appointed justice of the peace, and was elected to Par-
liament; Philippa died around 1387. Chaucer returned
to London by 1389, when he was appointed clerk of
the king’s works (1389–91). He dabbled in adminis-
trative affairs afterwards, but never again achieved an
important position. He died on October 25, 1400, and
is buried in Westminster Abbey in what has become
known as Poet’s Corner.
Besides the above, there are only a few other facts
known about Chaucer. He was sued for nonpayment
of debts on several occasions, robbed at least once, and
fi ned for beating a friar. Around 1380, a woman named
Cecilia Chaumpaigne accused him of raptus (varyingly
rape or abduction), but Chaucer paid 10 pounds to
avoid legal action. Whether or not he was guilty
remains unknown.
Chaucer’s greatest achievement is the popularizing
of the VERNACULAR. All of his works are written in the
London dialect of Middle English. Scholars tradition-
ally divide Chaucer’s literary endeavors into three peri-
ods: the French period, the Italian period, and The
CANTERBURY TALES. The fi rst period dates up to 1370
and includes The BOOK OF THE DUCHESS and a partial
translation of the Roman de la Rose. The Italian period
(up to 1387) is indebted to Chaucer’s travels and to the
works of Dante and BOCCACCIO. These poems include
The HOUSE OF FAME, The PARLIAMENT OF FOWLS, The LEG-
END OF GOOD WOMEN, Troilus and Criseyde, and a trans-
lation of BOETHIUS’s The CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY. In
writing Troilus and Criseyde, Chaucer perfected the
poetic form known as RHYME ROYAL, which is some-
times referred to as CHAUCERIAN STANZA. Similarly, The
Legend of Good Women introduces the HEROIC COUPLET
to English poetry.
After Chaucer’s return to London, he began working
on The Canterbury Tales. Left unfi nished at his death, it
is a FRAME NARRATIVE poem that relates stories told by
pilgrims on their way to Canterbury Cathedral. This
famed work displays a diverse picture of 14th-century
English life, and it is deservedly commended for its
vivid characterization and adroit poetic techniques.
See also GENERAL PROLOGUE TO THE CANTERBURY TALES.
FURTHER READING
Boitani, Piero, and Jill Mann, eds. The Cambridge Chaucer
Companion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
Ellis, Steve. Chaucer. Plymouth, Northcote House, 1996.
Pearsall, Derek. The Life of Geoffrey Chaucer. Oxford and
New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.CHAUCERIAN STANZA See RHYME ROYAL.
“CHERRY-TREE CAROL, THE” ANONYMOUS
(ca. 13th century) There is no surviving medieval
manuscript containing the text of “The Cherry-Tree
Carol”; however, it is generally accepted to have been
composed during the 13th century, alongside other
popular CAROLs. As a result, there are four varying sets
of lyrics that modern editors can choose from.
The basic narrative of this nativity carol is the same
in all versions: Joseph and Mary are walking through a
garden when the pregnant Mary asks Joseph to pick
her some cherries. The aged Joseph angrily tells her to
ask the one who impregnated her for some fruit. Upon
hearing this response, Mary’s baby (Jesus), still inside
the womb, commands a cherry tree to bow down for
his mother. Joseph immediately repents his harsh
words upon witnessing the miracle. Two basic variants
of prophetic STANZAs then follow: the now-born babe
sits on Mary’s knee, telling of his death and resurrec-
tion, or an angel appears to Joseph and foretells the
circumstances of Jesus’ birth.
The carol has a number of medieval literary ana-
logues attesting to its early origins. Its closest analogue
is chapter 20 of the apocryphal Gospel of Pseudo-Mat-
thew, which enjoyed widespread popularity in the
Middle Ages. The incident described there, however,
takes place after Jesus’ birth during the family’s fl ight
to Egypt and has Mary wishing for the fruit of a palm
tree. Joseph responds that the tree is too high to climb,
and thus Jesus commands it to bow down so they can
gather the fruit. The 15th-century narrative poem The
Childhood of Jesus also recounts this version of the story.
However, the 15th-century N-Town Nativity play
includes the incident as set forth in the carol. Some
critics also consider the garden scene in GEOFFREY
CHAUCER’s “The Merchant’s Tale” a parodic analogue of
the carol. There, the foolish old knight January, in an
ironic reversal of Joseph’s skepticism, is easily deceived
(and cuckolded) by his young wife May’s desire for the
fruit of a pear tree.“CHERRY-TREE CAROL, THE” 111