"The Canon's Yeoman's Tale" is one of ''

The Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''Masterpiece, ...

'' by

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...

The Canon and his

Yeoman Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in mid-14th-century England. The 14th century also witn ...

are not mentioned in the

General Prologue The General Prologue is the first part of ''The Canterbury Tales'' by Geoffrey Chaucer. It introduces the frame story, in which a group of pilgrims travelling to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury agree to take part in a storytelling com ...

of The Canterbury Tales, where most of the other pilgrims are described, but they arrive later after riding fast to catch up with the group. The tale the Canon's Yeoman tells is in two parts. The first part is an exposé of the shady business of his master the Canon as an

alchemist Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscience, protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in Chinese alchemy, C ...

. The second part is about another canon who is also an alchemist who is even more devious than the first. It is not known if the introduction of these characters was an afterthought by Chaucer or if they were part of the design of the Tales from the start. It is believed it was one of the last tales to be written and it seems to many scholars that Chaucer must have had a real person in mind while writing such a lively attack on alchemists. In 1374 a

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

called William de Brumley confessed to making counterfeit gold coins after being taught by William Shuchirch. Shuchirch was a canon at King's Chapel, Windsor and in 1390 Chaucer supervised repairs of the chapel so he may have known Shuchirch. No sources have survived for the tale although similarities can be found to one by

Ramon Llull Ramon Llull (; c. 1232 – c. 1315/16) was a philosopher, theologian, poet, missionary, and Christian apologist from the Kingdom of Majorca. He invented a philosophical system known as the ''Art'', conceived as a type of universal logic to pro ...

. Chaucer probably got much of the technical detail from ''Speculum Naturale'' (Mirror of Nature) by Vincent of Beauvais, and

Arnold of Villanova Arnaldus de Villa Nova (also called Arnau de Vilanova in Catalan, his language, Arnaldus Villanovanus, Arnaud de Ville-Neuve or Arnaldo de Villanueva, c. 1240–1311) was a physician and a religious reformer. He was also thought to be an alchem ...

is mentioned within the tale itself although he may have read many other alchemical texts. Chaucer's grasp of alchemy seems very accurate and in the 17th century the tale was cited by Elias Ashmole as proof that Chaucer was master of the science. Chaucer did have a great interest in science and technology, writing a Treatise on the Astrolabe.

Synopsis

The Yeoman seems much the more talkative of the two arrivals. When Harry Bailly, the host, asks the Canon for a tale, his

yeoman Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in mid-14th-century England. The 14th century also witn ...

chips in to announce how clever his master is, saying: :That al this ground on which we been ridyng, :Til that we come to Caunterbury toun, :He koude al clene turnen up-so-doun, :And pave it al of silver and of gold. The host then asks why the Canon is dressed so poorly if he is so clever and the Yeoman admits that he may have wit but he misuses it. He then explains his master is an alchemist: :And borwe gold, be it a pound or two, :Or ten, or twelve, or manye sommes mo, :And make hem wenen, at the leeste weye, :That of a pound we koude make tweye. The Canon tries unsuccessfully to silence his Yeoman but ends up fleeing in shame; after which the Yeoman feels free to tell the history of the Canon. He describes how the Canon works to discover the philosopher's stone and many of the processes he goes through but how in the end the pot breaks and they lose most of the metal they had. He then continues with a story of a second canon who sells to a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

an alchemical 'crap' for producing

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

after tricking him into believing that he can produce the metal spontaneously. After each of the tales the Yeoman adds a moral such as: :But al thyng which that shineth as the gold :Nis nat gold, as that I have herd it told; He also explains that we should not try to discover things keeps secret as it will not succeed and be like picking a fight with God. :He wills that it not discovered be, :Save where it's pleasing to His deity... :...sith that God of hevene :Ne wil nat that the philosophres nevene :How that a man shal come unto this stoon, :I rede, as for the beste, lete it goon. The Canon Yeoman tells how he was once a happy man who wore fine clothing, but has now degraded into poverty - he must wear his stocking for a cap; he is so deep in debt that he can never repay loans no matter how long he lives or how "talented" he is; his face is grey and the colour of lead, implying that his pursuit of alchemy has left him suffering from

lead poisoning Lead poisoning, also known as plumbism and saturnism, is a type of metal poisoning caused by lead in the body. The brain is the most sensitive. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, irritability, memory problems, inferti ...

and mortally ill.

Influence

Ben Jonson Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...

's play ''

The Alchemist An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy. Alchemist or Alchemyst may also refer to: Books and stories * ''The Alchemist'' (novel), the translated title of a 1988 allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho * ''The Alchemist'' (play), a play by Ben ...

'' bears many similarities to Chaucer's tale. Chaucer has also described him as wearing green at all times.

References

External links

Side by side modern translation of "The Canon's Yeoman's Tale"Modern Translation of the ''Canon's Yeoman's Tale'' and Other Resources
at eChaucer

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canon's Yeoman's Tale, The The Canterbury Tales Fiction about alchemy Yeomen