*RapeinChaucer
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Rape and Chaucer
Rape in the Middle Ages
Rape as a crime was taken very seriously in the Middle Ages, but the reasons for concern differ from our reasons today. The problems with rape centered around the issue of marriage rather than concern about a woman's wellbeing and dignity. Because the idea of marriage was based on consummating the union with the conception of a child, rape, where it involved sexual intercourse, muddled the waters of marriage. During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, legal definitions of rape tended to state that only cases in which a man used physical force or coercion to force a woman to engage in intercourse with him constituted rape. Interesting points regarding this definition are that rape was viewed exclusively as a man raping a woman - James A. Brundage writes in his Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe that "commentators declared that sexual attacks on men by women were either impossible or very unlikely" - and that intercourse was a requirement for a case to be considered rape (531). Brundage writes that "if a woman was forcibly abducted and held prisoner, this action would not be punishable as raptus unless the abductor had intercourse with her against her will" (532). Furthermore, because of rape's relation to marriage during the Middle Ages, it was considered impossible for a man to rape his wife; during the fourteenth century, the legal idea that a man could rape his fiance was introduced (Brundage, 532). Before that, a man forcing a woman who was married or engaged to him to have sex was not considered a crime.
The reporting and enforcement of rape in the Middle Ages was very problematic. Much like today, it is believed that Medieval rape was very underreported (Brundage, 470). While most records show rape as a crime less common then even homicide, restrictive definitions and difficulty in reporting the crime imply that it may be underrepresented in Medieval legal records (Brundage, 469). Another problem with the legal system for dealing with rape was that it was a very hard crime to prove. A French legal writer stated that to get a man convicted of rape, a woman had to prove that she had protested and attepmted to escape, and that her assaulter had either taken her by force or made threats to kill her or her family if she did not comply with him (Brundage, 470). Once a conviction was made, punishments varied widely. Ecclesiastical courts were capable of sentencing perpetrators to be flogged (only until they began to bleed, however) or issuing fines (Brundage, 471). Secular courts could issue far harsher penalties, ranging from capital punishment via mutilation (often castration) to exile and imprisonment. Despite the possibility of very strict punishment, actual penalties for rape tended to be far less harsh than the prescribed legal action: "In practice, ravishment and abduction were rarely punished with anything like the severity that either secular or ecclesiastical law prescribed (Brundage, 472).
Reasons for lax punishment of rape have to do with a few societal issues. First was a general attitude regarding the crime as not very serious. Because of an attitude that a crime of tempatation was not as serious if the temptation was great, rape was not viewed as an egregious offense (Beidler). Furthermore, Brundage writes that "defendants often claimed that the women had invited the attack" (Brundage, 470). The other issue is one of class. Brundage writes that the number of rape cases brought against upper-class men was far higher proportionally than those reported against lower-class perpretrators, probably because the upper classes were better able to pay damages to the woman's family or husband (Brundage, 530). Another example of classism in the Medieval enforcement of rape is that rape of higher-class women tended to lead to far harsher punishments (Brundage, 530).
Rape in Medieval Literature
("Knight and Noble Maiden," pillagedvillage.com)
While rape is underrepresented in records of the Middle Ages, it is a fairly prevalent theme in the writings of the day. Typically, tales of rape involved issues that were being explored by theologians of the day--foremost, the relationship of rape to virginity. The Medieval concept of virginity often came to incorporate not just virginity of the body, but virginity of the mind (Bloch, 97). If a woman who had never had sexual intercourse, but had impure thoughts, could no longer be a virgin, then what of the women who had been raped but were still pure of mind? Osbern Bokenham's Legendys of Hooly Wummen discusses this problem through the tale of Saint Lucy, a raped Virgin. His character, Paschasius, says to her, "And whan thou thus wyth corupcyoun/ Defouled art.../ The holy gost wyl the forsake, (9252-54)" to which Lucy replies, "...ful weel knowe I/ That defouled shal neuere the body/ Wyth-owtyn assent of the soule be; (9255-57)" (Saunders, 129) Bokenham believes that a raped woman can maintain her innocence, a viewpoint which becomes more and more the norm during the Middle Ages.
The rape of Lucretia was a well-known story even in Medieval times, for it was well circulated through Ovid's sentimental recounting in his Fasti and Livy's more historical representation in hisAbur be Condita. (Saunders, 152) Livy's Lucretia, after her rape, says, "My body only has been violated. My heart is innocent, and death will be my witness (99)." Lucretia then kills herself, leading eventually to the liberation of Rome. This is a typical reading of the story during the Middle Ages, but earlier interpretations still existed. Augustine, of the 4th and 5th centuries, said that while rapists will be punished by God, rape serves a good purpose because it teaches women humility. On the topic of Lucretia, he believed that she killed herself out of her knowledge of her guilt in having engaged in intercourse. Boccaccio, a later writer who had a strong influence on Chaucer, contradicts Augustine by upholding Lucretia's innocence. To Boccaccio, Lucretia kills herself out of the dishonor she'd maintain rather than guilt. (Saunders, 160-64)
Other works reference the laws against rape that appear during the Middle Ages. Havelok from 1290 uses laws against rape to represent the decisions made by an excellent king, in this case King Athelwold.
And who dide widwen wrong,
Were he nevre knight so strong,
That he ne made him sone kesten* [*thrown into]
In fetteres and full faste festen*; [*bound]
And who-so dide maidne shame
Of hire body or brought in blame,
Bute it were by hire wille,
He made him sone of limes* spille* [*castrated]
(Havelok, excerpted from Saunders, 196)
More common than rape in literature, however, are themes of enforced marriage. The Beves of Hamtoun and The Knight's Tale both involve wives won through battle, not consent. Similarly, literature heavily used images of men carrying women off from their homes for purposes of marriage and sex. Writing of the day also represented protection of women from rape as a central part of chivalry. Malory's Morte Darthur deals heavily with this theme. It is of note that both Malory and Chaucer were charged with rape during their lifetimes. (Saunders, 199, 234)
Chaucer and Rape
Chaucer’s Rape Case
In 1380, Chaucer was charged with “raptus” against the baker’s daughter, Cecilia Chaumpaigne. While the details remain unclear, on May 4th Chaumpaigne submitted to the court a document that released Chaucer from any legal proceedings involving her raptus. Three days later she submitted a second document that modified the first by removing the specific reference to raptus and releasing Chaucer instead from “all kinds of actions not only concerning felonies, trespasses, accounts, and debts, but also all other kinds of actions” (quoted in Allman, p. 36). As W.W. Allman and D. Thomas Hanks, Jr point out, this suggests that “the charge of raptus, no less in the fourteenth century than in our own age, rang alarmingly and was clearly to be avoided by respectable society” (Allman, p. 36). The inference here is that the document was modified in favor of Chaucer’s reputation, which would be more seriously injured by an accusation of rape than that of felony, trespass, etc.
Rape in the Canterbury Tales
The perceived social gravity of rape acts suggested by the modification of documents in the raptus case against Chaucer is not always apparent in the Canterbury Tales. Sexual promiscuity of the potentially violent, certainly less than consensual, sort is not always a site of much concern in the pilgrims’ tales.
What incidences of sexual encounter in the Canterbury Tales constitute rape is not at all clear. Allman and Hanks argue that violent and unwanted sex is a persistent theme in many of the tales even when specific rape incidents are not narrated. Regardless of the degree to which the Canterbury Tales is saturated with rape reference, a couple of sexual encounter certainly deserve our attention. I continue to draw generously here from Allman and Hanks:
While Alison’s affair with Nicholas in the Miller’s Tale can be read as relatively consensual, the revenge that Absolon attempts to take on Alison recalls rape. The Miller uses the verb “smoot” to describe the iron’s contact with Nicholas’ “ers,” a word that might mean to strike but also to cut, thereby suggesting penetration. It is, in fact, Nicholas that receives the end of Absolon’s hot iron on—or up, it’s not clear—his rear end, but it was Alison that that poke was intended for.
The sexual content of the Reeve’s Tale is overtly violent. Alayn has sex with Malyne not as an act of desire but of revenge against her father. He approaches her secretly and so abruptly that she has no time to voice her protest: “Til he so ny was, er she myghte espie,/ That it had been to late for to crie,/ And shortly for to seyn, they were aton” (4195-4197). John’s sexual advance on Symkyn’s wife is also motivated not by sexual desire but interpersonal fear and spite. While it is written she enjoyed the sex, the narration of the event (“He priketh harde and depe as he were mad” 4231) renders the act violent through the use of a verb that implies piercing or stabbing.
The Wife of Bath’s Tale, on the other hand, deals explicitly with the rape of a maiden But here, unlike in the previous tales, rape is depicted as a crime. However, it is likely that crime here is not so much rape as it is defined today but, more accurately, virginity theft (see the section on "Rape in the Middle Ages" above). The wife of Bath specifically identifies the taking of “hire maydenhed” as the cause for upset (888-889). Bernard F. Huppe notes that “[o]f the close analogues to the ‘’Wife of Bath’s Tale’’, none makes rape the fundamental cause for setting the riddle, ‘what do women most desire?’ (Huppe, p. 378). Huppe cites literary answers to why Chaucer chose rape as the crime that propels the plot, but it is a curious move given, especially, Chaucer’s own involvement in a rape charge.
Works Cited
Allman, W.W. and D. Thomas Hanks, Jr. “Rough Love: Notes Towards and Erotics of the Canterbury Tales. The Chaucer Review, 38:1 (2003) pp. 36-65.
A very extensive exploration of sexual violence in the Canterbury Tales. Opens with a good account of Chaucer’s raptus case.
Beidler, Peter G. "Rape and Prostitution." Backgrounds to Chaucer. 2001. http://www.the-orb.net/textbooks/anthology/beidler/rape.html.
Deals largely with the connection between rape and prostitution in the middle ages, but contains interesting information about Chaucer’s possible experience with rape.
Bloch, R. Howard. Medieval Misogyny and the Invention of Western Romantic Love. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991.
A source dealing less with rape and more with concepts of virginity of the time, as well as theological debate surrounding the issue.
Brundage, James A. Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.
An excellent, complete source regarding the evolution of society’s view of sex during the middle ages. Deals mostly with legal records, especially the definition and punishment of the crime in the case of rape.
Huppe, Bernard F. “Rape and Women’s Sovereignty in the Wife of Bath’s Tale. Modern Language Notes, 63:6 (June, 1984) pp. 378-381.
An interesting literary, as opposed to cultural or historical, approach to the question of rape in the ‘’Wife of Bath’s Tale.’’
Saunders, Corinne. Rape and Ravishment in the Literature of Medieval England. D.S. Brewer, 2001.
A detailed study of rape in the literature of Medieval England which cites textual examples from the time as well as earlier periods and offers interpretation of those themes of rape.
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