Chaucer’s+Canterbury+Tales

Canterbury Tales:

written by Chaucer in 1386

Because the gap between clergy and laity began to close, since the laity became more and more like the clergy in piety, monks had a harder time distinguishing themselves from the masses of society and rivalry between the clerical groups started to spring up. These rivalries produced stories that smear rival groups and lead to a loss of confidence in the clergy.

The Canterbury tales are clerical stories about clerics bickering about each other and smearing the opposing faction. The stories are written in the vernacular and present an image to the laity of the corruption and disorder within the clergy.