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The Physician's Tale
"The Physician's Tale" is one of ''The Canterbury Tales'', written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century. It is a domestic drama about the relationship between a daughter and her father, based on a tale from the Histories of Titus Livius and retold in ''The Romance of the Rose,'' as well as John Gower's ''Confessio Amantis,'' which Chaucer drew on for inspiration, and the biblical story of Jephtha. Although difficult to date like most of Chaucer's tales, the Physician's tale is usually regarded as an early work of Chaucer probably written before much of the rest of the ''Canterbury Tales'' was begun. The long digression on governesses possibly alludes to a historical event and may serve to date it: in 1386 Elizabeth, the daughter of John of Gaunt, eloped to France with John Hastings, 3rd Earl of Pembroke. Elizabeth's governess was Katherine Swynford, who was also Gaunt's mistress and later wife. Chaucer's words on the virtues of governesses were potentially influenced by this. ...
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Romanino Virginia Buonconsiglio TN
Girolamo Romani, known as Romanino (c. 1485 - c. 1566), was an Italian High Renaissance painter active in the Veneto and Lombardy, near Brescia. His long career brought forth several different styles. Biography Romani was born in Brescia. His early training and life are not well documented. A Quattrocento-esque ''Pietà'', painted for the church of ''San Lorenzo'' of Brescia, dated from 1510, is exhibited in the Accademia. He took up residence in Venice in his twenties, at the latest by 1513. He was commissioned to complete a ''Madonna enthroned with four saints'' for the church of Santa Giustina in Padua in 1513. The coloration of the painting is of Venetian style, but the duller visages in bejeweled setting recalls styles of previous generations. He completed series of frescoes for Niccolò Orsini's Palace in Ghedi and an altarpiece for San Francesco, Brescia. Romanino completed four frescoes in the nave of the cathedral of Cremona in 1519-1520 depicting stories of th ...
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Katherine Swynford
Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster (born Katherine de Roet, – 10 May 1403), also spelled Katharine or Catherine, was the third wife of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the fourth (but third surviving) son of King Edward III. Daughter of a knight from Hainaut, Katherine was brought up at the English royal court, later found herself in the service of Blanche of Lancaster, the first wife of John of Gaunt. At that time, she was married to Hugh Swynford (or de Swynford), one of the Duke's knights. After the death of the Duchess, Katherine became the lady-in-waiting of her daughters, and also took care of them. After the death of Hugh Swynford (or de Swynford), she became a member of the household of the Duke's new wife, Constance of Castile, and she was given management of the estates of her deceased husband in Lincolnshire: Coleby and Kettlethorpe. She soon became the mistress of John of Gaunt. From this connection, at least four children were born, who received the fami ...
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Appius Claudius Crassus
Appius Claudius Crassus Inregillensis (or Crassinus Regillensis) Sabinus ( 471–451 BC) was a Roman senator during the early Republic, most notable as the leading member of the ten-man board (the Decemvirate) which drew up the Twelve Tables of Roman law around 451 BC. He is also probably identical with the Appius Claudius who was consul in 471 BC. As consul in 471, Claudius is portrayed in Roman historical tradition as a violent opponent of the plebeians in matters of voting rights and military discipline. Later, as decemvir, Claudius is said to have behaved as a lustful tyrant, with his attempt to force himself on the maid Verginia resulting in the second secession of the plebs, the downfall of the Decemvirate, and Claudius's own death. These accounts are unreliable and probably ahistorical, fabricated in later times to portray the patrician clan of the Claudii as proud and arrogant aristocrats. Name and identity Claudius is supposed to have been the son of Appius Claudius Sa ...
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Verginia
Verginia, or Virginia (c. 465 BC449 BC), was the subject of a story of ancient Rome, related in Livy's ''Ab Urbe Condita''.Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology > v. 3, page 1267 /ref> The story of Verginia In 451 BC, Appius Claudius began to lust after Verginia, a beautiful plebeian girl and the daughter of Lucius Verginius, a respected centurion. Verginia was betrothed to Lucius Icilius, a former tribune of the plebs, and when she rejected Claudius, Claudius had one of his clients, Marcus Claudius, claim that she was actually his slave. Marcus Claudius then abducted her while she was on her way to school. The crowd in the Forum objected to this, as both Verginius and Icilius were well-respected men, and they forced Marcus Claudius to bring the case before the decemvirs, led by Appius Claudius himself. Verginius was recalled from the field to defend his daughter, and Icilius, after threats of violence, succeeded in having Verginia returned to her ho ...
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Roman De La Rose
''Le Roman de la Rose'' (''The Romance of the Rose'') is a medieval poem written in Old French and presented as an allegorical dream vision. As poetry, ''The Romance of the Rose'' is a notable instance of courtly literature, purporting to provide a "mirror of love" in which the whole art of romantic love is disclosed. Its two authors conceived it as a psychological allegory; throughout the Lover's quest, the word ''Rose'' is used both as the name of the titular lady and as an abstract symbol of female sexuality. The names of the other characters function both as personal names and as metonyms illustrating the different factors that lead to and constitute a love affair. Its long-lasting influence is evident in the number of surviving manuscripts of the work, in the many translations and imitations it inspired, and in the praise and controversy it inspired. Authorship ''The Romance of the Rose'' was written in two stages by two authors. In the first stage of composition, circa ...
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Livy
Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in 753 BC through the reign of Augustus in Livy's own lifetime. He was on familiar terms with members of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and a friend of Augustus, whose young grandnephew, the future emperor Claudius, he exhorted to take up the writing of history. Life Livy was born in Patavium in northern Italy (Roman Empire), Italy, now modern Padua, probably in 59 BC. At the time of his birth, his home city of Patavium was the second wealthiest on the Italian peninsula, and the largest in the province of Cisalpine Gaul (northern Italy). Cisalpine Gaul was merged in Roman Italy, Italy proper during his lifetime and its inhabitants were given Roman citizenship by Julius Caesar. In his works, Livy often expressed his deep affection an ...
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Lucius Verginius
Lucius ( el, Λούκιος ''Loukios''; ett, Luvcie) is a male given name derived from ''Lucius'' (abbreviated ''L.''), one of the small group of common Latin forenames (''praenomina'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius derives from Latin word ''Lux'' (gen. ''lucis''), meaning "light" (< ''*leuk-'' "brightness", Latin verb ''lucere'' "to shine"), and is a of the name . Another etymology proposed is a derivation from ''Lauchum'' (or ''Lauchme'') meaning "

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The Pardoner's Tale
"The Pardoner's Tale" is one of ''The Canterbury Tales'' by Geoffrey Chaucer. In the order of the Tales, it comes after The Physician's Tale and before The Shipman's Tale; it is prompted by the Host's desire to hear something positive after the physician's depressing tale. The Pardoner initiates his Prologue—briefly accounting his methods of swindling people—and then proceeds to tell a moral tale. The tale itself is an extended exemplum. Setting out to kill Death, three young men encounter an Old Man who says they will find him under a nearby tree. When they arrive they discover a hoard of treasure and decide to stay with it until nightfall and carry it away under the cover of night. Out of greed, they murder one another. The tale and prologue are primarily concerned with what the Pardoner says is his "theme": ''Radix malorum est cupiditas'' ("Greed is the root of llevils"). Frame In the order of ''The Canterbury Tales'', the Pardoner's Prologue and Tale are preceded b ...
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The Knight's Tale
"The Knight's Tale" ( enm, The Knightes Tale) is the first tale from Geoffrey Chaucer's '' The Canterbury Tales''. The Knight is described by Chaucer in the "General Prologue" as the person of highest social standing amongst the pilgrims, though his manners and clothes are unpretentious. We are told that he has taken part in some fifteen crusades in many countries and also fought for one pagan leader against another. Though the list of campaigns is real, his characterization is idealized. Most readers have taken Chaucer's description of him as "a verray, parfit gentil knyght" to be sincere but Terry Jones suggested that this description was ironic, and that Chaucer's readers would have deduced that the Knight was a mercenary. He is accompanied on his pilgrimage by the Squire, his 20-year-old son. The story introduces themes and arguments typically encountered in the literature of knighthood, including courtly love and ethical dilemmas. Sources and composition The epic poem ...
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The Parson's Tale
"The Parson's Tale" seems, from the evidence of its prologue, to have been intended as the final tale of Geoffrey Chaucer's poetic cycle ''The Canterbury Tales''. The "tale", which is the longest of all the surviving contributions by Chaucer's pilgrims, is in fact neither a story nor a poem, but a long and unrelieved prose treatise on penance. Critics and readers are generally unclear what rhetorical effect Chaucer may have intended by ending his cycle in this unlikely, extra-generic fashion. Framing narrative In the prologue to the tale, the host asks the Parson for a fable (the form used earlier with such apparent success by the Nun's Priest) but the Parson refuses with a round condemnation of fable stories, saying instead that he will tell an improving tale in prose since he can neither rhyme nor alliterate. It is also of interest that the host seems to be in some doubt as to the identity of the Parson, since he asks him to introduce himself: "Sire preest," quod he,, "ar ...
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John Hastings, 3rd Earl Of Pembroke
John Hastings, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (October 137230 December 1389) was the son of John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke and Anne Manny, 2nd Baroness Manny. He was also Baron Abergavenny. Infant Inheritance He succeeded his father as an infant in 1375, and also received lands from the death of William de Cantilupe the same year. Marriage He married Elizabeth of Lancaster the daughter of John of Gaunt, in 1380, but the marriage was unconsummated (he was 8 and she 17 at the time of the marriage) and was annulled after she became pregnant by John Holland, whom she subsequently married. He subsequently married Philippa Mortimer, daughter of Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March, but had no children, dying shortly afterwards in a jousting accident. Death in a Joust Richard II held his Christmas court at Woodstock Palace in 1389, and the seventeen-year-old Pembroke took part in the Christmas sports, including jousting. While running a course against Sir John Des, he was s ...
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