Description: These essays investigate legal and religious subjects relevant to the age and places in which Geoffrey Chaucer lived and wrote, especially as reflected in The Canterbury Tales. Topics include the canon law of incest, sexual offences, prostitution, the laws of nature concerning gender distinction (focusing on Chaucer's Pardoner) and castration. Chaucer's Prioress is the starting point for the treatment of the regulations of nuns and for the presence, real and virtual, of Jews and Saracens (Muslims and pagans) in England. It concludes with a case study on the legend of St Cecilia, and a discussion of canonistic opinion on the licit limits of medicinal magic (with regard to John the Carpenter in the Miller's Tale).
Review Quotes: 'A valuable collection of eleven influential and deeply learned essays published since 1991 by one of the most distinguished scholars of medieval English literature and culture.' Medium Aevum '... throughout the volume Kelly engages imaginatively, energetically, and rigorously with a variety of questions. For the work presented here, and for his broader contributions to scholarship on the English Middle Ages, we will remain in his debt.' Journal of Anglican and Episcopal History