Chaucer at Oxford and at Cambridge

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Bennett believes that the time has come for Chaucerian scholarship to turn from generalities to the study of 'minute particulars'; some of which are illuminated by contemporary Oxford and Cambridge documents. The detailed descriptions of the ancient universities in two of Chaucer's raciest tales (the Miller's and the Reeve's) indicate some personal knowledge of 'Town' and 'Gown' life in both places. These details add savour to what were originally mere fabliaux. Bennett also traces the development of 'the Merton School' and its influence on Chaucer's thought, and suggests that features which still differentiate the two universities were present in embryo in Chaucer's day. This slender volume of four chapters represents the Alexander Lectures which Bennett delivered before the University of Toronto in December, 1970. The informal style of the oral form has been retained. In the published form footnotes, three short appendices, and an index have been added, as well as useful maps and drawings.