Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote…

Geoffrey Chaucer

These are the first lines of the prologue of Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales which I learned in high school. It’s interesting (though not surprising) that I remember them clearly although often can’t remember where I put my phone.

I’m taking a course at Hunter College in The Canterbury Tales (hereafter TCT) which I’ve always wanted to do. The course is taught by Professor Marlene Hennessy whose areas of interest include Middle English Literature, Medieval Manuscripts and the History of the Book, Late Medieval Scotland, and Medieval Religious Culture. Not only does she have

Marlene Hennessey at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

deep knowledge of her subject matter, she also has a great sense of humor. Once she described the sauna-like temperature of our classroom as “ye olde hot box.” She has referred our class to Monty Python and the Holy Grail; a BBC animated version of TCT, and ancillary reading like the book On Farting: Language and Laughter in the Middle Ages, by Valerie Allen.

Professor Hennessy has broadened our understanding of the period and of Chaucer by showing us illuminated manuscripts, (as digital projections and the real thing), and led a group to see selected items in the Medieval Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A field trip to the Morgan Library is coming up. Discussions of art, medieval culture, the Black Death, feminine power, magic, scientific and related topics make the class lively and memorable.

We study The Tales in the original Middle English, often reading sections aloud in class. It’s fun for those of us with a touch of ham.

Geoffrey Chaucer lived c. 1343 -October 25,1400,and is often called the ‘father of English literature.’ In addition to TCT he wrote many other works; was a philosopher and astronomer and the first writer to be buried in what has since become Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey. He came from an upwardly mobile family and had a wife and children. For the other details of his life—and there are many—if interested please do a little research. (I could reference Wikipedia but my own academic training stressed “go to the source” so will refrain.)

Part of Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey

I’ve always loved the Middle Ages, possibly stemming from many childhood visits to the Cloisters. I pretended I lived there clad in a green velvet gown and played with my personal unicorn.

This recipe is from the British Museum, specifically The Medieval Cookbook by Maggie Black, published by British Museum Press.  Note that the recipe is first rendered in a version of Middle English and then ‘translated’ into contemporary English.

Spit-roasted or grilled steak

Serves 6

To make Stekys of venson or bef. Take Venyson or Bef, & leche & gredyl it vp broun; then take Vynegre & a litel verious, & a lytil Wyne, and putte pouder perpir ther-on y-now, and pouder Gyngere; and atte the dressoure straw on pouder Canelle y-now, that the stekys be al y-helid ther-wyth, and but a litel; Sawce & then serue it forth.

Ingredients

• 6 fairly thin beef steaks
  • Oil or fat for grilling

Basting sauce:
• 2 tsp red wine vinegar
• 1–2 tbsp Seville orange juice
• 4 tbsp red wine
• Pinch each of ground black pepper and ginger

Garnish:
• Sprinkling of ground cinnamon

The original recipe calls for ‘verjuice’, a popular medieval condiment made from specially grown or (in England) unripe grapes. But another recipe from the Medieval household book Le Ménagier de Paris (the Goodman of Paris) suggests using the juice of Seville oranges. If you can get these in season and freeze them, you can use their juice as a substitute for verjuice – it makes a delicious sauce.

Nick the edges of the steaks and grease them. Mix the sauce ingredients in a jug, adjusting the proportions if you wish. Then grill the steaks as you prefer. Warm the sauce and sprinkle a few drops over the meat while grilling it. Serve the steaks lightly sprinkled with cinnamon and any remaining sauce.

Psaltery

If you have a psaltery around, now’s the time to get it out. Here is a link to Angelus and Virginem, (more correctly Angelus ad Virginem, Latin for “The angel came to the virgin”), played on the psaltery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMRC9TfLgEo

This song is referenced in “The Miller’s Tale“, where the character Nicholas, an Oxford student and musician, is described as singing it while playing his psaltery.

Hum along while you pass mulled wine or any beverage of your choice. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” as Chaucer is supposed to have said.