Chaucer's England
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Yale University Press
Publishing:13th Oct '26
£25.00
This title is due to be published on 13th October, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
A lively account of medieval England through the eyes of its most famous poet and chronicler
Who were Chaucer’s thirty-three pilgrims, and why were they heading to Canterbury? What do they and their tales tell us about medieval England as a place, and about the daily lives of its people?
Nicholas Orme, one of our leading historians, brings literature and history together to answer this question, using the Canterbury Tales and the other great writings of Chaucer’s day. In ten chapters, he explains what people thought: about time and space, religion and the social system. He shows their wide degree of literacy and how they spent their leisure. He takes us through the politics of the day, the crusades, and the lifestyles of the nobility, clergy, townsfolk, and country dwellers, along with the landscapes they lived in.
This is an intimate and intriguing guide to the world which produced some of the greatest poetry in the English language, re-creating Chaucer’s England in all its richness and variety.
“A vivid account of the society that produced Chaucer and is reflected, and often satirised, in his poetry. Chaucer’s England both guides us through Chaucer’s times and helps us better to understand Chaucer’s poetry. This is a wonderfully rich portrait of a period both of social transformation and cultural flourishing.”—Anthony Bale, author of A Travel Guide to the Middle Ages
“This is a wonderfully comprehensive and considered introduction to the world of The Canterbury Tales. There are new details and insights here for those already familiar with Chaucer’s writing. Readers coming to it for the first time will find an accessible series of illuminating contexts for understanding both the tales and their tellers.”—Julia Boffey, author of Manuscript and Print in London
“With his most recent book, Nicholas Orme brings to life the physical, social, and intellectual worlds of Chaucer and his pilgrims. Orme shows not only the rich diversity of medieval life and thought, but the awareness medieval people had for their world. This book not only situates The Canterbury Tales in England’s history, it positions England’s history in The Canterbury Tales.”—Katherine French, author of The People of the Parish
ISBN: 9780300285048
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
368 pages