16. St. Benedict was the first founder of a spiritual order in the
Roman church. Maurus, abbot of Fulda from 822 to 842, did
much to re-establish the discipline of the Benedictines on a true
Christian basis.
17. Wood: Mad, Scottish “wud”. Felix says to Paul, “Too
much learning hath made thee mad”.
18. Limitour: A friar with licence or privilege to beg, or
exercise other functions, within a certain district: as, “the
limitour of Holderness”.
19. Farme: rent; that is, he paid a premium for his licence to
beg.
20. In principio: the first words of Genesis and John, employed
in some part of the mass.
21. Lovedays: meetings appointed for friendly settlement of
differences; the business was often followed by sports and
feasting.
22. He would the sea were kept for any thing: he would for
anything that the sea were guarded. “The old subsidy of
tonnage and poundage,” says Tyrwhitt, “was given to the king
‘pour la saufgarde et custodie del mer.’ — for the safeguard and
keeping of the sea” (12 E. IV. C.3).
23. Middleburg, at the mouth of the Scheldt, in Holland;
Orwell, a seaport in Essex.
24. Shields: Crowns, so called from the shields stamped on
them; French, “ecu;” Italian, “scudo.”
25. Poor scholars at the universities used then to go about
begging for money to maintain them and their studies.
26. Parvis: The portico of St. Paul’s, which lawyers frequented
to meet their clients.
27. St Julian: The patron saint of hospitality, celebrated for
supplying his votaries with good lodging and good cheer.
28. Mew: cage. The place behind Whitehall, where the king’s
hawks were caged was called the Mews.
29. Many a luce in stew: many a pike in his fish-pond; in those
Catholic days, when much fish was eaten, no gentleman’s
mansion was complete without a “stew”.
30. Countour: Probably a steward or accountant in the county
court.
31. Vavasour: A landholder of consequence; holding of a duke,
marquis, or earl, and ranking below a baron.
32. On the dais: On the raised platform at the end of the hall,
where sat at meat or in judgement those high in authority, rank
or honour; in our days the worthy craftsmen might have been
described as “good platform men”.
33. To take precedence over all in going to the evening service
of the Church, or to festival meetings, to which it was the
fashion to carry rich cloaks or mantles against the home-
coming.
34. The things the cook could make: “marchand tart”, some
now unknown ingredient used in cookery; “galingale,” sweet or
long rooted cyprus; “mortrewes”, a rich soup made by stamping
flesh in a mortar; “Blanc manger”, not what is now called
blancmange; one part of it was the brawn of a capon.
35. Lodemanage: pilotage, from Anglo-Saxon “ladman,” a
leader, guide, or pilot; hence “lodestar,” “lodestone.”
36. The authors mentioned here were the chief medical text-
books of the middle ages. The names of Galen and Hippocrates
were then usually spelt “Gallien” and “Hypocras” or “Ypocras”.
37. The west of England, especially around Bath, was the seat
of the cloth-manufacture, as were Ypres and Ghent (Gaunt) in
Flanders.
38. Chaucer here satirises the fashion of the time, which piled
bulky and heavy waddings on ladies’ heads.
39. Moist; here used in the sense of “new”, as in Latin,
“mustum” signifies new wine; and elsewhere Chaucer speaks of
“moisty ale”, as opposed to “old”.
40. In Galice at Saint James: at the shrine of St Jago of
Compostella in Spain.
41. Gat-toothed: Buck-toothed; goat-toothed, to signify her
wantonness; or gap-toothed — with gaps between her teeth.