They are acclaimed works of medieval literature that tell the story of a religious pilgrimage to one of the most important cathedrals in all of Christendom.
But, to the astonishment of critics, a major university has issued a warning about Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales because they contain “expressions of Christian faith.”
The University of Nottingham has now been accused of “degrading education” for warning students about the religious elements of Chaucer’s stories, saying that anyone studying one of the most famous works of English literature would hardly need to point out the Christian references. .
The Mail on Sunday obtained details of the notice issued to students studying a module called Chaucer and His Contemporaries under freedom of information laws. It alerts them to incidents of violence, mental illness, and expressions of Christian faith in the works of Chaucer and his fellow medieval writers William Langland, John Gower, and Thomas Hoccleve.
The University of Nottingham has now been accused of “degrading education” for warning students about the religious elements of Chaucer’s stories, saying that anyone studying one of the most famous works of English literature would hardly need to point out the Christian references. .
But, to the surprise of critics, a major university has put a warning on Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales because they contain “expressions of Christian faith.”
The Canterbury Tales, written between 1387 and 1400, are a collection of stories about people on a pilgrimage from London to the tomb of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral.
The Canterbury Tales, written between 1387 and 1400, are a collection of stories about people on a pilgrimage from London to the tomb of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral.
These include the promiscuous Wife of Bath, the drunken miller, and the thief, who delight and surprise each other with stories containing explicit references to rape, lust, and even anti-Semitism.
However, the university’s warning does not refer to anti-Semitism or sexually explicit themes.
Frank Furedi, emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Kent, said: ‘Warning students of Chaucer about Christian expressions of faith is strange. Since all the characters in the stories are immersed in a Christian experience, there are likely to be many expressions of faith. The problem is not the aspiring student readers of Chaucer but the ignorant, virtue-signaling academics.
Historian Jeremy Black added: ‘Presumably this Nottingham nonsense is a product of the need to validate courses according to tickbox criteria. It is at the same time sad, funny and degrading to education.’
A spokesperson for the university said it “champions diversity”, adding: “Even those who are practicing Christians will find aspects of the late medieval worldview…alienating and strange.”
