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

The Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' () is a collection of 24 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. The book presents the tales, which are mostly written in verse, as part of a fictional storytelling contest held ...

'' 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 w ...

. 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 Serfdom, servants in an Peerage of England, English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in Kingdom of England, mid-1 ...

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 ...

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 the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

. The second part is about another

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

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, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

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 (; ; – 1316), sometimes anglicized as ''Raymond Lully'', was a philosopher, theologian, poet, missionary, Christian apologist and former knight from the Kingdom of Majorca. He invented a philosophical system known as the ''Art ...

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

Vincent of Beauvais Vincent of Beauvais ( or ; ; c. 1264) was a Dominican friar at the Cistercian monastery of Royaumont Abbey, France. He is known mostly for his '' Speculum Maius'' (''Great mirror''), a major work of compilation that was widely read in the Middl ...

, and Arnold of Villanova 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 Elias Ashmole (23 May 1617 – 18 May 1692) was an English antiquary, politician, officer of arms, astrologer, freemason and student of alchemy. Ashmole supported the royalist side during the English Civil War, and at the restoration of Char ...

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 Serfdom, servants in an Peerage of England, English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in Kingdom of England, mid-1 ...

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 The philosopher's stone is a mythic alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold or silver; it was also known as "the tincture" and "the powder". Alchemists additionally believed that it could be used to mak ...

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 deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

an alchemical 'crap' for producing

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

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 kept 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's 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. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, irritability, memory problems, infertility, numbness and paresthesia, t ...

and mortally ill.

Influence

Ben Jonson Benjamin Jonson ( 11 June 1572 – ) was an English playwright, poet and actor. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence on English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for the satire, satirical ...

's play '' The Alchemist'' 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