Ye Olde Queers: The Role of Homosexuality in the Middle Ages

In the middle age’s homosexuality was not understood in the same way it is today. That’s not to say that same-sex relationships didn’t occur, they did, but they weren’t understood to be same-sex couple, rather a deviant sexual act between two men. These relationships occurred so commonly in fact that we see signs of them in many literary works from the middle ages, one of these works being Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, specifically The Summoner's Tale. 

The Summoner’s Tale tells the story of a Friar John, a greedy friar who lies and scams his way into money. Friar John visits the house of a sick parishioner Thomas, upon entering he greats Thomas’s wife with a tight hug, a kiss, and a few flirtatious remarks. Speaking to Thomas, Friar John tells him that the clergy is praying nightly for his recovery, Thomas in responses tells the friar that he has a reward for him. In order to get the reward, the Friar needs to reach under Thomas’s butt and grab it, so the friar does. While the Friars hand is on Thomas’s butt Thomas farts in the friar’s hand and tells him to share it with the rest of the clergy.

The Summoner - The Canterbury Tales

While the tale is not explicitly about gay sex the allusions to it are quite clear. In an essay by Ruth Evans the role of homosexual acts in The Summoners Tale is explored. Evans makes it clear that gay sex, and gay relationships are two very different things, and only the former was understood to exist during Chaucer’s time. Gay sex was also seen as being condemnable for the sin of sodomy, hence why when Friar John attempts to grope the behind of another man he is rewarded with a fart in his hand and sent from the house. 

Chaucer’s inclusion of characters who partake in same-sex acts is very interesting. Not only does it allow for some insight into how queerness presented in the past, but it also allows for modern day queer readers to see themselves in a time period that has been taught as almost entirely straight. Richard E. Zeikowitz describes the effect that this can have for queer readers in his essay. Even if Chaucer’s queer characters do not act in ways that present same-sex relationships in a positive light, they still provide support for queer readers by disrupting the heteronormative space that the middle ages are presented in. 

By including queer characters in The Canterbury Tales Chaucer inadvertently had great impacts on normalizing queerness in media throughout the middle ages, and modern times. In an essay by Tison Pugh he analyzes the unique impact Chaucer had on queerness in the middle ages. Chaucer began the trope of writing “Homosocial” relationships, bonds between two men who were sworn to each other. These bonds of brotherhood Pugh claims can be read as early versions of same-sex marriages.

By writing about queer characters, whether in a negative or positive light, Chaucer created a space for queerness in the middle ages. Which allows modern queer readers to be validated and more comfortable in their sexuality.

A Clash of Two Communities: "The Man of Law's Tale"

    I find that each story in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales can be recognized for a specific theme or message that the work is trying to portray. What really caught my eye was “The Man of Law’s Tale” and its representation of a collision of two very seperate worlds. It demonstrates what occurs when people from very different communities get entangled, and when faced with religious conversion.

    This work is about a super virtuous Catholic woman named Custance. She is married off into a community of pagans, and undergoes just about every hardship possible at the hands of two very sinister mothers-in-law. Despite every adversity that she endures, she is basically saved by her faith, which remains stronger than ever: “Chaucer authenticates a miracle by asking why Custance was not slain with other Cristians at the massacre plotted by the Sultan’s mother (470-71). God saved Custance” (Johnson 5) In the process, she is able to convert an entire community of people without even trying.

    The way in which religious conversion is depicted in the tale is quite interesting. Chaucer paints Christianity as a religion so powerful that when one meets a believer who performs a miracle, others will willingly make the choice to convert. Unlike the original story that the work is based off of, Lewis states that “Chaucer omits Custance’s role as actively preaching to the merchants and causing them to be baptized, a move that would seem to result in a passive rather than an active missionary bride” (14). He focuses the reader’s attention on Custance as the bearer of faith. Interestingly enough, while doing this, Chaucer also portrays her as a paragon of faith and purity. She represents the perfect image of the Catholic Church.

     Custance does not only serve as a religious pawn in the story, but a tool for the goal of Islam’s obliteration. Right from the beginning, the marriage of her to the Sultan suggests the beginning of the end of this religion. The Sultan, without blinking an eye, chooses to covert to be with her. It is his mother who gets in between the couple, killing all of the Christians after their wedding ceremony. This juxtaposition between characters is highly important. While Chaucer depicts Custance as peaceful and strong in her beliefs, Islamic figures throughout the story are portrayed as either easily persuaded or volatile.

    Despite this misrepresentation of Islam that the author depicts, he also seems to hint that the two religions are more alike than different. This is something that both communities in real life may ignore, viewing each other as the enemy. Khan writes that “what is ignored is that the Christians’ belief in the fundamentals and traditions of Christianity is much more similar to the Muslims thinking on their own beliefs” (12). They really are not much different after all, but many refuse to look at the commonalities.

    
In the original story by Trivet, two main priorities of the Crusades are depicted. These are territorial expansion and the possession of Jerusalem. Interestingly enough, in Chaucer’s version of the tale the main goal is spiritual conversion of the Syrians by the Romans. Islam and Christianity clash in this story, showing its readers the huge impact that this has on both communities. Custance becomes the posterchild for her religion and all things good, while various Muslim characters are written in a completely different manner. 

Gender Role Reversal in the Miller's Tale

Painting of Alisoun standing over John the Carpenter

                                        Gender Role Reversal in The Miller's Tale

    People who read The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer may easily be able to tell the writing is from the Middle Ages because of the vulgar humor and gender roles set in some of the Tales. For this project, The Miller's Tale will be examined to show that amidst all of the dark humor, the character’s gender roles are very different in relation to the time period it was written in. Therefore, in Miller's Tale, even amidst the dark humor, the gender roles of the female and male characters are seemingly reversed. 

    To continue, although this was written in 1392, in the late Middle Ages, the character of Alisoun seems to have the power that women of this time period did not easily have. According to Kathy Lavezzo Alisoun showed independence and power in Miller’s Tale. This is expressed when Lavezzo writes, “Not only is Alisoun unscathed by the close of the Miller’s Tale, but she also exhibits a notable degree of agency… Alisoun’s prime moment of power occurs during the notorious misdirected kiss sequence” (Lavezzo 8). This quote refers to the section in the Tale where she rejects her male caller Absolon. Not only were women seen as objects at this time, but they also had little to no say in who they were with romantically. Alisun fought this, in a very empowering and masculine way. By making him kiss her arse in rejection, it exhibits a type of power that was not typical of women in this time period. Giving his input Joseph Perry writes,“As such a figure, on the other hand, Alisoun seems to generate, more than she affects, the tale's plot, which nevertheless grants her a kind of power in the tale” (Perry 2). This shows how Chaucer decided to give her power in this tale, that was not typically allotted to females.

    Furthermore, the gender roles seem to be reversed here since the Male characters are seemingly the ones who are punished for adultery. In the Middle Ages, it was way more common that the woman would more so suffer the consequences of adultery. This is because a man at this time should have proper control over his wife. The male characters are Abolon, Nicholas, and John. In the end, despite being cheated on by John the Carpenter is actually seen as a laughing stock of the town. Absolon punished Nicholas, by sticking a hot stick up his rear, in reaction to Alisoun punishing Absolon tricking him into kissing her rear. The dark humor and love triangle action actually make these characters lose their masculinity in the end. Shannon Forbes writes about Absolon’s lack of masculinity. This is seen when Forbes writes, “Perhaps most seriously, however, Absolon fails to consistently enact the role of the courtly lover because he cannot successfully execute his male authority over the female object of his love” (Forbes 5). Here Forbes suggests that Alisouns’s power seems to stop Absolon from forcing Alisoun to love him. 

       To sum it up, by using these sources, this project will further prove that the gender roles are reversed in Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale. This is due to the main points that Alisoun exhibits power that women did not typically have in the Middle ages. The power Alisoun has with her choices and rejections causes the male characters to lose their masculinity. This is seen through their inability to love her and their punishments for adultery. Therefore, the gender roles of the female and male characters are swapped in Chaucer's Miller’s Tale.

Gender Dynamic in "The Wife of Bath's Tale"

Throughout my college career, I have read The Canterbury Tales three times; each time, I find myself devoted to "The Wife of Bath's Tale." The tale encompasses the unfamiliar concept of strong, authoritative women in a male-dominant period.

This tale tells the story of a knight who rapes a young maiden; because of his actions, the knight faces life-threatening consequences. Instead of facing death, the queen presents a challenge to the knight - if he wants to live, he must learn what women desire most in the world; once he discovers it, he must tell the queen within one year. He travels for months, seeking the answer with no luck. One day, he ventures across the loathly lady; in return for presenting him with the solution, the knight must spend the rest of his life with her. After he reveals that women desire power over men in relationships, the loathly lady demands the knight to marry her. The knight is furious at the turn of events. In the end, the lady asks the knight to choose: have an elderly wife who is faithful, or a young partner who is unfaithful. The knight leaves the choice up to her, and she is overjoyed. The once loathly lady is now a youthful-looking, faithful wife, and the couples lives happily ever after.

The Loathly Lady - Frequently used in Medieval Literature

In the tale, the men fall in line with the rules of the women, most notably the queen and the loathly lady. As a woman, it is inspiring to see women take on powerful positions. Furthermore, the main focus of this project is exposing the dynamics of gender.

Emma Lipton argues that Chaucer is advocating for social change in which female superiority overthrows a patriarchal society. In her research, Lipton also notes that rather than reducing women to passive and obedient beings, "The Wife of Bath's Tale" provides women with a powerful voice.

Susan Carter expresses that in "The Wife of Bath's Tale," Chaucer is promoting radical change. Through the use of the "loathly lady" motif, Chaucer is reducing the concept of gender roles. In the tale, the knight submits to her, listening to her every word and following through with her favors. As for the queen, she also exerts authority over the king. Not only does the entire king's court consist of women, but they all also implement equitable punishments and rules for those that do wrong, such as the knight.

Anne McTaggart addresses the unusual gender dynamic in the tale; it is different from anything seen in the Middle Ages. In her article, McTaggart brings up "male surrender" which particularly exists in both the knight and the king. Throughout the text, both men are relinquishing their males status to that of strong females, specifically the queen and the loathly lady.

"The Wife of Bath's Tale" was way ahead of its time. Geoffrey Chaucer incorporated ideas that citizens are fighting for in the present-day. The gender dynamic in this tale allows women to feel empowered and recognize the opportunities they can achieve.

Rape and Justice in the Middle Ages

            This is my second course in which I have had to read The Canterbury Tales and both times I have gravitated greatly towards the Wife of Bath’s Tale. I feel as though it is the perfect example of the plight of women in a patriarchal society. In the tale, the Wife of Bath recounts the story of a highly esteemed knight who rapes a young maiden. The knight was due to be killed for his crime, however the Queen found it more fitting to teach him a lesson. She ordered the knight to find the correct answer to the question, ‘”What do women desire most?”. To find the answer, the knight set of on a quest. Along his journey, he met an elderly haggard-looking woman who claimed to know the correct answer, but she would only give it to him if he agreed to fulfill her wish afterwards. Together they traveled back to the Queen and revealed the answer- women desire sovereignty over their partners. With the elderly woman’s answer being correct, she finally spoke of her secret wish- to marry the knight. The knight begrudgingly agrees to marry her, but this is when we see a twist. The old woman transforms into a younger and more beautiful version of herself as a reward for the new outlook her husband has on women. A reward (yes, you read that correctly) for a rapist, nonetheless a reward of a young and attractive wife which is eerily similar to the description used for his victim. While the conclusion is simply abhorrent, it certainly mimics the rhetoric of the time. The Middle Ages were not shy in their complete and utter disregard of rape. That is why in my paper I will be focusing on the idea of rape and justice in medieval times.

            To delve into the topic of sexual violence, I must first address the society which upheld such a terrible crime for so long. Patriarchal societies have been a thing since the beginning of time and that surely does not exclude the Middle Ages. As we may all have learned in history classes, men were viewed as the breadwinners while women were the homemakers. This meant that women often took the backseat in society, leaving it to the men to assume leadership roles. In fact, as per Tison Pugh's article, the idea of “masculine speech” and “feminine silence” were highly revered in this time period. This was essentially a universally understood rule of society which was even echoed in religious writings. In Lucia Akard’s article, “A Medieval #MeToo”, we see how far the idea of feminine silence was taken in the Middle Ages. This article, scarily enough, is able to bridge the gap between medieval and modern rape culture which helps the reader get a sense of the systematic oppression of women that has been happening over centuries. Medieval women did speak out on the sexual violence they experienced, yet their attackers often silenced them in more ways than one. Firstly, unjust laws were created to ensure that women rarely found justice. For example, in Medieval France a law was recorded that women who did not fight hard enough to resist a rape were basically out of luck in persecuting their attacker. Another way was the use of social class as shown in Karras’ article. Aristocratic men of the Middle Ages used their wealth and social standing as a way to manipulate women and their pursuit of justice. Since these men were so rich, they knew if they were to commit a crime of sexual violence against poor women, it would most likely not be reported because of the wealth disparity. 

            In fact, in Classen’s article we actually get to see how scarcely reported rapes were in Medieval France, Over the course of 85 years, there was only 12 reported cases of sexual violence. As we know, this number is simply outrageous. It is very low despite the fact that rapes were very common. This is a clear sign of women being silenced and beaten into submission. Another example of men using their power against women is introduced in Godspeed’s article. She zeros in on the fact that the assailant in the tale was a knight. A knight’s duty is to protect its people, yet this knight did the complete opposite. He used his position of power to strip a woman of her rights. Rape and justice (or lack thereof) is a prevalent theme in medieval literature and one that demands more conversation in order to shed light on the issue. 

Rape Culture in the Middle Ages

While reading Canterbury Tales, a lot of questions came to mind. It is an interesting and different approach to literature. I was drawn in on one of Chaucer's tales, which was the "Wife of Bath's Tale." This tale sparked my attention being a female and because of the tale's overall main idea focusing on rape culture in the Middle Ages. The tale is about a knight raping a young woman (who the audience never hears from), receiving a small punishment for his crime, and then being rewarded for his behavior with a new, beautiful wife. His punishment is to answer a question the queen asks. While trying to find the answer, he runs into a old woman who transforms into a beautiful version of herself to teach him a lesson, but also rewarding him. Before reading the Canterbury Tales, I had little to no knowledge regarding rape in the Middle Ages. But, clearly there was something that I needed to know because I was shocked by the way the rape was ignored and the knight was actually rewarded. This was all very new to me, but as I read more into the tale it became more and more apparent that rape was a normalized act rather than a crime during the Middle Ages. From that moment on, I knew that I wanted to focus my research on rape and equality for women in the Middle Ages.

The young, beautiful wife.
https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-wife-of-baths-tale-in-the-canterbury-tales-theme-analysis.html

Within my research, I focused on the way Chaucer normalizes rape. He does this by focusing the tale on the knight rather than the maiden who was raped. It became evident that this was occurring more often than it should have in the Middle Ages. Women were left to deal with the repercussions of rape by themselves, while the men lived their normal lives. Emma Lipton discusses in her article that the maiden is a representation of all women in the Middle Ages, dealing with rape on a day-to-day basis. This time period was known to be dark and I believe this is the reason behind that stereotype. Instead of women having a normal life, they feared walking in the streets alone. Lucia Akard's essay, "A Medieval #MeToo," describes the real life of women in the Middle Ages. She focuses on the effects rape had on women, the struggles of being heard, and how women were constantly discriminated against. The maiden in the "Wife of Bath's Tale" does not have any lines in the tale as she is seen as 'voiceless' by the audience. The fact that the maiden does not speak, makes it obvious that women were alone and scared. The tale can also be viewed as a cry for help from women in the Middle Ages. 

This tale is important and relevant to today's world because rape is still an ongoing issue that people are facing. The only difference is women are being heard today regarding rape whereas in the Middle Ages, they were not. Thomas Van, in his article "False Texts and Disappearing Women in the 'Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale,'" writes that the rape was a major issue in the text but was left to be very vague and not important at all. This is a problem in itself because a hatred act like rape should not be ignored, but it was. Women struggled to be heard and the maiden is the representation of those women struggling to be seen, heard, and have justice. Akard also expands on this idea of women in today's society still finding a way to be heard by stating, "The #MeToo movement was started in 2007 by feminist Tarana Burke as a way to show solidarity with black women and girls who had experienced sexual assault."  This topic is something that I became very interested in due to it being an ongoing issue people are experiencing to this day. After doing my research, it showed the differences in the Middle Ages and today's world. The biggest difference was women were not heard back then because men were the superior race whereas today, women from all over have joined forces to put an end to rape and to have justice. 

Homophobic Behavior in the Middle Ages

         During this summer course, we studied the diverse population during the Middle Ages. One group of people that stood out to me was the homosexuals. This group of people was often hidden from Middle Age texts, but in Geoffrey Chaucer’s text, The Canterbury Tales, he incorporates aspects of homosexual characters in some of his tales. 

http://www.luminarium.org
/medlit/pardonport.htm

         In my course project, I chose to closely analyze The Pardoner’s Tale and how the Pardoner showed many signs of homosexuality. By looking closely into the way Chaucer had described the Pardoner and noticing some of his actions, readers are able to make the connection to the Pardoner’s homosexuality. 

         In the Prologue to the Pardoner’s Tale, the Pardoner actually makes the Host kiss him, “And ye, sire Hoost, that been to me so deere, I prey yow that ye kisse the Pardoner” (Chaucer, 277). The Pardoner asks another man, the Host, to kiss him because he was upset that the Host was making fun of him. Instead of refusing to kiss him, the Host agrees and follows through.

         Not only do we see physical actions between the Pardoner and other men, but we also are given descriptions of him that show his feminine side. Monica McAlpine looks further into the specific word choice Chaucer used in describing the Pardoner, “The description of the Pardoner’s hair — its length and fineness suggesting effeminacy, eunuchry, and hermaphroditism and his grooming of its suggesting effeminacy; the Pardoner’s concern with fashion, implying effeminacy: the references to goats and hairs, suggesting hermaphroditism; the high voice, connoting effeminacy and eunuchry” (McAlpine, 13). McAlpine finds several reasons why one may consider the Pardoner to be a homosexual. She looks at his hair, his voice, his love for fashion, and beardlessness to draw a conclusion about his sexuality. One aspect that was very interesting was that the Pardoner did not have a beard. During the Middle Ages, a beard showed one’s masculinity. So, by the Pardoner not having a beard, he was expressing his feminine side. 

https://uncrcow.tumblr.com
/post/179114171134/
how-was-homosexuality-
treated-in-medieval-times

         Studying Middle Aged text can be very difficult for our modern society to understand. McAlpine also discusses another very important aspect which is that our interpretation of Middle-Aged texts may be very different. This is very important to think about because when we read Chaucer’s text and hear things like how the Pardoner does not have a beard, it might not strike us that he was showing signs of feminism. But, if we were from the Middle Ages, it would be clearer to us that he was more feminine. 

         In an article written by Richard Zeikowitz that engages in the homosexual aspects of the Pardoner’s Tale. One point that he states is the importance of incorporating historical texts that include homosexuality, “Queering in the Middle Ages works hand in hand with queering the present- a process that may pave the way for a society that genuinely engages difference” (Zeikowitz, 79). Zeikowitz points out how many teachers only show their students heterosexual texts. Introducing homosexuality into historical texts can lead to understanding and reacting positively towards homosexuals. Zeikowitz includes an assignment that teachers can do with their students while reading The Pardoner’s Tale which is to have students think about how the Pardoner would fit into today’s society and which of his characteristics would be against the norm. Linking homosexual historical texts to our culture today can give students a better understanding and development of homosexuality. 

            Overall, this theme of homosexuality in The Canterbury Tales allows readers to see that there were homosexuals during this time period. Many of them were hidden from the historical texts that we see today, but they were present, especially in Chaucer’s text. It is important to pick up on the words and actions Chaucer had included in his text to really understand the Pardoner’s sexuality. Engaging in historical works that include homosexuality is important to further our views on people who are not with the norm.