The Clerical Status of Chaucer's Alchemist

Medieval Academy of America
The Clerical Status of Chaucer's Alchemist

Author(s): Marie P. Hamilton
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Speculum, Vol. 16, No. 1 (Jan., 1941), pp. 103-108
Published by: Medieval Academy of America
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THE CLERICAL STATUS OF CHAUCER'S ALCHEMIST
BY MARIE P. HAMILTON
'WHETHER Chaucer's Canon was regularor secular is not clearlystated,' Pro-

fessorRobinson observes, 'but he manifestlyenjoyed considerablefreedom."
Skeat2and ProfessorManly3also are in doubt as to the ecclesiasticalstatus of
the Alchemistwho joined the pilgrimsat Boughton,thoughboth inclineto the
view that he was secular- a canon servinga cathedralor a collegiatechurch,
that is, but livingabroad in the world (in saeculo),ratherthan a memberof the
monasticOrderof Canons Regular, and hence livingin community.Neverthe-
less it musthave been plain to mediaeval readersthat Chaucer's Alchemistwas
a Black Canon, a Canon Regular of St. Augustine.
Certainly,as Robinsonnotes,4the second alchemistexposedby the Yeoman,
the villain of his story proper,is a regular canon. The Yeoman calls him a
'chanoun of religion' - one who has taken the vows of a religious- to dis-
tinguishhim frommere seculars. Similarly,in mediaeval Latin writingsthe
regulars,or Augustinians,are designated as canonici religionis.6 Further,the
Yeoman begs pardon of 'worshipfulchanons religious'lest they interprethis
censureof one of theirbrethrenas slanderof the entireOrder,or of theirpar-
ticularhouse; thus he makes it clear that those addressedbelong to one of the
Regular Orders,and hence residein a convent:
But worshipfulchanonsreligious,
Ne demethnat thatI sclaundre yourehous,
Although thatmytaleofa chanounbee.
Ofeveryordresomeshreweis,pardee,
AndGod forbede thatall a compaignye
Sholdereweo singuleer mannesfolye.
To sclaundreyowis no thyngmynentente....
If anyJudasin yourecoventbe,
Remoeveth hymbitymes, I yowrede,
If shameorlos maycausenanydrede.7
The theoryof H. G. Richardsonthat this alchemistof The Canon Yeoman's
Tale may have been WilliamShuchirch,a canon of the King's Chapel at Wind-
sor,8has been favorablyrevived by Manly,9 and thus has commandedthe re-
spectfulattentionwe naturally give to Manly's own speculations regarding
1 F. N. Robinson,ed., The CompleteWorksofGeoffrey Chaucer,p. 867.
2 Skeat, Notesto The Canterbury Tales, p. 416.
3 J. M. Manly, ed., Chaucer'sCanterbury Tales, p. 649.
4 Robinson,Works,p. 867. 6 Canon Yeoman's Tale, 972.
6 For example,in the Constitutionsfor AugustinianCanons issued by Pope Benedict xii in 1339
(Wilkins,Concilia,2.629-651).
7 C. Y. Tale 992-998, 1007-09. The Pardonerrepresented a conventof canons regular and, as I
have elsewheremaintained,may have been one of theirnumber.Could the Yeoman's apologyhave
been meantforhis ears?
8 H. G. Richardson,'Year-Booksand Plea-Rolls,' Transactions oftheRoyalHistoricalSociety,1922,
4 Ser. v, 28-70.
J. M. Manly, New Lighton Chaucer,pp. 243-9248;Chaucer'sCanterbury Tales, pp. 648, 651-652.
103

104 The ClericalStatusof Chaucer'sAlchemist
Chaucer. But it would be strangefora regularcanon such as the Yeoman de-

scribes in his story to be attached to a collegiate institutionlike the Royal
Chapel, which naturallywas served by secular ecclesiastics,includingsecular
canons.1
As forthe Alchemistwho overtookthe Canterburypilgrims,the Yeoman pro-
teststhat he is not the same as the canon of his story.2Yet he would not expect
his audience to identifythe two unless his master,the Alchemist,also were a
regularcanon, forthe otherpilgrimshad the same opportunityas Chaucer to
scrutinizethe habit of the newcomer,and therebyto determinehis rank. His
dress,describedwith some particularity,evidentlywas expectedto reveal that
rankto mediaeval readersas well. It consistedof a black cloak and hood (sewed
together)over a white surplice,3and under that the usual clericalcassock, the
'overslope,al baudy and totore'thatdrewpuzzled commentfromHarryBailey.4
This was the uniformprescribedin the Middle Ages forwear beyond the pre-
cinctsofchurchand cloisterby thoseAustinCanons who wereknownin England
as Black Canons, to distinguishthemfromothercanonsregular,who worecapes
and hoods of anothercolor.' Thus Rock, steeped in the loreof mediaeval eccle-
siastical usage, takes it forgrantedthat Chaucer's Alchemistwas regular.In an
elaboratedescriptionof the vestmentsof canons in choirhe remarks:6
Somefamilies ofcanonsregular stillrequiretheirmembers,
whenever theygooutofthe
house,to wearovertheircassocka linensurplice, andoverthata large,full,blackcanon's
cape.I haveoftenmetthemso dressedaboutthestreetsofRome.Such,too,was their
habitwhentheywentabroadin Englandduringoldentimes,as welearnfromourpoet
Chaucer,whothusdescribes one ofthem:
A BoghtoununderBlee us ganatake
A manthatclothedwas in clothesblake,
Andunder-nethe he haddea whytsurplys....
Al lightforsomerroodthisworthy man,
Andin mynhertewondren I bigan
Whatthathe was,tilthatI understood
How thathisclokewas sowedto hishood;
For which,whanI haddelongeavysedme,
I demed hymsom chanounforto be.7
A good notionof this habit may be got fromCardinal Gasquet's pictureof a
canon regularin his HenryVIII and theEnglishMonasteries,1. 792;8and earlier
1 Though the Chapel had a secularstafffromits foundation,in 1351 the College was settledupon
a new establishmentand thereafter consistedof a custos,or warden,twelve secularcanons,thirteen
priestsor vicars,fourclerks,six choristers,twenty-sixpoor or alms knights,and otherofficers(Dug-
dale, MonasticonAnglicanum,2nd edition,vol. 6, Part 8, p. 1353. See also Cutts,Parish Priestsand
TheirPeople in theMiddleAgesin England,pp. 418-419).
2 C. Y. Tale 1088-91. 3 See C. Y. Prologue556-575. 4 Ibid.,633-635.
5 F. A. Gasquet, EnglishMonasticLife,p. 225.
6 Daniel Rock, Chuirch ofOur Fathers,London, 1849, 2.84-85, n. 16. In Robinson's partialresume
ofthisstatement(The CompleteWorksofGeoffrey Chaucer,p. 867) a typographicalerrorobscuresthe
point. Rock is representedas sayingthat 'some familiesof canons regularlyrequiredtheirmembers'
to wear the costumedescribedby Chaucer- a commentthat wouldnot help to answerthe question
whetherthe Alchemistwas regularor secular. For Rock's quotation of Chaucer's lines I have sub-
stitutedRobinson's text. 7 C. Y. Prologue556-558, 570-573.
8 See also the picturein Dugdale's Monasticon(1st edition),9.1.

The ClericalStatusof Chaucer'sAlchemist 105
authoritiesconfirmRock and Gasquet. The costume of AugustinianCanons,

says Tanner,'was a longblack cassockwitha whiterochetover it, and over that
a black cloak and hood." Dugdale givesfullerparticulars,withspecial attention
to thedressofregularcanonsoutsideoftheirowncommunities.2 Similaraccounts
are given by Kettlewell,quoting the chroniclesof a fifteenth-century canon
regular,3and by Nigellus Wirekerof the twelfthcentury,in his facetiousverses
at the expenseof the Augustinians,whose black and whitegarb made themre-
semble leopards and magpies!4 The details of the costumeas given by Tanner
and Dugdale are furtherborne out by Benedict xii's Constitutions for Augus-
tinian Canons issued in 1339,5and by the similar Ordinationeset statutaper
ThomamWolsey. . . persingulamonasteriacanonicorum regulariumS. Augustini
observanda.AThough Pope Benedict's statutespertainingto apparel are mainly
concernedwithproperlength,shape, and materials,theyaffordclear notionsof
the Augustinianhabit wornon journeysas well as of that wornin the convent.
The onlydifference seemsto have been that in the choirand the monasticprem-
ises the cape, or cope (capa), was topped at the shouldersby an amice, whereas
a hood took the place of the amice when the wearerlefthome.7
Descriptionsof the apparel of mediaeval canons regular,then,are both uni-
formand plentiful.Not so withthat ofthesecularcanons,whichmusthave been
different fromthe dress of the Augustinians,since this would not be described
as distinctiveif it had been shared by mere seculars. For theirprimeliturgical
functionof renderingthe canonical hours in choir, to be sure, both kinds of
canons wore the same vestments;8 but regardingthe appearance of the seculars
at othertimes one findsalmost completesilence. The reason doubtless is that
therewas no compulsorydress forthem when they were not dischargingtheir
officialduties, just as there was none for secular priests.One would suppose,
though,that the same decent garb was recommendedforcanons as for other
membersof the secular clergy- namely,'the clericaloutdoordress of cassock,
gown, and hood,'9 and Cutts indicates that such was the case: 'The Canons
Secular worea long black cassock,overwhichduringservicetheyworea surplice
and a furtippetcalled an almuce (amice) and a four-squareblack cap called a
baret; and at othertimesa black cloak and hood witha leathergirdle."'
I Tanner,NotitiaMonastica,p. xi. 2 Dugdale, Monasticon,1st.edition,Introductionto Vol. I.
3 Kettlewell, Thomasa Kempis and the Brothersof the CommonLife, pp. 386-387, quoting The
Chroniclesof Windesheim, Vol. i, Chapter 12.
4 Nigel Wireker,'De nigris canonicis,' in Speculum Stultorum;see The Anglo-LatinSatirical
Poets of theTwelfthCentury,ed., Wright,pp. 89-90.

5 Wilkins,Concilia,2.629-651; or H. E. Salter,ChaptersoftheAugustinianCanons (London, 1922),
Appendix2. 6 See especially'De habitu et tonsuracanonicorum,'Wilkins,Concilia,2.685-686.
7 'Sane infraecclesias,claustrum, capitulum,refectorium ac dormitoriumnon capuciis sed almiciis
honestisutantur.Capucia vero si ea per ipsos extra loca predictacontigeritdeferrisint honesta,et
illaque cum capis, mantellis,clocheis,seu rotundellisportaverint,unius cum eis et eiusdem coloris
existant'(Salter,p. 247).
8 See, forexample, Cutts, Parish Priests and TheirPeople, p. 195. Rock, 2.1-90, discussesthese
vestmentsin detail. I Davis, Mediaeval England,p. 424.

10Cutts, Scenes and Charactersof theMiddle Ages, p. 18 (my italics). However, Cutts certainly
is in errorregardingthe dressofcanons regular,since he does not mentiontheirdistinctivegarment,
the rochet.

Thus Dugdale describesthehabit ofcanons,addingthat regularswereallowed

the linentoga or surplicewithoutas well as withinthe cloister:
Vestituscanonicorumesttunicacandidacumlineatoga,subnigropallio:tegumentum
a scapulisimpositum,cervicem totumquecontegitcaput,praeterquam ut tes-
a fronte,
lib. 7. cap. 3. Et in Senonensi
tanturSabellicusEnne 7 lib. 9, et PolydorusVirgilius
Synodo,cap. 22,sancitur,ut CanoniciRegularestamintraquamextramonasteria super
togamlineamferant.'
vesteexteriori
Note thatherethecloak and hood are spokenofas a singlegarment,the pallium,
whichrestedon the shoulders,and was designedas a covering(tegumentum) for
the head and neck as well as forthe body, and compare Chaucer's observation
that the Alchemist'scloak was sewed to his hood. This may not have been a
peculiarityof the cope of Augustinians,2but Cutts and Dugdale both clearly
implythat the white surpliceor rochetwas not allowed to secular canons for
ordinaryuse, an implicationthat is borneout by presentcustom.They are for-
bidden to wear the canonical dress outside of theirown choirs except 'in the
cathedralchurchor when in anotherchurchthe canons are presentas a body
(capitulariter).'3
Indeed, the rochetor 'whytsurplys'of Chaucer's Alchemistwas, and is, 'the
essentialand characteristichabit of canons regular.'4Benedict xii in 1339 sanc-
tioned their wearing of surplices in the formof rochets (superpelliciorum ad
formamroketorum) beyondthe walls of the cloisteras being a customof Augus-
tinians'ab antiquo.'5Kettlewellcalls the rochet'theirordinarydressin public'6
and Ducange definesrochetbrieflyas Canonicorumregulariumvestislinea. In
replyto a reportthat the canons of St Agatha's by Richmondwere discarding
this requisiteof their uniform,Boniface ix, in December, 1400, orderedthem
'to wear withinand withouttheircloisterrochets. . . beneath capes, and also
hoods and caps, accordingto the form,manner,and institutesof Augustinian
Canons in England.'7
As the AustinCanons werethe mostnumerousof the Regular Ordersin Eng-
land,8theirdress must have been as familiarto Chaucer's readers as the Boy
Scouts' uniformor the garb of the Salvation Armyis to us. Chaucer, therefore,
needed to say merelythat his Alchemistwas 'som chanoun.' The details of his
costume, taken together,and more especially the white surplice,would tell
mediaeval Englishmenthat he was a regular,a Black Canon.
1 Dugdale, 'Vestitus Canonicorum,'Monasticon(1st edition),Introductionto Vol. 2.
2 Rock, discussingthe clericalcope in general(Q.44,n. 75), says: 'Sometimesthe hood of the cope
was not only sewed to it, but stitchedall round.'
3 CatholicEncyclopaedia,under 'Canon.' I Ibid., under'Canons and CanonessesRegular.'
6 'Extra ecclesias vero, claustra et loca predictaet ubique sub capis, rotundellisseu clocheisvel
mantellisin locis debitisuti, possintsuperpelliciis,quorum manice usque ad cubitumin latitudine

vel circa protendantur.Per hoc autem nolumusderogariconsuetudinequorundamlocorumque ab
antiquo vel ab institucionehabent usum superpelliciorumad formamroketorumseu camisiarum
Romanarum,proviso tamen quod minorislongitudinissuperpellicianon existant et adeo longas
manicas habeant quod ex eis brachiausque ad pugnumvaleant cooperiri'(Salter,p. 248).
6 Kettlewell,p. 387. 7 Papal LettersPertainingto GreatBritain, 12 BonifaceIX, p. 355.
8 Gasquet, Henry VIII and the English Monasteries,2.323; also Ecles, The HolyroodOrdinale,
P. xxvii.

The ClericalStatusof Chaucer'sAlchemist 107
It must have been equally clear to themthat the Alchemistwas an apostate

fromhis Order,vagabundusin ecclesiasticalLatin. Their suspicions,firstaroused
by the extremeshabbinessofhis garments,would be confirmed by the Yeoman's
accountof the lifehe and his masterhad been leading:
'In thesuburbesofa toun,'quod he,
'Lurkynge in hernesand in lanesblynde,
Whereasthiserobbours and thisethevesbykynde
Holdenhirpryveefereful residence,
As theythatdarnat shewenhirpresence;
So farenwe,ifI shalseyethesothe."
This passage, no doubt, led Robinson to remarkthat Chaucer's Alchemist'en-
joyed considerablefreedom,'and Skeat cites it as the basis ofhis beliefthat the
Canon probablywas secular.Yet the London alchemistof The Canon Yeoman's
Tale proper,whounquestionablywas a regularcanon,enjoyeda similarfreedom.
He was eitherlivingin apostasy or else guiltyof that instabilitasloci forbidden
to monastics.The Yeoman wouldvisithimwithvengeance,he says,ifthe culprit
could be found,but thiscanon has no settledabode:
On hisfalshedefaynwoldeI mewreke,
If I wistehow,buthe is heereand there;
He is so variaunt,
he abitnowhere.2
Apostatesfromthe Regular Ordersseem to have been commonin England
duringthe latter half of the fourteenthcentury.Many are mentionedin the
Papal LettersPertainingto GreatBritain forthe years 1362-1398,3includinga
numberofapostateAustinCanons. In 1395 officials makingvisitationsofAugus-
tinianhouses were speciallychargedto inquireat each monasterywhetherany
brotherwas 'vacabundus.'4 In 1371 the English Chapter of Canons Regular
'decreedthat any prelateof the Order,ifhe heard of an apostate canon, might
arresthim and imprisonhim,thoughhe was not of the prelate'sown house, and
thatthehousefromwhichhe had fledmustpay thecostsincurred.'5The Calendar
ofPatentRolls forRichard II also recordscommissionsby the kingforthe arrest
and returnto theirconventsofrenegadeAugustinians;6 and Walsinghamtellsof
the Benedictine Prior of Binham, who slipped into apostasy as a result of
dabblingin alchemy,and so was arrestedin London in secular dress.7
Chaucer's Alchemist,of course,was liable to arrestnot merelyas an apostate
religious,but as a felonas well, a fact that mightexplain his presencein the
neighborhoodoftheBlean Forest.That he, unlikethe PriorofBinham,stillwore
the thread-bareuniformof his Order,afterseven yearsof 'multiplying'withthe
1 C. Y. Prologue657-662. 2 . Y. Tale 1173-75.
3 For example,pp. 69, 80, 83, 422-423, 502. 4 Salter, p. 202. 5 Ibid., p. xxvii.
6 For example: C P R Rich. II, 1386, 2.321: 'March 5, Westminster. Appointmentof RichardHol-
dich,Robert Asshefield,etc.to arrestWilliamHolt, an apostate vagabond canon of Derham Abbey,
signifiedas such to the kingby John,abbot of Barlynges,and George,abbot of Welbek,visitorsof
thePremonstatensian housesin England,and deliverhimto his abbot, or to one ofthe aforesaidvisi-
torsof the order,or theirattorney.'
7 Cited by G. G. Coulton,A MediaevalGarner, pp. 518-591.

help oftheYeoman, was due to thedirepovertyto whichhis passionforresearch
had drivenhim. Surelyit was the dilapidatedconditionof his apparel, his light
luggage,and the evidencethat he had riddenhis horsemercilessly,ratherthan
unfamiliarity withthe habit of Augustinians,that puzzled Chaucer,the Canter-
burypilgrim,and made himslow to pronouncethe newcomera canon. That pre-
tended mystification is but a dramatic device to impressupon the reader the
details of the Alchemist'sappearance, forthese in turn are supposed to reveal
his formerstatusand his presentplight.
UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA.


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