The Summoner

A detailed Summary of The Summoner


The Canterbury Tales, written in the late 14th century by Geoffrey Chaucer, is a collection of tales as told by a variety of stereotypes from differing social classes. The longing poem provides insight to the lifestyles of the Medieval Age; the relation of the church to the people; the position of women in society; what was seen as humorous; and other norms of the time. It is a collection of some 24 tales (Chaucer had meant there to be more, unfortunately, or fortunately if you were made to read them all, he had died before he could complete his work), each tale told by a different pilgrim of different occupations. It is a human comedy poking at, and farcing, the three dominant estates of the time: feudal, ecclesiastical, and urban. My focus is on the Summoner and his tale.

A "servant" of the church, the Summoner would be grouped under the ecclesiastical middle class. He was not poor, but his power was only so great, and his authority was minimal. As a summoner his job was to summon sinners to trial before a court of the church. Or so was the description. In r


As for his morals... well what morals? The Summoner couldn't have possibly been any worse for his job. It is ironical how such a foul man could have been entrusted in the task of bringing sinners to justice. In spite of his position in the church the Summoner's actions were motivated by greed, and/or lust. He neither showed any problems with, nor contemplated committing acts of sin, although he held a supposedly honorary position in the church. So vulgar was he that he would even let a man sleep with his mistress for a year, just for a quart of wine. (Yes a member of the clergy with a mistress.) He would have condemned people of fornication in hopes of receiving a bribe to increase his wealth, even though his own lecherousness was nearly unmatched. He couldn't have been any less pious, for this man of the church was so malevolent he would even scare children away.

It is to no surprise that the Summoner was a heavy drinker. As mentioned earlier his drinking was so bad (as well as his judgment) that he would trade his concubine for a quart of wine. And when he

Some common words found in the essay are:
Medieval Age, Geoffrey Chaucer, Latin Obviously, Canterbury Tales, position church, quart wine,

Approximate Word count = 718
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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