The
Priest Who Peeked
Without a doubt the most famous Fabliau of all time is Chaucer's
Miller's
Tale. There were however others written in the Middle Ages which
were every bit as entertaining. Here's a 13th century Fabliau by Gučrin.
Short - snappy - and with an ending that always cracks me up!
Making
of a Knight
The ambition of every aristocratic male in the Middle Ages was to be knighted.
Once given this social prestige all that remained was to be awarded a fief,
which if good fortune prevailed was going to be passed along from father to
the eldest son. For the other sons, a more difficult task awaited as they would
need to go out and win the fief by demonstrating their worth in battle, or equally
as likely, through marriage. This is a description written by the chronicler
Jean of Tours of the ceremony initiating fifteen-year-old Geoffrey of Anjou
into knighthood by his father in-law Henry I in 1128.
Jacquerie
Revolt
In his book
The Black Death, Robert Gottfried chronicles the effect the
plague had on Medieval Europe. Among other things, he relates how outbreaks
of the plague fed into social rebellions that contributed to the instability
of the day. This is an excerpt written by Froissart, a Medieval writer who has
obvious sympathies for the Aristocracy. He’s describing the
Jacquerie
revolt (1358), which took its name from the leather jerkins peasants worn in
battle as opposed to the expensive armor associated with the Nobility. It puts
the Flower of Chivalry into new light.