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Cha= ucer’s Manciple in the “Canterbury Tales”. |
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The Manciple Matt, Period 5 |
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The “Canterbury Tales”, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, w= as a story that took place at the end of the 14th century in Medieval Engla= nd. The story consists of many pilgrims making their pilgrimage to Canterbu= ry. Each pilgrim has their own tale to tell along the way. They come from a= ll walks of life. One of the characters in the story was the Manciple, who = was a lower-class person who worked for the lawyers in London.
In Medieval England lawyers formed societies in the Inn of Courts = where they studied law. A manciple was someone who was in charge of storing= food and catering meals and events in colleges, monasteries, and lawyer so= cieties in the Four Inns of Court. Manciples were less educated and were mo= stly illiterate. Chaucer describes the Manciple as intelligent, aware of th= e market, and said he can, “Outpace the wisdom of a heap of learned m= en” (Chaucer, 76). Chaucer’s Manciple was described as working = in the Inner= Temple.
English lawyers used to be trained in the Engli= sh Inns of Court. The Inns of Cour= t were four places where English lawyers trained in London in Medieval Time= s be because Henry III banned law schools in London and the Catholic Ch= urch did not allow their leaders to teach law. This is why the Inns of Cour= t were established. The Inner Temple where the Manciple worked was one of t= he four inns. The inns were the equivalent of today’s colleges and un= iversities because they supplied a place for students to eat, sleep, and st= udy. The Inns of Court greatly influenced American law and today over 350 i= nns function in America with over 85,000 members.
In Medieval England, the government was not very business friendly= or consumer friendly. The Manciple worked for lawyer societies which were = not guilds, but had the same idea. Lawyers wanted to protect themselves fro= m the government’s anti-business policies and did so by forming socie= ties that most lawyers in England joined. The English government and feudal= lords heavily taxed businesses, which is why these societies and guilds we= re formed. Like guilds, these societies = began to work and lawyers became wealthier and successful. The Inner Temple= and the Inns and Court was where the lawyers were introduced to these soci= eties. The Manciple often made food for the parties and feasts the societie= s held for its members.
The Manciple was definitely considered a lower class citizen in Me= dieval society. The Manciple worked for the lawyers, who were in the upper = echelons of society. Chaucer said that the Manciple was illiterate and had = next to no education. English Medieval society was broken down into an organized system. The lawyers fell= under the City Professionals and Leaders who primarily resided in London a= nd were growing quickly in influence. The Manciple fell under the lower cla= ss who had very little rights, but were aware of their significance in Engl= and as the country’s main economic source. The lawyers were stereotyp= ically young, clever, and arrogant while the Manciple and the lower class w= ere thought of as dirty, yet more clever than their rich counterparts..
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The Inne= r Temple where the Manciple worked. |
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Canterbu= ry Cathedral where all pilgrimages were made. |
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Pilgrims= in the “Canterbury Tales”. |
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Geoffrey= Chaucer, author of the “Canterbury Tales”. |
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Bibliography Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. McDonnell Nakadate Pfordr= esher Shoemate. 1982. Print
Wikipedia. Inner Temple. Web. 11/12/10
Lawyers in Chaucer’s Time. Seaman, Betsy. 1982. Web. 11/12/1= 0
Social Class in Medieval England. Prof. G. Steinberg. Web. 11/15/1= 0
Inns of Court. Hohenberger, Robert. Web. 11/12/10
Medieval Guilds. Web. 11/12/10.
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