Key Merchant’s Tale Context
Women
Women in medieval life and literature
Once widowed, a woman had legal independence
Two options: marry or ‘take the veil’/become a nun
Some exceptions where women were in power e.g., Queen Isabella who brought about the
end of the reign of her husband Edward 11
Character tropes: ‘the virgin’, ‘the whore’, and white + black witches (white were old women
who often worked with herbs to try and find cures vs black witches practised witchcraft to
cause harm to others)
Theodora of Byzantium = famous woman at the time. Future emperor Justinian was so in
love with her that the changed the law which forbade royalty to marry actresses so made
her his wife. Idea of gaining agency links to May.
Eleanor of Aquitaine (122-1204) = hugely wealthy and independently successful BUT
referred to as she-wolf because of this
Theophrastus: Greek Philosopher, number of works = inherently anti-feminist, depicts wives
as nagging, deceitful
The law permitted men to beat their wives provided he neither maimed nor killed her
Courtly Love
Love was seen as an uncontrollable sickness
Characterised by nobility and chivalry where knights set out on adventure, performing many
deeds + services for ladies because of their ‘courtly love’
Brides were chosen for their dowry or status
Courtly love became like a game (‘game of love’)
[See later section on books]
Religious views towards women
St Paul, one of Christs disciples, thought women should be silent, submissive + not allowed
any authority over a man
St Jerome (known for translating the bible into Latin) was adamant that the virginal state
was superior to being married – wrote anti-feminist ‘Golden Book on Marriage’ detailing the
wickedness of wives under the guise of Theophrastus
Religion
Thomas Beckett and Pilgrimages
Becket was a 12th century chancellor and archbishop of Canterbury whose murder resulted
in his canonisation
Remembered as a saint and martyr by the Catholic Church
Engaged in conflict with Henry 2 over rights and privileges of the church -> murdered when
he eventually returned from France where he fled
In Middle Ages, thousands pilgrims/yr visited his shrine
Pilgrims were often used as a literary device to explore multiple different stories
, The Wife of Bath is described as an experienced pilgrim
Garden of Eden
Genesis 3 described where God creates the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve
Biblical paradise but also fall of man
In some ways January attempts to recreate it (‘so fair a garden I never known’) -> his hubris
is highlighted
Church
Since life was of a poor quality, hoping for a better afterlife drew many ppl to religion
This was so appealing -> church had influence over the masses
Levied taxes -> wealthy
Peasants were illiterate -> trusted those in power
Purgatory was believed to be a place/time of punishment after death
Unlike hell, where punishment for sins committed in life was eternal, purgatory was a place
of purification
Marriage
Canon laws = those created by the Church to regulate the ways in which the faithful were to
conduct their lives
St Paul remarked in Colossians 3:18-19 ‘wives submit to your husbands’
St Paul created the ‘marital or conjugal debt’ – the mutual obligation of both husband and
wife to have sex when requested by their spouse
Genesis 1: ‘God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply’ - idea that sexual relations should only
be carried out to lead to having a child. Links to January's desire to have an heir to fulfil his
life despite being an old man- link to Senex Amans. Importance of the heir and legacy.
Genesis 2: ‘They become one flesh’- links to ideas of marriage and the marriage sacrament.
‘One flesh’- physically and from the perspective of medieval society, Januarie and May are
seen as one. However, consciously it is evident that May and Januarie have very different
morals
Ephesians 5: women are expected to treat their husbands with respect as the heads of the
household + men are expected to care for their wives
Sex
No sex when: menstruating, pregnant, nursing, Sunday, lent, advent, Easter, Wednesday,
Saturday, daylight, naked, feast day, in church Sex was allowed only once a week in the
missionary position
St Augustus 'the only legitimate cause for sex was reproduction’
The Black Death, 1348
Shows how religion permeated all of society
Old Testament God was a lot more punishing but in the new = was more forgiving – links to
January’s fear of implications of marriage
Ppl thought the Black Death was a kind of divine punishment – retribution of sins against God
Thus, some ppl felt they had to get his forgiveness to overcome plague e.g., thousands of
jews were massacred in 1348
