The Canterbury Tales and Pilgrimages The characters in The Canterbury Tales meet while on a pilgrimage, which is a journey taken for a spiritual purpose to a spiritually meaningful destination. Among Christians of the Middle Ages, pilgrimages to Israel were particularly popular.
Why was the pilgrimage important in Canterbury Tales?
The most important aspect of real-life pilgrimage used by Chaucer in the Canterbury Tales is the fact that a wide variety of people, of different classes and different places might be found together on a pilgrimage.
What does Chaucer say about the pilgrimage?
Some stories are bawdy fabliaux, some saints’ lives or serious treatises. Chaucer introduces his pilgrimage by saying that people want to travel in spring on pilgrimages, especially to the shrine of St Thomas Becket in Canterbury – who has helped them when they were sick (I 18).
What is the pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral?
Canterbury Cathedral has been a major pilgrimage destination for many centuries and it was the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket in 1170 and his subsequent canonisation in 1173 that made Canterbury Cathedral the third most important site of Christian pilgrimage in the world, after Jerusalem and Rome.
What is the purpose of a pilgrimage?
A pilgrimage is a sacred journey, undertaken for a spiritual purpose. Pilgrims are different from tourists: they travel for spiritual reasons, not just to relax or for fun. Pilgrimage is a search for meaning, purpose, values or truth (and in this sense, like life).
What is the role of a pilgrimage?
pilgrimage, a journey undertaken for a religious motive. Although some pilgrims have wandered continuously with no fixed destination, pilgrims more commonly seek a specific place that has been sanctified by association with a divinity or other holy personage.
Why Chaucer chose a pilgrimage as the stage to the tales?
Why do you think Chaucer chose a pilgrimage as the stage to the Tales? A pilgrimage would be the only time that people of these different social classes would have the opportunity to interact.
What is the most important quote from The Canterbury Tales?
The Canterbury Tales Quotes
“The First Great Cause and Mover of all above When first He made that fairest chain of love, Great was the consequence and high the intent.”
Who went on the pilgrimage in The Canterbury Tales?
The Knight
The first pilgrim Chaucer describes in the General Prologue, and the teller of the first tale. The Knight represents the ideal of a medieval Christian man-at-arms. He has participated in no less than fifteen of the great crusades of his era. Brave, experienced, and prudent, the narrator greatly admires him.
How long did the pilgrimage to Canterbury take?
More exactly, the original plan as described by the character Harry Bailey was to have the 30 pilgrims tell 4 tales apiece, for a total of 120 tales, over 2–3 days of travel to Canterbury and 2–3 days of travel back to London.
Where does the Canterbury pilgrimage start?
The alternative starting point of the Pilgrims Way to Canterbury (as opposed to Winchester) is Southwark, in London, and the route joins at Otford/Kemsing with the Winchester to Canterbury Pilgrims Way (aka North Downs Pilgrims Way).
When specifically does the pilgrimage to Canterbury begin?
According to Chaucer, in what season does the pilgrimage take place? -Pilgrims wants to go on pilgrimages to Canterbury in the spring (this is their spring break!)
What is an example of a pilgrimage?
The definition of a pilgrimage is a long journey, especially one made by a person going to a holy place. An example of a pilgrimage is the Hajj, the journey taken by thousands of Muslim people traveling to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
What are the main features of a pilgrimage?
Definition #2: Pilgrimage involves three factors: a holy place; attrac- tion of individuals or crowds to this place; a specific aim, i.e., to obtain some spiritual or material benefit (Brandon 1970,501).
What is the difference between pilgrim and pilgrimage?
A pilgrim is a person who has a firm belief in a particular religion and undertakes a journey for a spiritual reason. This spiritual journey is known as pilgrimage and it can be to a place considered holy by the specific religion.
What is a pilgrimage and why was it important during the medieval period?
In the Middle Ages the Church encouraged people to make pilgrimages to special holy places called shrines. It was believed that if you prayed at these shrines you might be forgiven for your sins and have more chance of going to heaven. Others went to shrines hoping to be cured from an illness they were suffering from.
What role does pilgrimage have in the life of the pilgrim?
Such journeys served a variety of functions: a pilgrim might set out to fulfill a vow, to expiate a crime, to seek a miraculous cure, or simply to deepen his or her faith.
What is pilgrimage in the General Prologue?
The General Prologue is the first part of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. It introduces the frame story, in which a group of pilgrims travelling to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury agree to take part in a storytelling competition, and describes the pilgrims themselves.
What is the narrator’s main motivation for making the pilgrimage?
Near the beginning of “The Prologue,” the narrator reveals that his main motivation for making the pilgrimage? His religious devotion.
What are 3 reasons the Canterbury Tales are important?
The Canterbury Tales is considered Chaucer’s masterpiece and is among the most important works of medieval literature for many reasons besides its poetic power and entertainment value, notably its depiction of the different social classes of the 14th century CE as well as clothing worn, pastimes enjoyed, and language/
What is the first line of The Canterbury Tales?
Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende, The hooly blisful martir for to seke, That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.