| A | B |
|---|
| One of a class of lesser freeholders, below the gentry, who cultivated their own land; early admitted in England to political rights. Chaucer's character wore a silver St. Christopher's medal and used a bow and arrow. | Yeoman |
| A bailiff or steward of a manor in the later medieval period. Chaucer's character took care of the financial accounts, was rich, and owned a stallion he named Scot. | Reeve |
| In the Middle Ages, this was a young man of noble birth who when aspiring to knighthood served a knight. Chaucer's character was a young flighty lad who loved the ladies. | Squire |
| During the Middle Ages, this was an ecclesiastical official authorized to sell indulgences. Chaucer's character had a wallet full of pardons and had yellow hair and bulging eyeballs. | Pardoner |
| A member of a religious order, esp. the mendicant orders of Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites, and Augustinians. Chaucer's character was a festive fellow who wore fancy clothes and had a special license from the Pope. | Friar |
| In Europe in the Middle Ages, a man, usually of noble birth, who after an apprenticeship as page and squire was raised to honorable military rank and bound to chivalrous conduct. Chaucer's character was certainly chivalrous and had ridden in many campaigns. | Knight |
| The master or captain of a vessel, esp. of a small trading or fishing vessel. The word originall was from "scip" for ship. Chaucer's character was a skillful sailor who hailed from Dartmouth, England. | Skipper |
| During the 14th and 15th centuries, this was a freeholder who was not of noble birth. Chaucer's character lived for pleasure and always had a laden table full of good things to eat and drink as a good host should. | Franklin |
| The preface or introductory part to a discourse, poem, or novel. | prologue |
| to be expelled from the church | excommunication |
| Church tax consisting of one tenth of one's income | tithe |
| A lutelike instrument played by cranking a wheel. | hurdy-gurdy |
| A distance of nine inches usually measured by holding your hand up and stretching your fingers to their utmost. | span |
| Some Pilgrims who visited the Holy Land wore two crossed palms to indicate they'd been there. | palmers |
| a dagger | dirk |
| a staff or a stick, rod, pole, or the like | stave |
| a bracelet or ornament worn on the wrist or arm | brace |
| This character had to summon sinners to church courts; today's does the same thing with when he requests someone to be in court at a certain day and time. | Summoner |
| An alderman or member of the English Parliament who once represented a town, borough, or university. | burgess |
| Loose rope around the neck. Today many teachers wear one to hold keys or a photo ID. | lanyard |
| Coarse cloth of cotton abd linen worn by many Pilgrims. | fustian |
| The inn where Chaucer's pilgrims met to go on their pilgrimage. | The Tabard |
| Someone who dies or is killed for their beliefs, principles, or cause; often religious. | martyr |
| The sum of the ideal qualifications of a knight, including courtesy, generosity, valor, and dexterity in arms. The rules and customs of medieval knighthood. | chivalry |
| These wars began in the 1450s and ended in victory for the Lancastrians in 1485 with the death of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field and the accession of Henry VII to the throne. | War of the Roses |
| One literary element example: Death is a thief who steals life. | personification |
| The time and place in which the events of a story, novel, etc. occur. | setting |
| The plague that killed more than a third of England's population in 1348 and 1349. | Black Death |
| miscreants | villians |
| florins | gold coins |
| Likes to play the bagpipes | Miller |
| lie | prevaricate |
| whelks | pimples |
| Questio quid juris | "The question is, what is the law?" |
| scoundrel or knave | varlet |
| purchasing agent | Manciple |
| food or provisions | victuals |
| an ancient stringed instrument | psaltery |
| Feudal system characters related to the land | Knight, Squire, Yeoman, Franklin, Reeve, Miller, and Plowman |
| Feudal characters belonging to the church | Parson, Summoner, Monk, Prioress, Friar, Pardoner and Student |
| Feudal pilgrims who were professionals or mercantile laymen | Physician, Lawyer, Manciple, Merchant, Shipman, Cook, Wife of Bath (clothmaker), and Innkeeper |
