High School English
Medieval Literature
Knights, pilgrims, saints, and swindlers from the English Middle Ages.
Six hundred years ago, England’s court still read much of its poetry in French. A London customs officer named Geoffrey Chaucer showed what English could do when he sent about thirty pilgrims down the road to Canterbury.
This course reads the great works of the Middle Ages up close, in the original words when we can, always with a plain modern guide beside them.
Your guide: Geoffrey, Jugami’s teacher for Medieval Literature.
Reading list
The Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer, c. 1387–1400. The pilgrimage frame, the key pilgrims and tales, real Middle English with a gloss, themes, a pilgrim mini-game, and a quiz.
More medieval texts
More units are on the way.
What were the Middle Ages?
Historians use “the Middle Ages” for roughly 500 to 1500 in Europe, between the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the Renaissance. In England, writers used three languages: Latin for the Church and scholars, French for the court after the Norman Conquest of 1066, and English for nearly everyone else.
Middle English is the English of about 1100 to 1500. It looks strange at first, but read it aloud and you will hear words you already know.
How to use this course
- Read the background cards first; knowing the history makes the satire easier to follow.
- Read the original text aloud, then check the modern gloss.
- Play the mini-game and take the quiz to lock it in.
- Use the Talk About It questions for class or a journal.
Art: original SVG illustration made for Jugami.