Chaucer and His England

No book of this size can pretend to treat exhaustively of all that concerns Chaucer and his England; but the Author's main aim has been to supply an informal historical commentary on the poet's works. He has not hesitated, in a book intended for the general public, to modernize Chaucer's spelling, or even on rare occasions to change a word.

His best acknowledgments are due to those who have laboured so fruitfully during the last fifty years in publishing Chaucerian and other original documents of the later Middle Ages; more especially to Dr. F. J. Furnivall, the indefatigable founder of the Chaucer Society and the Early English Text Society; to Professor W. W. Skeat, whose ungrudging generosity in private help is necessarily known only to a small percentage of those who have been aided by his printed works; to Dr. R. R. Sharpe, archivist of the London Guildhall; to Prebendary F. C. Hingeston-Randolph and other editors of Episcopal Registers; to Messrs. W. Hudson and Walter Rye for their contributions to Norfolk history; and to Mr. V. B. Redstone's researches in Chaucerian genealogy. His proofs have enjoyed the great advantage of revision by Dr. Furnivall, who has made many valuable suggestions and corrections, but who is in no way responsible for other possible errors or omissions. The many debts to other writers are, it is hoped, duly acknowledged in their places; but the Author must here confess himself specially beholden to the writings of M. Jusserand, whose rare sympathy and insight are combined with an equal charm of exposition.

He has also to thank Dr. F. J. Furnivall, Messrs. E. Kelsey and H. R. Browne of Eastbourne, and the Librarian of Uppingham School, for kind permission to reproduce seven of the illustrations; also the Editor of the Home and Counties Magazine for similar courtesy with regard to the plan of Chaucer's Aldgate included in a 16th-century survey published for the first time in that magazine (vol. i. p. 50).

EASTBOURNE

CONTENTS

PAGE

PREFACE v

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xi

CHAPTER I ENGLAND IN EMBRYO 1

CHAPTER II BOYHOOD AND YOUTH 12

CHAPTER III THE KING'S SQUIRE 25

CHAPTER IV THE AMBASSADOR 36

CHAPTER V THE MAN OF BUSINESS 51

CHAPTER VI LAST DAYS 64

CHAPTER VII LONDON CUSTOM-HOUSE 76

CHAPTER VIII ALDGATE TOWER 93

CHAPTER IX TOWN AND COUNTRY 104

CHAPTER X THE LAWS OF LONDON 119

CHAPTER XI "CANTERBURY TALES"--THE DRAMATIS PERSONÆ 137

CHAPTER XII "CANTERBURY TALES"--FIRST AND SECOND DAYS 151

CHAPTER XIII "CANTERBURY TALES"--THIRD AND FOURTH DAYS 160

CHAPTER XIV KING AND QUEEN 173

CHAPTER XV KNIGHTS AND SQUIRES 188

CHAPTER XVI HUSBANDS AT THE CHURCH DOOR 202

CHAPTER XVII THE GAY SCIENCE 217

CHAPTER XVIII THE GREAT WAR 232

CHAPTER XIX THE BURDEN OF THE WAR 245