The Facts on File Companion to British Poetry Before 1600

paign against France, during which time a set of fi ve of
his poems were appended to an edition of SIR PHILIP
SIDNEY’s ASTROPHIL AND STELLA. Campion published his
fi rst book of Latin poetry, Poemata, in 1595, and
shortly thereafter he began work on A BOOKE OF AYRES,
though it would not be published until 1601. The fol-
lowing year, Campion wrote a poetics entitled Obser-
vations in the Art of English Poesie, which especially
addressed rhyme and meter. Sometime between 1602
and 1606, Campion earned a doctor of medicine
degree; however, his literary career continued at James
I’s court. Particularly known for his knowledge of
music and dance, Campion composed court masques,
musical compositions, MADRIGALs and a learned treatise
on music theory. He died on March 1, 1620, leaving
his entire estate to Philip Rosseter, with whom he had
collaborated on many works, including A Booke of
Ayres.
See also CANZONE, “I CARE NOT FOR THESE LADIES,”
“MY SWEETEST LESBIA,” “WHEN TO HER LUTE CORINNA
SINGS.”

FURTHER READING
Rydingm, Erik S. In Harmony Framed: Musical Humanism,
Thomas Campion, and the Two Daniels. Kirksville, Mo.: Six-
teenth Century Journal Publishers, 1993.
Wilson, Christopher. Words and Notes Coupled Lovingly
Together: Thomas Campion, A Critical Study. New York:
Garland, 1989.

CANTERBURY TALES, THE (OVERVIEW)
GEOFFREY CHAUCER (ca. 1385–1400) GEOFFREY
CHAUCER’s most famous work, The Canterbury Tales, is
a FRAME NARRATIVE piece that refl ects the stories told by
a motley group of pilgrims on their way to Canterbury
Cathedral. It begins with a General Prologue that
describes the Pilgrims and the context, followed by a
number of Tales. The plan as outlined by the Host in
the General Prologue calls for a total of four tales per
Pilgrim; two told on the way to Canterbury, and two
told on the way back. However, Chaucer died before
even one full set of Tales could be written. He also
never arranged the Tales in any particular order, leav-
ing it to modern editors to reconstruct possible arrange-
ments. Generally, editors divide The Canterbury Tales
into 10 fragments based on implicit links between

Tales, and other internal clues, as few explicit refer-

ences to Chaucer’s intended organization exist. The

most commonly accepted order is:

Fragment 1(A) General Prologue, Knight, Miller,

Reeve, Cook

Fragment 2 (B^1 ) Man of Law

Fragment 3 (D) Wife of Bath, Friar, Summoner

Fragment 4 (E) Clerk, Merchant

Fragment 5 (F) Squire, Franklin

Fragment 6 (C) Physician, Pardoner

Fragment 7 (B^2 ) Shipman, Prioress, Sir Thopas,

Melibee, Monk, Nun’s Priest

Fragment 8 (G) Second Nun, Canon’s Yeoman

Fragment 9 (H) Manciple

Fragment 10 (I) Parson

Some scholars put Fragment 8 (G) before Fragment

6 (C), while others break up Fragments 4 and 5 and

redistribute those Tales among other subsections.

The Chaucer Society added the alphabetical designa-

tions, based on the earliest accepted edition by Walter

Skeat.

The setting of The Canterbury Tales is in motion. The

pilgrims meet at the Tabard, an inn in Southwark,

which is across the Thames from the actual City of Lon-

don. All plan to travel to Canterbury Cathedral in Kent,

a county south of London, to visit the shrine housing

the relics of St. Thomas à Becket. A pilgrimage was, for

medieval Christians, a journey undertaken to improve

one’s faith, to seek spiritual assistance from the saints,

and as a measure of penance in reparation for one’s

sins. Few of Chaucer’s Pilgrims, however, particularly

appear to be on a pious journey of faith (the Parson is a

notable exception, and several other Pilgrims without

descriptions may be). The Tales are full of secular mirth,

sex, and other sins, and the Pilgrims themselves are

variously drunk, lecherous, deviant, deceptive, and so

forth, although a few are relatively decorous.

Overall, these men and women represent a wide

representation of medieval society and various profes-

sions. Chaucer is remembered, with reason, as the fi rst

writer to accurately depict the various social classes

interacting in a single frame on a relatively even level.

He is quite careful, also, to match the Tales and their

CANTERBURY TALES, THE 99