" Stuart"

House of Stuart:

The House of Stuart is a European royal house. Founded by Robert II, the House of Stuart—also spelled Stewart in Scottish contexts—first became monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century before inheriting ( ereditato) the kingdoms of England (including Wales) and Kingdom of Ireland in the 17th century. The dynasty's patrilineal Breton ancestors had held the office of High Steward of Scotland since the 12th century, after arriving by way of Norman England. In 1707, Queen Anne became the first monarch of the newly merged Kingdom of Great Britain. The family also maintained the traditional English claims to the Kingdom of France.




In total, nine Stuart monarchs ruled Scotland from 1371 until 1603. James VI then inherited the realms of ElizabethTudor, becoming James I of England and of Ireland in the Union of the Crowns. In all, four Stuart kings ruled the British Isles, with an interregnum of Parliamentary rule lasting from 1649 to 1660 as a result of the English Civil War. Following the Glorious Revolution in 1688, two Stuart queens ruled the isles: Mary II and Anne. Both were the daughters of James II.




During the reign of the Stuarts, Scotland developed from a relatively poor and feudal country into a prosperous, modern and centralised state. They ruled during a time in European history of transition from the Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, to the midpoint of the Early modern period. Monarchs such as James IV were known for sponsoring exponents of the Northern Renaissance such as the poet Robert Henryson, and others. After the Stuarts gained control of all of Great Britain, the arts and sciences continued to develop; many of William Shakespeare's best known plays were authored during the Jacobean era, while institutions such as the Royal Society and Royal Mail were established during the reign of Charles II.

Origin:

The name "Stewart" derives from the political position  of office similar to a governor, known as a steward. It was originally adopted as the family surname by Walter Stewart, 3rd High Steward of Scotland, who was the third member of the family to hold the position. Prior to this, family names were not used, but instead they had patronyms defined through the father. During the 16th century, the French spelling Stuart was adopted by Mary, Queen of Scots, when she was living in France. She sanctioned the change to ensure the correct pronunciation of the Scots version of the name Stewart, because retaining the letter 'w' would have made it difficult for French speakers, who followed the Germans in usually rendering "w" as /v/. The spelling Stuart was also used by her second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley; he was the father of James VI and I, so the official spelling Stuart for the British royal family derives from him.


The ancestral origins of the Stuart family are quite obscure—what is known for certain is that they can trace their ancestry back to Alan FitzFlaad, a Breton who came over to Great Britain not long after the Norman conquest. Alan had been the hereditary steward of the Bishop of Dol in the Duchy of Brittany; Alan had a good relationship with the ruling Norman monarch Henry I of England who awarded him with lands in Shropshire.The FitzAlan family quickly established themselves as a prominent Anglo-Norman noble house, with some of its members serving as High Sheriff of Shropshire. It was the great-grandson of Alan named Walter FitzAlanwho became the first hereditary High Steward of Scotland, while his brother William's family would go on to become Earls of Arundel.

When the civil war in the Kingdom of England, known as The Anarchy, broke out between legitimist claimant Matilda, Lady of the English and her cousin who had usurped her, King Stephen, Walter had sided with Matilda.Another supporter of Matilda was her uncle David I of Scotland from the House of Dunkeld.After Matilda was pushed out of England into the County of Anjou, essentially failing in her legitimist attempt for the throne, many of her supporters in England fled also. It was then that Walter followed David up to the Kingdom of Scotland, where he was granted lands in Renfrewshire and the title for life of Lord High Steward. The next monarch of Scotland, Malcolm IV made the High Steward title a hereditary arrangement. While High Stewards, the family were based at Dundonald, Ayrshire between the 12th and 13th centuries.

The Story:

The sixth High Steward of Scotland, Walter Stewart (1293–1326), married  Marjorie, daughter of Robert the Bruce, and also played an important part in the Battle of Bannockburn gaining further favour. Their son Robert was heir to the House of Bruce, the Lordship of Cunningham and the Bruce lands of Bourtreehill; he eventually inherited the Scottish throne when his uncle David II died childless in 1371.


In 1503, James IV attempted to secure peace with England by marrying King Henry VII's daughter, Margaret Tudor. The birth of their son, later James V, brought the House of Stewart into the line of descent of the House of Tudor, and the English throne. Margaret Tudor later married Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, and their daughter, Margaret Douglas, was the mother of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. In 1565, Darnley married his half-cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, the daughter of James V. Darnley's father was Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox, a member of the Stewart of Darnley branch of the House. Lennox was a descendant of Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland, also descended from James II, being Mary's heir presumptive. Thus Darnley was also related to Mary on his father's side and because of this connection, Mary's heirs remained part of the House of Stuart. Following John Stewart of Darnley's ennoblement for his part at the Battle of Baugé in 1421 and the grant of lands to him at Aubigny andConcressault, the Darnley Stewarts' surname was gallicised to Stuart.



Both Mary, Queen of Scots, and Lord Darnley had strong claims on the English throne, through their mutual grandmother, Margaret Tudor. This eventually led to the accession of the couple's only child James as King of Scotland, England, and Ireland in 1603. However, this was a Personal Union, as the three Kingdoms shared a monarch, but had separate governments, churches, and institutions. Indeed the personal union did not prevent an armed conflict, known as the Bishops' Wars, breaking out between England and Scotland in 1639. This was to become part of the cycle of political and military conflict that marked the reign of Charles I of England, Scotland & Ireland, culminating in a series of conflicts known as the War of the Three Kingdoms. The trial and execution of Charles I by the English Parliament in 1649 began 11 years of republican government known as the English Interregnum. Scotland initially recognised the late King's son, also called Charles, as their monarch, before being subjugated and forced to enter Cromwell's Commonwealth by General Monck's occupying army. During this period, the principal members of the House of Stuart lived in exile in mainland Europe. The younger Charles returned to Britain to assume his three thrones in 1660 as "Charles II of England, Scotland & Ireland", but would date his reign from his father's death eleven years before.




In feudal and dynastic terms, the Scottish reliance on French support was revived during the reign of Charles II, whose own mother was French. His sister Henriettamarried into the French Royal family. Charles II left no legitimate children, but his numerous illegitimate descendants included the Dukes of Buccleuch, the Dukes of Grafton, the Dukes of Saint Albans and the Dukes of Richmond.

Monarchs of Scotland

Portrait	Name	From	Until	Relationship with predecessor
	Robert II of Scotland	22 February 1371	19 April 1390	nephew of David II of Scotland who died without issue. Robert's mother Marjorie Bruce was daughter of Robert I of Scotland.
	Robert III of Scotland	19 April 1390	4 April 1406	son of Robert II of Scotland.
	James I of Scotland	4 April 1406	21 February 1437	son of Robert III of Scotland.
	James II of Scotland	21 February 1437	3 August 1460	son of James I of Scotland.
	James III of Scotland	3 August 1460	11 June 1488	son of James II of Scotland.
	James IV of Scotland	11 June 1488	9 September 1513	son of James III of Scotland.
	James V of Scotland	9 September 1513	14 December 1542	son of James IV of Scotland.
	Mary I of Scotland	14 December 1542	24 July 1567	daughter of James V of Scotland.

Portrait	Name	From	Until	Relationship with predecessor
	James VI of Scotland and James I of England	24 July 1567 and 24 March 1603	27 March 1625	son of Mary, Queen of Scots and Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. King of Scotland alone, 1567–1603, until inheriting the titles King of England and Ireland, including claim to France from the extinct Tudors.
	Charles I of England, Scotland & Ireland	27 March 1625	30 January 1649 (executed)	son of James VI of Scotland & I of England & Ireland.
	Charles II of England, Scotland & Ireland	30 January 1649 (de jure); 2 May 1660 (de facto)	6 February 1685	son of Charles I of England, Scotland & Ireland. Prohibited by Parliament from assuming the throne during a republican period of government known as theCommonwealth of England, but then accepted retroactively as king.
	James VII of Scotland and James II of England and Ireland	6 February 1685	13 February 1689	brother of Charles II of England, Scotland & Ireland, who died with without legitimate issue. Son of Charles I. Overthrown at theRevolution of 1688.
	Mary II of England, Scotland and Ireland	13 February 1689	28 December 1694	daughter of James II of England and Ireland & VII of Scotland, who was still alive and pretending to the throne. Co-monarch wasWilliam III & II who outlived his wife.
	Anne of Great Britain and Ireland	8 March 1702	1 August 1714	sister of Mary II. daughter of James II of England and Ireland & VII of Scotland. Name of state changed to Great Britain with the political Acts of Union 1707, though family has used title since James I & VI. Died issueless, rights pass to House of Hanover.

The Puritans

The Puritans:

The ideology of Puritanism is not a simple one. There were many different ways of being a Puritan and they changed often during the 100 years of their existence in England. These differences were exported to New England with the early settlers,where discussions and argument over the use of authority took place.Roger Williams was expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony because he thought the government still had too much control.He went on to found Providence, Rhode Island, a haven for religious freedom. There is a certain irony in the fact that while England the basic tenets of Puritanism eventually lost out to the Church of England, in America their impact has remained strong.

The concepts of freedom, religion, expression and congregaionalism, as well as salvation and the related Calvinist movement, took hold in the New World. Whereas the Church of England has never taken a strong foothold ( punto d'appoggio) in America, the Puritan heritage ( patrimonio) is part of their everyday life. Many of the American thoughts and belief today are an indirect result of the Puritan beliefs of the " Pilgrims".

" The Civil War"

The Civil War:

During the 17th century, Britain went throught a republican experiment that was to be reversed in 1660.

A- Who became king when James I died?

- Charles I (1600-1649) secceeded his father, James I, in 1625.

B- What did Charles I have to face (affrontare) when he bacame king?

-He could not avoid (evitare) direct confrontation with the Purtitan party ( partito), which had given rise ( dato luogo) to a social and political movement holding a considerable majority in Parliament, and whose members mainly belonged to the middle classes.

C- Who were the Puritans?

- Puritan was the name given to the more extreme Protestants within the Church of England who thought the English Reformation had not done enought to reform the doctrines and structure of the Church by eliminating every trace of Catholic influence. The Puritans eventually went on to attempt purification  of the self and society as well.(tentativo di purificazione di se stessi e della società).

D- Why did the Civil War break out?

-Puritans wanted a true balance of power between the king and Parliament, but Charles I firmly believed he was king by divine right (re per diritto divino). His reign was therefore troubled (perciò turbato) by a continuous clash with Parliament. In 1642 the king was asked to give up ( abbandonare) his command of the armed forces: he refused and the Civil War broke out.

E- What factions were involved in the war?

- The forces were divided into Royalists, who sided with the king, and supporters of Parliament, called Parliamentarians, led by Oliver Cromwell ( 1599-1658). The former let their hair grow long and were also known as " Cavaliers". They included the lords, the gentry ( piccola nobiltà) and officials of the Church of England. The latter were called " Roundheads" (teste rotonde) because they cosidered long hair sinful ( peccaminoso) and cut theirs short. London, the ports, the navy, the nwe gentry and small landowners, artisans and Puritans sided with Parliament.

F- How did the war end?

-The king was taken prisoner in 1647.

Cromwell took control of London and expelled or arrested more than 100 members of the house of lords. The remaining members voted for the execution of the king on 30th January 1649. After Charles I's execution, the monarchy was abolished and the country was ruled as a republic, known as " the Commonwealth" ( La Republica).

Insights:

(The British and the monarchy today)

In 21th century Britain there is a lively debate about whether it is in the country's interest to retain the monarchy. ( per interesse del paese= mantenere la monarchia). The monarchy's popularity has been declining in recent decades, and some of the younger generation have little regard for the royal family, raising questions over  how long it can exist in a rapidly changing world.( sta decadendo, le nuove generazioni hanno poco rispetto e si pongono domande su quanto possa resistere).

However, support for the monarchy is still very strong. In fact nearly 80% of those questioned in a telephone poll for the BBC said Britain should retain its monarchy. A separete poll (sondaggio)also suggested that most young people would keep the monarchy, despite more than in a referendum almost 70% of 18 to 24 years olds would vote to keep the royal family and only 16% would vote for a republic. The survey of 1004 people, commissioned by the BBC's Discovery Channel, found that over 80% thought that Prince William's wife, Catherine, has been a positive addition to the royal family.

"King by divine right"

King by divine right:

With the death of Elizabeth I in 1603, tu Tudor line died out and James VI ( 1566-1625) of Scotland became the first Stuart king in England, with the title of James I.

• He was a protestant
• He believed that ,as a monarch, he was the representative of God on earth.
• He summoned Parliament only to ask for money, but its members refused to levy any taxes unless the money was needed for war.
• He was interested in witchcraft and the supernatural
• He belief in black magic.

As in the early days of Elizabeth I, Catholics were barred from public life and were fined if they refused to attend the Church of England.

Extreme Protestants, called Puritans, disapproved of both the rites and the bishops of the Church of England.

• They had a high sense of duty and morality
• They did not want to live in a country which they believed was going to fall into moral decline.
• The Pilgrim Fathers in 1620 left England for America on the Mayflower and founded New Plymouth.

King James authorised a new translation of the Bible in 1604. Fifty scholars, influenced by Humanists using the original Hebrew and Greek and worked on the translation for seven years. This new version would be heard and read by laymen.

The Protestant religion encouraged personal knowledge of the Bible and this version would be used by the Church of England for more than 3 hundred years, greatly influencing the spread of literacy and writing.

In 1605, some radical Catholics plotted to blow up( far saltare) the king in the Houses of Parliament. The failure of the " Gunpowder Plot"is still commemorated in England on 5th November.

The English Language

The development of the English

Language:

English is an Indo-European language.The Indo-European languages, spoken today on very continent and by fully half the world's population. All descend from one common ancestor known as Proto-Indo-European. 

The oldest written remnants of any Indo-European language are in Hittite and date from the 17 (th) century B.C.. Indo-European languages are Italian, Greek, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Albanian, Armenian. German, and many others. English belongs to the Germanic branch of Indo-European, together with German, Dutch and the Scandinavian languages. English is the result of the linguistic contributions made during a number of invasions and mass migrations over the centuries.

English was preceded by Celtic and then, to some extent, by Latin and finally by the dialects and languages of Germanic tribes from across the North Sea.

Within the development of the language it is possible to distinguish three main periods:

• Old English ( 449-1100)
• Middle English ( 1100-1500)
• Modern English - Early Modern English ( 1500-1700) and Modern English ( since 1700)

1. Old English or Anglo-Saxon ( 449-1100)

Old English derived from the gradual fusion of the languages spoken by the Saxons, the Angles and the Jutes, three Germanic tribes that invaded Britain in the 5( th) century.

Old English had:

• Inflection
• cases for nouns and adjectives
• the -an- ending for infinitives
• a spelling and pronunciation so different
• a particular type of alphabet which consisted of a series of mysterious characters called "runes". ( Christianity condemned as a pagan symbols and replaced by the Latin alphabet).

1. Middle English:

At first there was great linguistic confusion, however, gradual changes took place.

When Middle English finally emerged as a literary language, it was quite different from the Anglo-Saxon of the previous period.

Middle English had:

• Mercian replaced West Saxon.
• words were accented in a different way, the stress tending to shift to the first syllabe, while the final vowels were all changed into the vowel /e /
• inflections were strongly reduced
• adjectives were no longer inflected, except for final -e, which remained to mark the plural.
• the plural of nouns and the genitive singular were marked by the -es ending
• the definite article - the
• infinitives - an- began -to
• introduction of French words in food ,religion,law contexts

The new form of English were spoken by all classes

1. Modern English:

• Early Modern English:

Marked by changes in the pronunciation of a vowel sounds. The final -e became silent as we can see in Shakespeare. The spelling became more uniform and the were the introduction of new words from Greek and Latin, as well as from Italian and French.

• Modern English ( since 1700)

The language became subject to greater control and organization. Dictionaries began to appear, as well as grammar books based on Latin syntax. Following the growth of the British Empire and trading exchanges with distant colonies, the vocabulary of English became a cosmopolitan language.The progress in science and technology also contributed.

Modern English  had:

• The relative simplicity of grammatical structure, without extensive inflections
• the wealth of synonyms
• The flexibility of verbs which, combined with a variety of prepositions and particles, can convey different meanings

Canterbury Tales: Character List

Character List:

(Canterbury Tales)

The Pilgrims:

• The Host (Harry Bailey).
• The Knight.
• The Miller.
• The Reeve.
• The man of Law or Sergeant of Law.
• The Cook (Roger).
• The Wife of Bath (Alisoun).
• The Friar ( Hubert).
• The Summoner.
• The Clerk.
• The Merchant.
• The Squire.
• The Franklin.
• The Shipman.
• The Prioress (Madame Eglantine).
• The Physician.
• The Pardoner.
• The Monk.
• The Nun's Priest.
• The Second  Nun.
• The Cannon and the Cannon's Yeoman.
• The Manciple.
• The Parson.

Canterbury Tales: The Knight's Tale

The Knight's Tale:

The Knight rides at the front of the procession described in the General Prologue,and his story is the first in the sequence. 

The Host admires the Knight,as the narrator. Chaucer seems to remember:

Four main qualities of the Knight:

• The first is the Knight's love of ideals: Like prowees,fidelity,reputation or generosity.
• The second is the Knight's impressive military career: He has fought in the Crusades, wars in which Europeans traveled by sea to non-Christian lands and attempted to convert whole cultures by the force of their swords. The Knight has battled the Muslims in Egypt and the Russian Orthodox in Russia. He also fought in formal duels.
• The third quality is his meek,gentle, manner.
• The fourth is his "array" or dress: The Knight wears a tunic made of coarse cloth, and his coat of mail is rust-stained, because he has recently returned from an expedition.

In the Prologue he calls out to hear something more lighthearted,saying that it deeply upsets him to hear stories about tragic falls. He wold rather hear about " joye", about men who start off in poverty climbing in fortune and attaining wealth.

The Host agrees with him, which is not surprising, since the Host has mentioned that whoever tells the tale of " best sentence and moost solaas" will win the storytelling contest. And, at the end of the Pardoner's Tale, the Knight breaks in to stop the squabbling between the Host and the Pardoner,ordering them to kiss and make up. Ironically, though a soldier, the romantic,idealistic Knight clearly has an aversion to conflict or unhappiness of any sort.

"The Nun's Tales"

The Nun's Tales:

There is a detailed description about the nun Prioress in the General Prologue. Chaucer makes the reader see 2 types of people. On one hand, the nun who gives much importance to minor things. On the other hand, the Knight who gives much importance to things that really matter.

In the desciprion of the nun Prioress, everything that Chaucer says about her means the opposite.

She is called Madame Egantine. Chaucer describes the nun with all the characteristics that a nun should not have. She was: 

• Modest, well educated and with good manners.
• Tender feelings and a strong love for God and his creations.
• She spoke French.
• Superb

All of these characteristics show how the nun was focused on things that should not be important for a nun.

The nun's actions in the tale are cautious and splendid. Her manners are unique and praticed with perfection.

The description of her beauty reflects how she was from her inside. ( Her nose well-shaped, her eyes bright as glass, she had a fine forehead".

The author talks about her fne forehead with sarcasm because he is telling us how this small characteristic, were reflected so well in the nun. Perfection meaning the opposite.

She had tender feelings for example for a mouse or dogs. " She had a few small dogs that she fed with roast meat, milk or fine bread". This illustrates how soft she was, and also that she gave great importance to little things rather than great importance to big ones.

The Knight gaves importance to great things, which fought for bif reasons.

The Knight would never give better food to some dogs rather that to the people who needed it. On the other hand the nun gave great importance and attention to her dog, or a mouse that was bleeding, rather than to people.

"Chaucer- Boccaccio"

Chaucer and Boccaccio:

Geoffrey Chaucer, who, by 1387, had already composed his works undergoing the French and Italian influence. His intention was to give the English people a collection of tales which would offer them a " true mirror" of real England.

The Chaucer's scheme was probably inspired by Boccaccio's Decameron, and that he had really met Boccaccio, but there is no clear evidence of this fact.

The pilgrims of Chaucer's stories deeply different from Boccaccio's young people ( 7 women and 3 men), all belonging to the refined bourgeoisie, who decide to leave Florence, stricken by terrible plague of 1348, to retire to a rich countryside villa. They stay here 14 days; every day a " King" or a "Queen" is chosen, and the member elected will decide how they will spend the day in leisurey walks, conversations. The title Decameron ( deca= 10 and emerai = days) refers to the ten days devoted to storytelling, one story a day for each member of the gay company, for a total of 100 stories.

In the Canterbury Tales the pilgrims represent almost all the social classes of the time: ( Nobles, clergy, peasants) and a rising merchant class as the Wife of Bath or the Doctor.

Each pilgrim was to tell 2 stories for a total of 120. But only 24 tales were completed. Chaucer did not live long enough to complete his project. In the Canterbury Tales the storytellers are the target of the poet's comic satire.

In the Boccaccio's Decameron there is no individual detailed. Boccaccio exalts the virtue of man, his possibility to guide his existence and to accept the consequences of his actions. Boccaccio was a humanist and he gives an example of the vernacular literatures of the 15 (th) century nd this was also the spirit that informed Chaucer.

CHAUCER/BOCCACCIO:

(Difference)

• Pilgimage - The Black Death ( plague)
• Strongly individualized pilgrims - refined bourgeoisie
•  3o people including Chaucer- 10 people ( 7 women and  boys)
• 3 different orders- same social class ( bougeoisie)
• 120 tales - 100 tales
• 24 complete- 100 complete
• Chaucer descries the pilgrims with extreme vividness, giving him/her an individual personality- no individual description.
• Incomplete- Complete.

"The three orders of medieval society"

The 3 orders of medieval society:

The society was divided into three divinely ordained orders:

1. The Nobles, those who fought.
2. The Clergy, those who prayed.
3. The Peasants, those who worked.

None of them should attempt to fill the offices of the other.

At the top of this social were the bobles, and this included those who held hereditary titles: From kings, to dukes and earls, and down to knights. A vassal was a man who had sworn homage and loyalty to a lord. In exchange for the lord's protection the vassal swore to fight on the lord's behalf and grant him a certain number of days of service a year.

Below the nobles were the clergy, or those who prayed. 

The clergy very often came from the noble classes.

Some historians estimate that the nobility and clergy made up between 5 -10 % of the population, while the peasants comprised 95 % of the people living in the medieval world.

If you were a peasants, you were most likely born on the manor of a lord and were bound to him as a serf. In exchange for a place to live and the means to grow your own food, as well as protection in times of difficulty, you would provide the lord with a percentage of your harvest.

Getting married would be subject to your lord's approval.

Starting in the 14 (th) century, when the plague killed up to a half of the population, we start to see some real upward mobility in the 3 order. Urban and merchant life became vital. 

A great example of this new upward mobility can be found in the work of Geoffrey Chaucer, the father of English poetry.

"Canterbury Tales: The wife of Bath"

The wife

of Bath

PLOT:

The Wife of Bath is one of the two women storytellers (the other is the Prioress): has traveled the world on pilgrimage (was in Jerusalem, Boulogne, Rome, St. James in Galicia and Cologne), and the pilgrimage to Canterbury then looks like a game than previous trips. She then argues that not only saw many lands, but also brought five different husbands in church (which means that all his previous husbands are dead) and to have had other lovers in his youth. It is therefore a worldly woman in every sense: he made his own experiences with people from all over the world, love or sex that is.


It is a wealthy woman, resourceful and very expert embroiderer, his clothes skim extravagance. His face is red, stockings of a scarlet color (which was very expensive, since the dye was made from a particular red beetle that is found only in some parts of the world) and the skin of his shoes is soft, radiant and new, all to show how much she had become wealthy. He had many of the physical canons of a sensual woman for the time: "gap-toothed was she," or had a space between the front teeth; "Large hips", wide hips; "Bold was her face," had a cheeky face; "Handsome", beautiful (usually "handsome" is used for a male beauty and "beautiful" for a female, this choice of adjective could be traced to his size); "Red in hue", had red cheeks.


Geoffrey Chaucer makes us understand that the "wife of Bath" undertook these pilgrimages more to meet new men for a purely religious order, which outlines a profile of woman life, enterprising and worldly; in addition to this, the author makes known his character conceited and self-centered, describing in detail the clothes she wore extravagant to say the least to get noticed and claim to always be the first, to church, to make an offer (the point be very angry if someone dared overtake walking towards the altar).

TRADUZIONE:

La donna di Bath è una delle due donne cantastorie (l'altra è la Prioressa): ha viaggiato per il mondo in pellegrinaggio (è stata a Gerusalemme, Boulogne, Roma, San Giacomo in Galizia e a Colonia), e il pellegrinaggio a Canterbury dunque appare come un gioco rispetto ai precedenti viaggi. La donna poi sostiene che non solo ha visto molte terre, ma ha anche portato cinque diversi mariti in chiesa (il che significa che tutti i suoi precedenti mariti sono morti) e di aver avuto molti altri amanti in gioventù. Si configura quindi come una donna mondana in tutti i sensi: ha fatto le proprie esperienze con uomini da tutto il mondo, amore o sesso che sia.


È una donna benestante, intraprendente ed espertissima ricamatrice, i suoi vestiti sfiorano la stravaganza. Il suo viso è rosso, le calze di un colore scarlatto (il che era molto costoso, poiché la tintura era ricavata da un particolare maggiolino rosso che si trova solo in alcune parti del mondo) e la pelle delle sue scarpe è morbida, raggiante e nuova, tutto per dimostrare quanto benestante fosse diventata. Aveva molti dei canoni fisici di una donna sensuale per l'epoca: "gap-toothed was she", ovvero aveva uno spazio tra i denti anteriori; "large hips", fianchi larghi; "bold was her face", aveva un viso impertinente; "handsome", bella (di solito "handsome" viene usato per una bellezza maschile e "beautiful" per una femminile, questa scelta di aggettivo potrebbe essere ricondotta alla sua stazza); "red in hue", aveva guance rosse.


Geoffrey Chaucer ci fa intendere che la "wife of Bath" intraprendeva questi pellegrinaggi più per conoscere nuovi uomini che per un fine puramente religioso, il che delinea un profilo di donna vitale, intraprendente e mondana; oltre a questo, l'autore ci rende noto il suo carattere presuntuoso ed egocentrico, descrivendoci dettagliatamente i vestiti a dir poco stravaganti che indossava per farsi notare e la pretesa di essere sempre la prima, in chiesa, a fare un'offerta (al punto da arrabbiarsi molto se qualcuno osava precederla camminando verso l'altare).

"Canterbury Tales: The Knight"

Knight's Story:

PLOT:

Theseus, king of Athens, imprisons Arcita and Palaemon, two knights from Thebes (ancient Greek city). From their prison, the knights go see the sister of Theseus, Emilia, and they fall in love. Thanks to the intervention of a friend, Arcita is freed (liberato), but banished from Athens.


He decides to return, however, disguise and becomes a page at the court of Emilia: Palaemon meanwhile manages to escape and meets Arcita in a forest; when an argument between the two for the lovely Emilia. Theseus, who was passing near the forest, including the love of the two for Emilia and index a tournament between the two knights in a year would have to recruit 100 riders each, and then use them in a clash between the two. The ultimate prize would be the hand of Emilia. After a year, the two and their armies gather in Athens, ready to fight, each bringing a different banner: Arcita choose the banner of the god Mars, god of war, while Palemone chooses the goddess Venus, goddess of love. Arcita wins, but the goddess Venus, furious of defeat, causing an earthquake that does scare and boosted the horse Arcita, causing him to fall. Arcita, knowing that they must die, called Emilia and Palaemon beside him and asks them to get married and live happily; then dies staring eyes of his beloved. After great ceremonies to honor the death of the young, Palaemon and Emilia marry according to the will of Arcita.

TRADUZIONE:

Teseo, re di Atene, imprigiona Arcita e Palemone, due cavalieri provenienti da Tebe (città dell'antica Grecia). Dalla loro prigione, i cavalieri vedono passare la cognata di Teseo, Emilia, e se ne innamorano. Grazie all'intervento di un amico, Arcita viene liberato, ma bandito da Atene.


Decide però di ritornare, sotto mentite spoglie e diviene paggio presso la corte di Emilia: Palemone intanto riesce a scappare e incontra Arcita in un bosco; tra i due scoppia una lite per la bella Emilia. Teseo, che stava passando nelle vicinanze di quel bosco, comprende l'amore dei due per Emilia e indice un torneo tra i due cavalieri: in un anno avrebbero dovuto arruolare 100 cavalieri ognuno, per poi utilizzarli in uno scontro tra i due. Il premio finale sarebbe stata la mano di Emilia. Dopo un anno, i due con i loro eserciti si ritrovano presso Atene, pronti a combattere, portando ognuno un vessillo diverso: Arcita sceglie il vessillo del dio Marte, dio della guerra, mentre Palemone sceglie quello della dea Venere, dea dell'amore. Arcita vince, ma la dea Venere, furiosa della sconfitta, provoca un terremoto che fa spaventare e impennare il cavallo di Arcita, facendolo cadere. Arcita, sapendo di dover morire, chiama accanto a sé Emilia e Palemone e chiede loro di sposarsi e di vivere felici; dopodiché muore fissando gli occhi dell'amata. Dopo grandi cerimonie per onorare la morte del giovane, Palemone ed Emilia si sposano secondo le volontà di Arcita.

"Canterbury Tales"

"The Canterbury

Tales":

The Canterbury Tales is a collection of over 20 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The Canterbury Tales is an unfinished narrative poem used the structure of the three orders of society. The tales are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Tales The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return.

PLOT:

In April,withe the beginning of spring,people of varying social classes come from all over England to gather (riunirsi) at the Tabrd Inn in preparation for a pilgrimage to Canterbury to receive the blessings of St. Thomas à Becket,the English martyr. Chaucer himself is one of the pilgrims. That evening, the Host of the Tabard Inn suggests that each member of the group tell tales on the way to and from Canterbury in order to make the time pass more pleasantly (piacevolmente). The person who tells the best story will be awarded ( premiata) an elegant dinner at the end of the trip. The Host decides to accompany the party on its pilgrimage and appoints himself as the judge of the best tale.



Shortly after their departure the day, the pilgrims draw straws ( sorteggiando bastoncini). The Knight, who draws the shortest straw,agrees (accetta) to tell the first story, a noble story about knights,honor and love. When the Knight finishes his story, the Host calls upon the Monk. The drunken Miller, however,insists that it is his turn, and he proceeds to tell a story about a stupid carpenter. At the end of his story, everyone roars with laughter, except the Reeve, who had one been a carpenter. To get back at the Miller, the Reeve tells a lowbrow (grossolana) story about a cheating( imbroglione) miller. At the end of the Reeve's Tale, the Cook, Roger, promises to tell a true story, but he doesn't complete his tale.


By now, the first day is rapidly passing, and the Host hurries the pilgrims to get on with their tales. Using the best legalese that he knows, he calls upon the Man of Law for the next tale. The Man of Law proceeds to tell the tale of Constancy. The Host is very pleased with the tale and asks theParson to relate another one just as good. The Parson declines,however,and rebukes the Host for swearing and ridiculing him ( The Parson), The Shipman braks in and tells a lively story to make up for so much moralizing.

" Geoffrey Chaucer"

  "Geoffrey Chaucer"

Geoffrey Chaucer ( 1343 -London – 25 October 1400), known as the Father of English literature, is considered the greatest English poet of the Middle ages and was the first poet to be buried in Poets' Corner (Angolo dei poeti) of Westminister Abbey.


He was the son of a wine merchant and he worked as a controller of the customs for the Port of London and took part in important diplomatic missions.


He found employment in the house of John of Gaunt,son of King Edward III of England. In response to the death of John of Gaunt's first wife, he wrote one of his most important works, The Book of the Duchess.


One of his important poems is The Cantebury Tales (ca. 1387-1400). It is unfinished narrative poem and it tells the story of the Pilgrims. They went to Cantebury.

Chaucer wrote in continental accentual-syllabic meter, a style which had developed since around the 12th century as an alternative to the alliterative Anglo-Saxon metre. 

Chaucer is known for metrical innovation, inventing the rhyme royal l, and he was one of the first English poets to use the five-stress line, a decasyllabic cousin to the iambic pentameter, in his work, with only a few anonymous short works using it before him.
What characterizes the poetic style of Chaucer is detachment (staccamento) from allegory and by the rules of the chivalric literature of the Middle Ages.(Norme della letteratura cavalleresca del Medioevo).


Some scholars also argue that Chaucer was the first author to have proved the legitimacy of English literature in the vernacular. In an era in which England poetry was written mainly in Latin, French and Anglo-Norman. Chaucer made use of the vernacular raising (elevando) the English language of his time to literary language.

Fact-file:

Born:Ca. 1343

London, England.

Died: 25 October 1400 (aged 56–57).

Resting place: Westminister Abbey, London.

Occupation: Author, poet, philosopher,bureaucrat, diplomat.

Spouse(s) : Philippa Roet.

Children: Elizabeth Chaucer and

Thomas Chaucer.

Parent(s): John Chaucer

Romeo and Juliet: The Sonnet Form

The Sonnet Form

Form:  Shakespearean form

Prologue: Poem with 14 lines in jambic pentameter. 

Specific ryme: (abab-cdcd-dfdf-gg).

It can be broken down  in  3 quatrains and a rhyming couplet.

-First quatrains: Introduces the poem and gives informations.

-Second quatrains:  Elaborates on the details.

-Third quatrains: Introduces the conflict.

-The rhyming couplet: Concludes the sonnet.

Prologue:

Two households, both alike in dignity, (a)

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, (b)

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, (a)

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. (b)

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes (c)

A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life; (d)

Whole misadventured piteous overthrows (c)

Do with their death bury their parents' strife. (d)

The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love, (e)

And the continuance of their parents' rage, (f)

Which, but their children's end, nought could remove(e)

Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage (f)

The which if you with patient ears attend,  (g)

What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend. (g)