Summary:
The Middle Ages were the period between the end of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Renaissance period. The feudal system is what governed the people at this time and was made up of kings, knights, squires, and noblemen. There were very distinct social classes starting with the royal court. Then there were the lords, vassals, knights, squires, and other noblemen. The religious leaders followed them and included monks, priests, and clergy. High class, wealthy people came next, with landowners, merchants, professionals, laborers, and church officials. The lowest class consisted of slaves, servants and peasants.
The Middle Ages were the period between the end of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Renaissance period. The feudal system is what governed the people at this time and was made up of kings, knights, squires, and noblemen. There were very distinct social classes starting with the royal court. Then there were the lords, vassals, knights, squires, and other noblemen. The religious leaders followed them and included monks, priests, and clergy. High class, wealthy people came next, with landowners, merchants, professionals, laborers, and church officials. The lowest class consisted of slaves, servants and peasants. The Christian church played a very vital role in civilizing Western Europe, but at the same time took a lot of criticism due to the pope's actions. Despite the controversy, the church remained well respected and followed.
Chaucer portrayed the political aspects of the Middle Ages by using two characters, the knight and the squire. The knight possessed all the qualities that a good knight should have. First was his love of ideals- chivalry, fidelity, honor, generosity, and refinement. The knight is also known for his impressive military career, and has fought in many serious and dangerous battles. The third quality was his kind, gentle manner, and the fourth was his array. Despite his military background, he was known as a lover, not a fighter. The Squire was much like his father. He was curly-haired, youthfully handsome, and loves dancing and courting. He was known as a romantic and had also spent some time with the Calvary.
When portraying the social aspects of the Middle Ages, Chaucer used ranked social classes. These classes started with the royal courts, and then went to the noblemen, consisting of lords, knights, squires, and vassals. Then there is the clergy and other religious leaders, those who devoted their lives to the church and cared nothing about money. Despite their lack of wealth, they were still very well respected within the community. Under the religious figures came landowners, merchants, skilled workers and laborers. At the very bottom of the social ladder came the servants, slaves and peasants. At the top of Chaucer's social list were the knight and the squire. They were followed by the people that committed their lives to the church, like the monk, the nun, and the friar. Then there's the wealthy Franklin, and the laborers, cook and plowman. The professionals such as the clerk, the man of law, the guildsmen and the physician followed, along with the stewards. The stewards were the miller, the manciple and the reeve.
Chaucer used his characters to criticize the church and show how it was corrupted in its time. A character that portrayed Chaucer's ideas was the monk. He loves to hunt, even though the church looked down on this activity, and dismisses the rule, thinking that he has the power and authority to do so. Another character that deals with the religious parts of this time was the Friar. He had taken a vow of poverty, but became a beggar. He only took advantage of the wealthy however, thinking it okay because they had money to spare and it made himself seem wealthy. The Pardoner had many tales which he would share with his congregation. His "sermons" swindled people into contributing to his gluttony. The Prioress would pretend to be of the royal court, so she would come off looking better then she was. All of these characters were portrayed to be of a corrupt fashion, but in actuality, they were still given very much respect.
Chaucer's views on the Middle Ages were a very good representation of how it actually was. He managed to show how the religious views of this time were corrupted by making his characters nowhere near the perfect person. He also showed how the people were ranked in these days, and put them in the order of their importance. He described the chivalrous knight and his son, the romantic squire, who stood at the top of the social ladder. Then he proceeded to the religious people, the wealthy, and lastly, the lower less privileged people. Throughout the story, Chaucer continues to convey the idea of corrupt in the church and criticizes it constantly. This relates to the Middle Ages, a time when the church was very corrupt because of the actions of the pope.
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