The stories of Hebrew literature put great emphasis on God and man. They tell historical stories about the Israelites’ journeys, and about their plight in Egypt and how God delivered them, reinforcing mostly the same themes: God, man, law, sanctions, and inheritance. The Psalms, Written by King David, have ethical and moral conflicts, and contain King David’s cry for repentance to the Lord. Within this rich section of literature, Man is God’s agent over creation, and God’s law is a test for Man. 

Rome’s worldview was based on the Greeks and their literature was derivative. They had the same gods as the Greeks, who lived on Mount Olympus and ruled over the earth. The gods of Mount Olympus were untrustworthy and often deceived the mortals. During this time literature was often political and reinforced the claim that the Emperors were chosen by or were gods themselves. For instance, the Roman Emperor Octavian would frequently buy support from poets, in order to push his narrative. 

Medieval literature stated that God is sovereign and there is institutional hierarchy. It placed obedience in God and worldly systems under obedience to God. Thus, the Church was put in a preeminent state and it was seen as the highest possible earthly power. Kings were chosen by God and the Pope was the supreme ruler of all political leaders. A famous work from this period, the “Little Flowers of Saint Francis of Assisi” made the point that many people who say they believe in Christ will still go to hell, so people need to work for God on earth in order to gain salvation. 

After the Black Death and the start of the Renaissance, literature strayed farther away from religion and the Church than ever before. It placed less emphasis on the Church’s authority and gave little credence to God at all. All points of Medieval literature were overturned and many stories show no trace to a sovereign God. Consequently, they paint the Church and the State as the common enemies of the people, and often make the Church seem corrupt. 

The priest in the pilgrimage group had contempt for summoners and equated them with the devil, even claiming that the summoner had sworn an oath to the devil and that he was evil. Furthermore, the summoner used prostitutes to inform on his clients, and took advantage of old widows and impoverished people. Chaucer painted the priest as honest and wrote that he also believed that summoners were evil, because if you swear an oath to something, you are bound to it. 

A woman in the group told a story about another woman who intervened to save a rapist and had mercy on him. Subsequently, the women in the pilgrimage then said that they wished women were in authority in society. Clamoring for more autonomy, the women said they wanted more freedom from their husbands and that men should let women make their own decisions.

Chaucer next told a familiar tale about God’s knowledge and man’s free will. After the last story about how women should have more power, Chaucer warned men about listening to their wives. He stated that all men have free will, but should still obey God’s will over everything else. 

In another story, a powerful judge lusted towards a girl and wished to defile her. She had virtue though, and refused his advances. The girl decided to risk her death to remain chaste. Sadly, her father was wrongfully convicted of the murder by the judge, then exiled. This story is presented as a lesson of virtue. Chaucer told the audience to forsake sin before it forsakes you. 

Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400) wrote the “Canterbury Tales” in old English instead of Latin, because he wanted to reach a wider audience and have more influence. This famous work is a collection of stories about a group of people making a pilgrimage from London to Canterbury. It was a part of Renaissance literature and included poetry in the stories as well. 

Even though Chaucer’s tales were in English, his audience consisted mainly of the upper class. Chaucer wrote about the evil of usury and called the practice satanic. He described the Jews as evil. In one story, an innocent boy was killed by Jews. In a vision, Jesus appeared to the boy’s mother, telling her about the incident. Subsequently, she reported this crime to the magistrate, who had the Jews ripped apart by wild horses. 

During the pilgrimage, a monk spoke about the Bible, and blamed Adam and Eve for the downfall of humanity. He explained that fortune had taken down many powerful rulers, like King Nebuchadnezzar and Emperor Nero. Continuing, the friar told them to not trust earthly rulers over God. He quoted scripture, telling them to not put their trust in princes or sons of men, but to trust in God and God alone. 

Another story stated that three men made a vow that they would try to kill death itself. They met an old man who claimed that he could not die. So, they asked the man where death was and he pointed them to a nearby tree. Instead of finding what they were looking for, then men came across a large pot of gold. Although they decided to split the gold evenly, secretly they all plotted to kill each other and take it for themselves. They all had wine, but each selfish person poisoned the other’s drink, so they all died. In the end, they all found death. 

In the “Canterbury Tales”, most of the stories are told by the serious monk. The stories he tells are not believable, and so are likely metaphors or parables. The monk is not light-hearted and is very serious when he talks to the group.