THE FRIAR

As noted in 1. 210 there were at this time four orders of Friars in England:

    (i.) Franciscans. Founded by S. Francis of Assisi in 1208, these came to England in 1224, and thirty-two years afterwards already possessed forty-nine convents in this country.
    (ii.) Dominicans. Founded by S. Dominic at Toulouse in 1215, as a preaching order to combat the heresy then prevalent in the south of France. They came to England in 1220.
    (iii.) Carmelites. Originally a monastic order on Mount Carmel. When driven out by the Mahommedans they spread over Europe, and in 1247, when they had an Englishman as their General, were changed into a mendicant order.
    (iv.) Augustinians. An order of uncertain origin on which the ‘Rule of S. Augustine' (see note to 1. 187) was imposed by Innocent IV. (d. 1254).

The movement started by S. Francis of Assisi remained throughout the thirteenth century a great religious force, attracting to itself all that was most earnest and unselfish in the religious life of the time. The Friars were not, like the monks, to flee from the world, but to mix with it and convert it. They were essentially missionaries, both for home and abroad, and their vow of poverty was intended to bind them collectively as well as individually. By Chaucer's time their churches and houses were as splendid as those of the monks, and were supported by the shameless begging of which the poet gives a picture in the Summoner's Tale. [Here a friar first excites the people in church:

and then

The picture of the Friars which Chaucer gives in these lines and in the Prologue is in accordance with the allusions in many other writers of the time. On the other hand many individual friars may have still retained some of the merits as well as the defects of a lowclass clergy, and Wyclif who, at the end of his life, assailed them bitterly, had at one time contrasted them favourably with the tithetaking clergy. But about the time Chaucer wrote they must have been specially unpopular, as in 1385, in consequence of riots in which their houses were pulled down, a proclamation had to be issued for their protection. 208. wantowne, gay.

209. A lymytour. This word is explained by the couplet added in the Hengwrt Ms. after 1. 252 (see note), a limiter being a friar who paid his convent a certain sum (a ferme) for the exclusive right of begging on its behalf within the limits of a fixed district, presumably spending the surplus, if any, as he pleased. The friar whose proceedings are chronicled in the Summoner's Tale was a limiter, and his erasing from his tables the names of donors as soon as they were out of sight shows how the system worked.

     a ful solempne man. ‘Solemn' is one of the words still in use, the exact meaning of which in Chaucer's verse is rather difficult to define. Etymologically it means ‘annual,' its usual sense arising from a connection of ideas with religious festivals which come round once a year. Dr. Skeat in his Chaucer Glossary assigns it in different passages the meanings: festive, grand, cheerful (this passage), important, illustrious, superb, public! The underlying idea seems to be something official or fitted for a great occasion. Thus ‘solemn penance' is the formal punishment of a sinner, a 'solemn feast' (E. 1125, F. 61) is one held on a state occasion, ‘a great solempne route ‘is Chaucer's description (b 387) of the escort accompanying a royal bride; a solemn fraternity (Prologue, 364) is one that held an important position in its town. Instead of ‘cheerful,' therefore, it seems better here to take solemn as explained by 1. 261 ('he was lyk a maister, or a pope') and explain it by stately,— a man of a good presence.

210. the ordres foure. See above, note on ‘the Friar.'

211. daliaunce. This word in Chaucer's time was already getting the bad meaning of idle talk, trifling, flirtation. But even a hundred years later it could still be used of serious discussion [New Eng. Did. quotes from Dives 6° Pauper, ‘Redynge and dalyaunce of holy writ and of holy mennes lyues'], and it should perhaps be taken here as an unequivocal tribute to the Friar's conversational powers. No one could talk better or use finer language.

212. He hadde maad ful many a manage: Dr. Flügel quotes passages illustrating how the Friars encroached on the parson's monopoly of celebrating the marriages of his parishioners. But even if the Friar, to win popularity, charged no fees, this hardly explains 'at his owene cost' in the next line. The allusion appears to be to the Friars finding husbands, and perhaps dowries, for girls whom they had seduced.

218. Hadde power of confessioun ... moore than a curat. In the Roman Church certain sins are 'reserved' for the consideration of the bishop before absolution can be given. The Franciscans and other friars had privileges that enabled them to confess the parishioners of a parson without his leave, and to give absolution for weightier sins than he could deal with. A license from his convent did not give a Friar any special privileges as a confessor, but certified that he was a discreet man, of mature age, who could be trusted to go abroad. [As a parallel to the whole passage Dr. Flügel appositely quotes Gower's Mirour de I'Omme, 11. 21469 sqq.:

224. pitaunce. portion of food, (Derivation uncertain. The word is of monastic origin, and was thought to be connected with the Latin pietas, i.e. a portion of food given for the sake of pity. It was especially applied to the daintier food given to monks when in the infirmary.)
227. lie dorste, i.e. the Friar.

233. His typet was ay farsed full of knyves, etc. Jusserand (English Wayfaring- Life) quotes from a poem against the friars in Wright's Political Songs:

According to the best authorities a tippet should be a broad black scarf, capable of being wound round the head and neck as a hood. Apparently the Friar's tippet had pockets in the ends in which he stuffed his knives, etc.

242. Bet than a lazar, etc. Dr. Flügel compares Romaunt of the Rose, 11. 6491 sqq.:

244. as by his facultee: considering his profession.

246. honeste, honourable, respectable.

251. so vertuous, of such wonderful powers.

252. The Hengwrt MS. here gives the couplet:

Cp. note to 1. 209.

253. For thogh a wydwe hadde noght a sho, etc. Flügel compares Jack Upland's Reply:

[Also Gower's Mirour de I'Omme, 21373 sqq., where the Friar ‘la maile prent s'il n'ait denier,' takes a halfpenny if he cannot get a penny.]

254. So plesaunt was his In Principio: so pleasant was his reading of the opening verses of the Gospel of S. John, to which a magical value was attached. [As early as 1022 a council held at Seligstadt, near Mainz, forbade lay-folk in general and matrons especially from hearing the Gospel In Principio erat Verbum (John i. 1-14) daily, because of the superstitions connected with it. Gerald of Wales (d. 1222) mentions how the clergy of his day used to say additional Gospels at Low Mass for the sake of obtaining offerings from people who attached special value to some one of them, and he mentions the beginning of S. John as considered especially powerful for driving away ghosts. Unfortunately in the fourteenth century an Indulgence of a year and forty days (see note on the Pardoner) was granted to those who heard or recited this Gospel and at the same time kissed something. This is alluded to in a northern poem of the latter part of the fourteenth century called The Manner ond Mode of the Masse:

In the fifteenth century the priest was directed to say this Gospel after Mass, but it is clear that in the meantime the friars had begun the practice of saying it, not only in church, but in private houses. In 1401 the author of Jack Upland tells the friars: "Ye win more by yere with In Principio than with all the rules that ever your patrones made," and the custom continued, since Tindale in his Answer to Sir Thomas More (1530) alludes to "the limitours saying of In Principio from house to house." (See 'A Paper on the Usage of a Second Gospel at Mass,' by E. G. C. Atchley, Transactions of the St. Paul's Ecclesiological Society, Vo1. IV., 1900.)]

256. His purchas was wel bettre than his rente. The proceeds of his begging were much greater than the rent or ‘ferme' (see note to 1. 252) he paid to his convent, i.e. he made a considerable profit for himself.

258. In love-dayes ther koude he muchel helpe. Lovedays were days appointed for the settlement of disputes by arbitration. [Dr. Skeat gives a reference to a good illustrative quotation, Paston Letters, 341: Friar Brackley to John Paston, ‘Lord Skalys hathe made a lofeday with the prior and Heydon in alle materys except the matere of Snarying &c. And the seyd pryor spake maysterly to the jurrorys and told ham and [i.e. if] they had dred God and hurt of here sowlys, they wold haf some instruccyon of the one party as wele as of the other. But they were so bold they were not aferd,' etc. Dr. Flügel quotes from Wyclif censure of priests for meddling at lovedays and maintaining the wrong cause there, and of’grete men' who ‘meyntenen debatis at louedaies and who so may be strengere wil haue his wille don.'] The Friar helped at lovedays either by bringing influence to bear on jurors, or by himself acting as umpire.

261. But he was lyk a maister, or a pope: the degree of Master or Doctor not only required a long course of study, but also a lavish expense in feasting and presents. This made those who could afford to take it rank as very dignified persons indeed.

263. That rounded as a belle out of the presse: Dr. Skeat explains ‘presse' as ‘the mould in which a bell is cast.’But a press and a mould are surely quite different things. The meaning seems to be that the cope was flat enough when it was in the clothes-press, but when taken out of press and put on the portly friar it immediately became as round as a bell.

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These notes are reproduced verbatim from Alfred W. Pollard, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales: The Prologue, London: Macmillan, 1903. The book is in the public domain and available for viewing and download from Google Books. Although the book is old, the notes are enlightening and accurate. Nevertheless, users doing detailed research on aspects of the General Prologue should, if possible, also consult more recent notes in print publications such as The Riverside Chaucer, ed. Larry D. Benson, 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987.