incantations, magical and ritualistic. They
were aimed against physical entities such as sudden pain
in the side, witches, insects, or unproductive land. They
could also be invoked against enemies, mice and rats, and
unknown thieves, or used to make women dance naked.
Some had religious aims, invoking angels at various
moments. Such actions as making a sign of the cross
while reciting Greek letters and the names of Christ were
done to ensure a safe journey.
Further reading:Bill Griffiths, Aspects of Anglo-Saxon
Magic(Norfolk: Anglo-Saxon Books, 1996); Karen Louise
Jolly, Popular Religion in Late Saxon England: Elf Charms
in Context(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 1996); Godfrid Storms, Anglo-Saxon Magic(Fol-
croft, Pa.: Folcroft Library Editions, 1975).
charters A medieval charter was a written document
recording, authenticating, and constituting a transaction
between two or more parties. It initially designated a pri-
vate document as opposed to a document involving a
political entity. Completed in the proper form they con-
ferred validity and authenticity on a transaction. They
were usually written on parchment and later were copied
and collected into manuscript books to demonstrate the
possessions and rights of secular and ecclesiastical insti-
tutions. They were the initial field of study for the disci-
pline of diplomatics.
See alsoARCHIVES AND ARCHIVAL INSTITUTIONS; CAR-
TULARIES; FORGERY; NOTARIES AND THE NOTARIATE; SEALS
AND SIGILLOGRAPHY.
Further reading:Leonard E. Boyle, “Diplomatics” in
Medieval Studies: An Introduction,2d ed., ed. James M.
Powell (Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1992),
82–113; David N. Dumville, English Caroline Script and
Monastic History: Studies in Benedictinism,A.D.950–1030
(Woodbridge, England: Boydell, 1993); C. R. Cheney,
English Bishops’ Chanceries, 1100–1250 (Manchester:
Manchester University Press, 1950).
Chartres, Cathedral of CHARLES THEBALD’Sdonation
of the RELICof the Virgin MARY’Sveil in 876 to Chartres
CATHEDRAL helped to restore the church, recently
destroyed in the VIKINGinvasions of 858. In 1007 when
FULBERTbecame bishop, he began building in an innova-
tive style, the GOTHIC. At the same time he laid the foun-
dation for a later brilliant intellectual tradition all
through the 12th century. Such important thinkers as
IVO, Bernard (d. 1130) and THIERRYof Chartres, GILBERT
of Poitiers, William of Conches (d. ca. 1160) and JOHNof
Salisbury all spent time teaching at the cathedral school
in this prosperous town.BUILDING OF THE CATHEDRAL
In 1134 a fire destroyed part of the town and damaged the
cathedral. This stimulated another new beginning for
restoring and rebuilding the cathedral. A new façade was
added that included sculptured processions of kings and
Old Testament prophets, a Last Judgment, and an Apoca-
lypse. Yet another fire in 1194 prompted further recon-
struction, which included flying buttresses and changes in
the walls. These innovations permitted the construction of
complex and beautiful STAINED GLASSwindows that are
extant. They included three ROSE WINDOWSdedicated to
the Last Judgment, the Apocalypse, and a genealogy of
Christ. The town and the famous cathedral remained a
goal of PILGRIMAGEthroughout the Middle Ages.
See alsoFULCHER OFCHARTRES.
Further reading: Henry Adams, Mont-Saint-Michel
and Chartres(New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1926); Robert
Branner, Chartres Cathedral(New York: Norton, 1969);
George Henderson, Chartres(Harmondsworth: Penguin,
1968); John James, The World of Chartres(New York: H.
N. Abrams, 1990); Adolf Katzenellenbogen, The Sculp-
tural Programs of Chartres Cathedral: Christ, Mary, Eccle-
sia(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1959); Richard W.
Southern, Scholastic Humanism and the Unification of
Europe,2 vols. (London: Blackwell, 1995–2001).chastity In the Middle Ages this was the virtue that
was supposed to be cultivated in order to make one capa-
ble of subjecting the promptings of CONCUPISCENCEto
the authority of reason. According to Thomas AQUINAS,it
was one of the virtues that Christ suggested to institute
the mark of salvation in human relationships. As part of
their profession Christians in religious orders usually
made a vow of chastity in their entry into the religious
life, but everyone was expected to understand this coun-
sel and put this virtue into habitual practice in life.
See also CELIBACY; CLERGY AND CLERICAL ORDERS;
VIRTUES AND VICES.
Further reading:Teresa M. Shaw, The Burden of the
Flesh: Fasting and Sexuality in Early Christianity(Min-
neapolis: Fortress Press, 1998).Chaucer, Geoffrey (ca. 1343–1400)author, courtier, poet
Chaucer was born between 1340 and 1343 the son of a
LONDONvintner, and in his youth served as a page at