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<= span lang=3Den-US style=3D'language:en-US'> Chaucer’= s Church Court Summoner |
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Church court summoner the Canterbury tales |
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OLIVIA 5 |
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&n= bsp; = ; The Church Court S= ummoner is an ugly and harsh character of the Canterbury Tales. His face ha= s a very red complexion, and is covered with pimples and a scaly infection.= His appearance fits his job, which is to summon sinners for trial be= fore a Church Court. The Summoner and the Pardoner are together the s= ecular power of the Church, and both of them are corrupt and abusive. = It is a terrible experience for a sinner to come in contact with the Summo= ner, but the sinners often have little or no trouble bribing him. = Chaucer’s Summoner is known for drin= king red wine and shouting like a madman, and when he drinks, he has a tend= ency to “show off” by speaking only phrases in Latin which he h= as learned. The Summoner is seen as corrupt, for he has a tendency to= force people into bribing him and protecting his interests by writing fals= e citations. The man is also portrayed as being guilty of the same crimes a= s the men he summons to the court. |
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&n= bsp; = ; In Medieval Englan= d, a Summoner was a lower class man who was responsible for finding violato= rs of the laws of the Church, and for bringing them to the Church Court.&nb= sp; In the Court, the sinners would then be tried for crimes that oppose th= e Church, such as witchcraft and illicit intercourse. This was an imp= ortant job of the time, because of the role the Church played in the lives = of Medieval people. All people of that time believed in God and had f= aith in the Church, and it was therefore very important that all people fol= low the laws the Church presented. |
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The Job of A Summoner |
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Chaucer’s Summoner |
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Today’s “Summoners” |
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A Medieval Church in East Sussex |
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Dog the Bounty Hunter Video (Click the image) |
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= Today’s equivalent of the Church Court Summoner is the “= bounty hunter,” also known as a bail reinforcement agent, a fugitive = recovery agent, or a bail fugitive investigator. Bounty hunting, a pr= actice only legal in two nations, involves the “hunting” of fug= itives for rewards. The bounty hunter is sent by their employers, oft= en bail bondsmen, to catch bail jumpers. The bounty hunter is then pa= id about ten percent of the fugitive’s initial bail amount to help en= sure that they will do an efficient job of summoning the fugitives. B= ounty hunters in the United States today claim to catch about 90% of the pe= ople who jump bail each year. The bounty hunters are similar to the <= /span> |
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Summoner in the sense that both are sent to summon sinners for tri= al, the only difference being the role of the Church. = A well-known bounty hunter today is Duane “Dog” Chapman,= the star of the TV series Dog the Bounty Hunter (click photo to watch vide= o clip from the show). In the reality show, Dog and his family have a= dventures while bounty hunting in Honolulu, Hawaii. |
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Sources |
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· enotes,com. Web. 11 Nov. 2010. <http://= www.enotes.com/canterbury-tales-text/the-summoner>. · Megaessays.com. Web. 13 Nov. 2010. <http://ww= w.megaessays.com/viewpaper/96365.html>. · Sparknotes. Web. 11 Nov. 2010. <http://ww= w.sparknotes.com/lit/canterbury/characters.html>. · Dog the Bounty Hunter. Video. 15 Nov. 2010= . <http://www.aetv.com/dog-the-bounty-hunter/video/index.jsp?bcpid=3D165= 3590584&bclid=3D1886195442&bctid=3D1887799688>. · Wikipedia. “Bounty Hunter.” Web= . 15 Nov. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bounty_hunter>.<= /p> |
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Cultural Context |
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= The culture of all people in Medieval England was similar regardless= of social class. All people had strong belief in the Church, and all= people believed in Heaven and Hell after death. Therefore, there was= also the common belief that all people should follow the laws that the Chu= rch presented to the people. The common citizens viewed the Church Co= urt Summoner as an important role in society, for that person’s job i= nvolved capturing sinners of the Church laws and bringing them to trial.&nb= sp; However, the views were different of those who did not follow the laws = of the Church, for they greatly feared an encounter with either the Church = Court or the Summoner. |
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Summoners were responsible for bringing people to the Chu= rch Court for sins such as adultery. |