'Si rogites quis eram, forsan te fama docebit:
Quod si fama negat, mundi quia gloria transit,
Haec monumenta lege.'
We learn from an interesting note at the end of Caxton's edition of
Boethius, that the good printer was not satisfied with printing some of
Chaucer's works, but further endeavoured to perpetuate the poet's memory by
raising a pillar near his tomb, to support a tablet containing an epitaph
consisting of 34 Latin verses. This epitaph was composed by Stephanus
Surigonus of Milan, licentiate in decrees, and is reprinted in Stowe's
edition of Chaucer's Works (1561), at fol. 355, back. The last four lines
refer to Caxton's pious care:--
'Post obitum Caxton voluit te viuere cura
Willelmi, Chaucer, clare poeta, tui.
Nam tua non solum compressit opuscula formis,
Has quoque sed laudes iussit hic esse tuas.'
A description, by Dean Stanley, of the Chaucer window in Westminster Abbey,
completed in 1868, is given in Furnivall's Temporary Preface (Ch. Soc.), p.
133. Some of the subjects in the window are taken from the poem entitled
'The Flower and the Leaf,' which he did not write.
It will be observed that Sir H. Nicolas speaks, just above, of 'the arms of
Chaucer,' which he describes. But it should be remembered that this is,
practically, an assumption, which at once launches us into an uncertain and
debateable position. These arms certainly belonged to _Thomas_ Chaucer, for
they occur on a seal of his of which a drawing is given in MS. Julius C 7,
fol. 153; an accurate copy of which is given by Sir H. Nicolas. It is
therefore quite possible that the same arms were assigned to the poet in
1556, only because it was then assumed that Thomas was Geoffrey's son; the
fact being that the relationship of Thomas to Geoffrey is open to doubt,
and the case requires to be stated with great care.
§ 41. THOMAS CHAUCER. Few things are more remarkable than the utter absence
of unequivocal early evidence as to the above-mentioned point. That
Geoffrey Chaucer was a famous man, even in his own day, cannot be doubted;
and it is equally certain that Thomas Chaucer was a man of great wealth and
of some consequence. Sir H. Nicolas has collected the principal facts
relating to him, the most important being the following. On Oct. 26, 1399,
Henry IV. granted him the offices of Constable of Wallingford Castle and
Steward of the Honours of Wallingford and St. Valery and of the Chiltern
Hundreds for life, receiving therefrom 40l. a year, with 10l. additional
for his deputy[162]. On Nov. 5, 1402, he was appointed Chief Butler for
life to King Henry IV.[163]; and there is a note that he had previously
been Chief Butler to Richard II.[164], but the date of that appointment has
not been ascertained. He was also Chief Butler to Henry V. until March,
1418, when he was superseded[165]; but was again appointed Chief Butler to
Henry VI. after his accession. He represented Oxfordshire in Parliament in
1402, 1408, 1409, 1412, 1414, 1423, 1427, and 1429; and was Speaker of the
House of Commons in 1414[166], and in other years. 'He was employed on many
occasions of trust and importance during the reigns of Henry IV., Henry V.,
and Henry VI.;' to which Sir H. Nicolas adds, that he 'never attained a
higher rank than that of esquire.'
His wealth, at his death in 1434, was unusually great, as shewn by the long
list of his landed possessions in the Inquisitiones post Mortem. This
wealth he doubtless acquired by his marriage with an heiress, viz. Matilda,
second daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Burghersh, who died Sept. 21,
1391, when Matilda was 12 years old. Unfortunately, the date of this
marriage is uncertain, though Sir H. Nicolas shews that it was probably
earlier than 1403. The exact date would be very useful; for if it took
place before 1399, it becomes difficult to understand why the poet was left
so poor, whilst his son had vast possessions.
It should be noticed that there is but little to connect even Thomas
Chaucer (still less Geoffrey) with Woodstock, until 1411; when the Queen
(Joan of Navarre) granted Thomas the farm of the manors of Woodstock,
Hanburgh, Wotton, and Stonfield, which, by the king's assignment, he
enjoyed for life[167]. That the poet visited Woodstock in 1357, when in the
service of Prince Lionel, is almost certain; but beyond this, we have no
sure information on the matter. It is true that 'Wodestok' is mentioned in
the last line of the Cuckow and the Nightingale, but this supposed
connecting link is at once broken, when we find that the said poem was
certainly not of his writing[168]. The suggested reference to Woodstock in
the Parliament of Foules, l. 122, is discussed below, at p. 510.
The only child of Thomas and Matilda Chaucer was Alice, whose third husband
was no less a person than William de la Pole, then Earl and afterwards Duke
of Suffolk, who was beheaded in 1450. Their eldest son was John de la Pole,
Duke of Suffolk, who married Elizabeth, sister of King Edward IV. Their
eldest son bore the same name, and was not only created Earl of Lincoln,
but was actually declared heir-apparent to the throne by Richard III; so
that there was, at one time, a probability that Thomas Chaucer's
great-grandson would succeed to the throne. But the battle of Bosworth, in
1485, set this arrangement aside; and the Earl of Lincoln was himself
killed two years later, in the battle of Stoke.
§ 42. THE RELATIONSHIP OF THOMAS TO GEOFFREY CHAUCER. Considering the great
eminence of these two men, the almost total silence of early evidence,
establishing a connexion between them, is in a high degree remarkable.
The earliest connecting link is the fact that a deed by Thomas Chaucer
still exists, written (in English) at Ewelme, and dated May 20, 1409, to
which a seal is appended. This seal exhibits the arms which were certainly
borne by Thomas Chaucer (viz. party per pale, argent and gules, a bend
counterchanged); but the legend, though somewhat indistinct, can only be
read as: 'S' Ghofrai Chaucier[169]'; where S' signifies 'Sigillum.'
The spelling 'Ghofrai' is hardly satisfactory; but if Geoffrey be really
meant, we gain a piece of evidence of high importance. It proves that
Geoffrey bore the same arms as Thomas, and _not_ the same arms as his
father John; whose seal displays a shield ermine, on a chief, three birds'
heads issuant (The Academy, Oct. 13, 1877, p. 364). Moreover, the use of
Geoffrey's seal by Thomas goes far to establish that the latter was the son
of the former.
The next link is that Geoffrey Chaucer was succeeded by Thomas Chaucer in
the office of forester of North Petherton in Somersetshire; but even here
there is a gap in the succession, as Thomas was not appointed till 1416-7,
the fourth year of Henry V.[170]
It is not till the reign of Henry VI. that we at last obtain an unequivocal
statement. Thomas Gascoigne, who died in 1458, wrote a Theological
Dictionary, which still exists, in MS., in the Library of Lincoln College,
Oxford. He tells us that Chaucer, in his last hours, frequently lamented
the wickedness of his writings, though it is transparent that he here
merely repeats, in a varied form, the general tenour of the well-known
final paragraph of the Persones Tale. But he adds this important sentence:
'Fuit idem Chawserus pater Thomae Chawserus, armigeri, qui Thomas sepelitur
in Nuhelm iuxta Oxoniam[171].' The statement is the more important because
Gascoigne ought to have known the exact truth. He was Chancellor of Oxford,
and Thomas Chaucer held the manor of Ewelme, at no great distance, at the
same date. As he mentions Thomas's sepulture, he wrote later than 1434, yet
before 1458. Even in the case of this decisive statement, it were to be
wished that he had shewn greater accuracy in the context; surely he gives a
quite unfair turn to the poet's own words.
On the whole, I can only admit at present, that there is a high probability
that Thomas was really Geoffrey's son. Perhaps we shall some day know the
certainty of the matter.
§ 43. THOMAS'S MOTHER. The chief reason why it is so desirable to know the
exact truth as to the relationship of Thomas to Geoffrey, is that a good
deal depends upon it. If such was the case, it follows that Philippa
Chaucer was Thomas's mother; in which case, we may feel tolerably confident
that her maiden name was Roet or Rouet. This has been inferred from the
fact that the arms (apparently) of Roet 'occur repeatedly on Thomas
Chaucer's tomb, as his paternal coat, instead of the arms usually
attributed to him and to the poet.' These arms bore 'three wheels,
evidently in allusion to the name[172].' Having thus assigned to Philippa
Chaucer the name of Roet, the next step (usually accepted, yet not
absolutely proved) is to assume that she was the sister of the Katherine de
Roet of Hainault[173], who married Sir Hugh Swynford, and afterwards became
the mistress, and, in 1396, the third wife of John of Gaunt. Her father is
supposed to have been Sir Payne Roet, of Hainault, upon the evidence of his
epitaph, which (in Weever's Funeral Monuments, p. 413) is thus given:--'Hic
jacet Paganus Roet, Miles, Guyenne Rex Armorum, Pater Catherine Ducisse
Lancastriae[174].' It is obvious that, if all the inferences are correct,
they clearly establish an important and close connexion between the poet
and John of Gaunt. Further arguments, whether in favour of or against this
connexion, need hardly be repeated here. They may be found in Nicolas's
Life of Chaucer, and in Lounsbury's Studies in Chaucer, vol. i.
Thynne has the following remark in his Animadversions, &c. (ed. Furnivall,
p. 22): 'Althoughe I fynde a recorde of the _pellis exitus_, in the tyme of
Edwarde the thirde, of a yerely stypende to Elizabethe Chawcer, _Domicelle
regine Philippe_, whiche _Domicella_ dothe signyfye one of her weytinge
gentlewomen: yet I cannott ... thinke this was his wyfe, but rather his
sister or kinneswoman, who, after the deathe of her mystresse Quene
Philippe, did forsake the worlde and became a nonne at Seinte Heleins in
London.' And we find, accordingly (as Nicolas shews), that 'on July 27,
1377, the King exercised his right to nominate a Nun in the Priory of St.
Helen's, London, after the coronation, in favour of Elizabeth Chausier.'
Another Elizabeth Chaucy (who may have been the poet's daughter) is also
noticed by Nicolas, for whose noviciate, in the Abbey of Berking in Essex,
John of Gaunt paid 51l. 8s. 2d., on May 12, 1381. But these are mere
matters for conjecture.
§ 44. The preceding sections include all the most material facts that have
been ascertained with respect to Geoffrey Chaucer, and it is fortunate
that, owing to his connexion with public business, they are so numerous and
so authentic. At the same time, it will doubtless be considered that such
dry details, however useful, tell us very little about the man himself;
though they clearly shew the versatility of his talents, and exhibit him as
a page, a soldier, a valet and esquire of the royal household, an envoy, a
comptroller of customs, a clerk of works, and a member of Parliament. In
the truest sense, his own works best exhibit his thoughts and character;
though we must not always accept all his expressions as if they were all
his own. We have to deal with a writer in whom the dramatic faculty was
highly developed, and I prefer to leave the reader to draw his own
inferences, even from those passages which are most relied upon to support
the theory that his domestic life may have been unhappy, and others of the
like kind. We can hardly doubt, for example, that he refers to his wife as
'oon that I coude nevene,' i. e. one that I could name, in the Hous of
Fame, 562; and he plainly says that the eagle spoke something to him in a
kindly tone, such as he never heard from his wife. But when we notice that
the something said was the word 'awake,' in order that he should 'the bet
abrayde,' i. e. the sooner recover from his dazed state, it is possible
that a sentence which at first seems decidedly spiteful is no more than a
mild and gentle jest.
§ 45. PERSONAL ALLUSIONS IN CHAUCER'S WORKS. Instead of drawing my own
inferences, which may easily be wrong, from various passages in Chaucer's
Works, I prefer the humbler task of giving the more important references,
from which the reader may perform the task for himself, to his greater
satisfaction. I will only say that when a poet complains of hopeless love,
or expresses his despair, or tells us (on the other hand) that he has no
idea as to what love means, we are surely free to believe, in each case,
just as little or as much as we please. It is a very sandy foundation on
which to build up a serious autobiographical structure.
The only remark which I feel justified in making is, that I believe his
wife's death to have been a serious loss to him in one respect at least.
Most of his early works are reasonably free from coarseness; whereas such
Tales as those of the Miller, the Reeve, the Shipman, the Merchant, and the
Prologue to the Wife's Tale, can hardly be defended. All these may
confidently be dated after the year 1387.
I have also to add one caution. We must not draw inferences as to Chaucer's
life from poems or works with which he had nothing to do. Even Sir H.
Nicolas, with all his carefulness, has not avoided this. He quotes the
'Cuckoo and Nightingale' as mentioning Woodstock; and he only distrusts the
'Testament of Love' because it is 'an allegorical composition[175].' As to
the numerous fables that have been imported into the early Lives of
Chaucer, see the excellent chapter in Lounsbury's Studies in Chaucer,
entitled 'The Chaucer Legend.'
§ 46. REFERENCES. I here use the following abbreviations. Ast. (Treatise on
the Astrolabe); B. D. (Book of the Duchesse); C. T. (Canterbury Tales);
H. F. (Hous of Fame); L. G. W. (Legend of Good Women); T. (Troilus and
Criseyde).
1. PERSONAL ALLUSIONS. The poet's name is Geffrey, H. F. 729; and his
surname, Chaucer, C. T., B 47. He describes himself, C. T., B 1886; Envoy
to Scogan, 31. His poverty, H. F. 1349; Envoy to Scogan, 45; Compl. to his
Purse. Refers to the sale of wine (his father being a vintner), C. T., C
564. Is despondent in love, Compl. unto Pity; B. D. 1-43; T. i. 15-18. His
Complaints, viz. unto Pity; to his Lady; and an Amorous Complaint. Has long
served Cupid and Venus; H. F. 616. Is no longer a lover, P. F. 158-166;
H. F. 639; T. ii. 19-21; L. G. W. 490. Is love's clerk, T. iii. 41. Is
love's foe, L. G. W. 323. His misery, H. F. 2012-8. His religious feeling,
A. B. C., Second Nun's Tale, Prioress's Tale, &c. Refers to his work when
Comptroller of the Customs, H. F. 652. Is unambitious of fame, H. F.
1870-900; and has but little in his head, ib. 621. Is sometimes a mere
compiler, Ast. prol. 43. Addresses his little son Lowis, Ast. prol.
1-45[176]. Expresses his gratitude to the queen, L. G. W. 84-96, 445-461,
496. His old age, L. G. W., A 262, A 315; Envoy to Scogan, 31-42; Compl. of
Venus, 76[177]. He will not marry a second time, Envoy to Bukton, 8. He
exhibits his knowledge of the Northern dialect in the Reeve's Tale. The
whole of the Prologue to the Legend of Good Women deserves particular
attention.
Chaucer mentions several friends, viz. Gower the poet, T. v. 1856; Strode,
T. v. 1857 (cf. the colophon to Ast. pt. ii. § 40); and a lady named
Rosemounde, in the Balade addressed to her. He also addresses Envoys to
Henry Scogan and to Bukton. The Envoy to the Compleint to his Purse is
addressed to king Henry IV.
He is fond of books and of reading, P. F. 15; H. F. 657; L. G. W. 17-35;
and even reads in bed, B. D. 50, 274, 1326. For a full account of the books
which he quotes, see vol. vi. I may just notice here the lists in C. T., B
2088; L. G. W., A 272-307; and his references to his own works in L. G. W.
329, 332, 417-28; C. T., B 57-76; C. T., I 1086[178]. His love of nature
appears in several excellent descriptions; we may particularly notice his
lines upon the sunrise, C. T., A 1491, F 385; on the golden-tressed
Phoebus, T. v. 8; on the daisy, L. G. W. 41; his description of the birds,
P. F. 330; of a blooming garden, P. F. 182; of the golden age, The Former
Age; of fine weather for hunting, B. D. 336, and of the chase itself, B. D.
360, L. G. W. 1188. He frequently mentions the fair month of May, L. G. W.
36, 45, 108, 176, T. ii. 50, C. T. A 1500, 1510; and St. Valentine's day,
Compl. of Mars, 13; P. F. 309, 322, 386, 683; Amorous Compleint, 85.
He was our first great metrist, and has frequent references to his poetical
art. He never slept on Parnassus, C. T., F 721; and the Host (in the C. T.)
even accused him of writing 'dogerel,' B 2115. He cannot write alliterative
verse, C. T., I 43. He admits that his rime is 'light and lewed,' and that
some lines fail in a syllable, H. F., 1096-8. Yet he hopes that none will
'mismetre' him, T. v. 1796. He writes books, songs, and ditties in rime or
'cadence,' H. F. 622; also hymns, balades, roundels, and virelays, L. G. W.
422; and complaints, such as the Complaint to Pity, to his Lady, to his
Purse, the Complaints of Mars, Anelida, and Venus, and the Complaint
D'amours (or Amorous Complaint). Specimens of his graphic and dramatic
power, of his skill in story and metre, of his tenderness and his humour,
need not be here specified. He is fond of astronomy, as shewn by his
Treatise on the Astrolabe; and, though he has but little faith in astrology
(Ast. ii. 4. 37), he frequently refers to it as well as to astronomy; see
B. D. 1206; Compl. Mars, 29, 54, 69, 79, 86, 113, 120, 129, 139, 145; P.
F., 56, 59, 67, 117; Envoy to Scogan, 3, 9; H. F. 932, 936, 965, 993-1017;
T. ii. 50, iii. 2, 618, 625, 716, iv. 1592, v. 1809; L. G. W. 113, 2223,
2585-99; C. T., A 7, 1087, 1328, 1463, 1537, 1566, 1850, 2021, 2035, 2059,
2217, 2271, 2367, 2454-69, 3192, 3209, 3516; B 1-14, 191, 308, 312, 4045-8,
4378-89; D 613, 704; E 1795, 1969, 2132, 2222; F 47-51, 263-5, 386, 906,
1032-5, 1045-59, 1130, 1245-9, 1261-6, 1273-96; I 2-12. Even his alchemy
has some reference to astrology; C. T., G 826-9; cf. H. F. 1430-1512.
He refers to optics, C. T., F 228-235; to Boethius on music, C. T., B 4484,
H. F. 788-818; and to magical arts, H. F. 1259-81, C. T., F 115, 132, 146,
156, 219, 250, 1142-51, 1157-62, 1189-1208.
2. HISTORICAL ALLUSIONS. The references to contemporary history are but
few. The death of the Lady Blaunche is commemorated in the Book of the
Duchesse. He refers to good queen Anne, L. G. W. 255, 275, 496; to the
archbishop of Canterbury, C. T., B 4635; to 'this pestilence,' C 679; to
Tyler's rebellion, A 2459; and Jack Straw, B 4584. Perhaps the Complaints
of Mars and Venus refer to real personages; see the Notes to those poems.
He mentions Dante, H. F. 450, L. G. W. 360, C. T. B 3651, D 1126; Petrarch,
C. T., E 31, 1147; Pedro the Cruel, king of Spain, C. T., B 3565, Bertrand
du Gueschlin, 3573, and Sir Oliver Mauny, 3576; Peter, king of Cyprus,
3581; Bernabo Visconti, duke of Milan, 3589, and the 'tyrants' of Lombardy,
L. G. W. 374; Ugolino of Pisa and the archbishop Ruggieri, C. T., B 3597,
3606. There are several allusions to recent events in the Prologue, A
51-66, 86, 276, 399; and perhaps in C. T., E 995-1001.
His literary allusions are too numerous to be here recited. The reader can
consult the Index in vol. vi.
§ 47. ALLUSIONS TO CHAUCER. One of the earliest allusions to Chaucer as a
poet occurs in the works of Eustache Deschamps, a contemporary poet of
France. It is remarkable that he chiefly praises him as being 'a great
translator.' Perhaps this was before his longest poems were written; there
is express reference to his translation of Le Roman de la Rose, and,
possibly, to Boethius. The poem tells us that Deschamps had sent Chaucer a
copy of some of his poems by a friend named Clifford, and he hopes to
receive something of Chaucer's in return. The poem is here quoted entire,
from the edition of Deschamps by le Marquis de Queux de Saint-Hilaire,
published for the Société des Anciens Textes Français, t. ii. p. 138:--
'O Socrates plains de philosophie,
Seneque en meurs et Anglux en pratique,
Ovides grans en ta poeterie,
Bries en parler, saiges en rethorique,
Aigles treshaulz, qui par ta theorique
Enlumines le regne d'Eneas,
L'Isle aux Geans, ceuls de Bruth, et qui as
Semé les fleurs et planté le rosier,
Aux ignorans de la langue pandras,
Grant translateur, noble Geffroy Chaucier.
Tu es d'amours mondains Dieux en Albie:
Et de la Rose, en la terre Angelique,
Qui d'Angela saxonne, est puis flourie
Angleterre, d'elle ce nom s'applique
Le derrenier en l'ethimologique;
En bon anglès le livre translatas;
Et un vergier ou du plant demandas
De ceuls qui font pour eulx autorisier,
A ja longtemps que tu edifias,
Grant translateur, noble Geffroy Chaucier.
A toy pour ce de la fontaine Helye
Requier avoir un buvraige autentique,
Dont la doys est du tout en ta baillie,
Pour rafrener d'elle ma soif ethique,
Qui en Gaule seray paralitique
Jusques a ce que tu m'abuveras.
Eustaces sui, qui de mon plant aras:
Mais pran en gré les euvres d'escolier
Que par Clifford de moy avoir pourras,
Grant translateur, noble Geffroy Chaucier.