Chaucer Today

Economic Lens

Business and Belief

 

Leading up to the 14th century, the Latin West (which includes Central and Western Europe) traded a lot with countries in the Eastern Mediterranean (which includes countries further east such as Turkey, Greece, and Syria) [1]. Chaucer must have been aware of these good trade relations because Eastern merchants are brought up right in the first two lines of the “Man of Law’s Tale” [2].

The poem begins by detailing a number of Syrian merchants trading in Rome. Booming trade between the Latin West and Eastern Mediterranean made diverse interactions like these possible.

In this tale, trade acts as an important “bridge” between the Latin West (Rome) and the Eastern Mediterranean (Syria). It is because of this trade that these merchants travel to Rome. While they are there, they hear about Custaunce, the daughter of the Roman Emperor. Eventually, they go back to Syria and share the news of Custaunce with the Sultan.

The Sultan, despite never having been to Rome, becomes deeply involved in the world of Rome due to the uniting nature of mercantilism, or commercialism.

Trade was doing well between the Eastern Mediterranean and the Latin West. Italy, in particular, was given special privilege in Eastern Mediterranean ports, which proved crucial when spice routes from India and the Far East entered Syria in the 12th century [3].

However, the Crusades, a series of religious wars in which Christian Europeans tried to retrieve the Holy Land from Muslim control, were happening around the same time.

 

It was difficult to divide economic from religious matters, especially since Christian pilgrims would utilize trade ships entering Syrian ports in order to visit the Holy Land [4]. Literally, this close proximity aggravated religious conflict between the Latin West (which was largely Christian) and the Eastern Mediterranean (which was largely Muslim).

So a bit of a complex relationship developed between the medieval East and West. In the economic sense, they depended on each other. But in the general religious sense, the two were split and hostile.

This economic backdrop was one factor that enabled religious hostilities to continue. Merchants were essentially the neutral middlemen through which the Christian West and Islamic East could interact, though these interactions weren’t always positive [5].

This relationship between the medieval East and West through mercantilism can be seen in the tale itself. The Syrian merchants have the ability to participate in international commerce at Roman ports. This is how they learn about Custaunce. Then, by sharing their knowledge with the Sultan, these merchants lay the backdrop for the largely religious tragedy to come: the marriage, the incompatibility between their two religions, the conversions, the murderous plotting, and through all of it, Custaunce’s unwavering faith in the Biblical God.

Mercantilism is one of the main driving forces of religious conflict in the story. The economic contact between the two nations of Rome and Syria doubles as their religious contact. The result of this double contact is incompatibility between their two religions, with representations of Christianity in the story being more positive and morally enriched than representations of Islam.

On one hand, it is possible to say that Chaucer, a Christian living in England, sets the scene for a story that problematically distinguishes between Christian and Muslim figures to highlight the supreme morality of Christians like Custaunce. She is, after all, our protagonist and moral compass throughout this tale. Especially when compared to morally corrupt characters like the Sultaness.

But on the other hand, it is worth considering that Chaucer could intentionally be placing this comparison between Christianity and 

Islam in the Man of Law’s words. Chaucer’s peers were likely to have a complex view of the East that was not just limited to their religious differences [6]. Their stances were more likely to be 

However, the Man of Law has a more polarized, black-and-white representation of the Eastern “other,” one that is similar to the harsh tirade against poor people in the Prologue. It could be less a statement on Chaucer’s personal beliefs, and more an effort to characterize the Man of Law as someone who thinks in extremes and is prone to generalizing.

 

1. Heffernan, Carol. “Mercantilism and Faith.” In The Orient in Chaucer and Medieval Romance. Cambridge: Boydell & Brewer, 2003, 5.
2. Chaucer, “Man of Law’s Tale,” II. 1-2.
3. Heffernan, 5-6.
4. Heffernan, 6.
5. Schildgen, Brenda Deen. Pagans, Tartars, Moslems, and Jews in Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales.” Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2001, 49.
6. Lynch, Kathryn. “Storytelling, Exchange, and Constancy: East and West in Chaucer’s ‘Man of Law’s Tale.’” The Chaucer Review Vol. 33, No. 4 (1999), 410.

 

The Economy of Words

Merchants travel around the world, selling their wares, and share what they learn on their travels with others. In the last section, I discussed how good trade relations between the Latin West and the Eastern Mediterranean enabled religious conflict between them. Merchants act as communicators of information, mediators of gossip between the Christian and pagan (non-Christian) realms [1].

This was important during Chaucer’s time, since not many people had the luxury of international travel. Such experiences were rare if ever achievable for the average landlocked European [2]. So it rested on people whose business was international and relatively neutral, like merchants, to serve the role of messenger.

Merchants serve this same mediator role in the “Man of Law’s Tale.” The Sultan greets the merchants back from Rome enthusiastically, hoping to learn about the foreign lands they have seen [3]. In exchange for hospitality, they give him knowledge of what they saw in Rome, which includes descriptions of Custance [4].

In addition to the physical items that they exchange in their jobs as merchants, words also become a type of “item” that is exchanged for other goods, like the Sultan’s hospitality. The Syrian merchants are not only money-rich, but also story-rich and information-rich [5]. Their words are powerful enough to plunge the Sultan into love with a woman he’s never met!

Even in the Prologue before the tale, the Man of Law mentions the fact that he has learned of the tale from a merchant [6]. Merchants exchange both goods and words, but while physical goods become less valuable the more they have been used, words and stories can only increase in value and quantity the more they are passed around [7]. The merchant passes his story on to the Man of Law, who then passes this story on to the pilgrims and Chaucer, who then passes it on to his whole English readership.

Stories spread quickly, and experience exchanges in value, much like a currency. Words from an old conversation become an active tool in trying to win a storytelling competition among pilgrims. One of the pilgrims, Chaucer, then “records” his story and publishes it for an English readership for entertainment and maybe to communicate a moral message.

Though the story itself remains (presumably) unchanged in its content, its symbolic value changes from place to place. In this tale, stories have their own economy, and they have different values depending on where they are exchanged, like currency.

The Man of Law’s harsh and morally black-and-white stance on poor people during the Prologue is only one example of his obsession with the idea of economy. He praises merchants, who participate in international commerce, for their wealth in money and stories, and equates the exchanging of words to another type of currency [8]. He equates storytelling to another sort of economy, one that is subject to changes in value down the line.

Merchants and economy are important for the Man of Law’s characterization because they demonstrate his obsession with equal exchange. “An eye for an eye” and an interest in money are, to say the least, not very good characteristics for a lawyer to have. Rather, these are characteristics that cast suspicion on the Man of Law’s professionalism: could he be easily bribed? How objective is he when he interprets the law? Is he a good “Man of Law” in the first place? Through economy, Chaucer casts moral doubt on the Man of Law’s character and highlights the irony of a lawyer who thinks in terms of economy.

 

 

1. Schildgen, Brenda Deen. Pagans, Tartars, Moslems, and Jews in Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales.” Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2001, 49.
2. Heffernan, 9.
3. “Man of Law’s Tale,” II. 176-182.
4. “Man of Law’s Tale,” II. 183-189.
5. Lynch, 412.
6. “Man of Law’s Tale,” II. 132-133.
7. Lynch, 413-414.
8. Lynch, 410.
9. “Man of Law’s Tale,” II. 41.