of the English trade in the fourteenth century--The great
traders--Their influence on State affairs--The English,
"rois de la mer"--Taste for travels and adventures.
Arts--Gold, silver and ivory--Miniatures and
enamels--Architecture--Paintings and tapestries--Comparative
comfort of houses--The hall and table--Dresses--The nude--The
cult for beauty 255

CHAPTER II.

CHAUCER.

The Poet of the new nation 267

I. Youth of Chaucer.--His London life--London in
the fourteenth century--Chaucer as a page--His French
campaigns--Valettus camerae Regis--Esquire--Married
life--Poetry a la mode--Machault, Deguileville, Froissart,
Des Champs, &c.--Chaucer's love ditties--The "Roman de la
Rose"--"Book of the Duchesse" 268

II. Period of the Missions to France and Italy.--The
functions of an ambassador and messenger--Various
missions--Chaucer in Italy, 1372-3, 1378-9--Influence of
Italian art and literature on Chaucer--London again; the
Custom House; Aldgate--Works of this period--Latin and
Italian deal--The gods of Olympus, the nude, the
classics--Imitation of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio--"Hous
of Fame" 282

III. Troilus and Criseyde.--Plot derived from
Boccaccio but transformed--A novel and a drama--Life and
variety--Heroism and vulgarity--Troilus, Pandarus,
Cressida--Scenes of comedy--Attempt at psychological
analysis--_Nuances_ in Cressida's feelings--Her
inconstancy--Melancholy and grave ending--Difference
with Boccaccio and Pierre de Beauveau 298

IV. English Period.--Chaucer a member of
Parliament--Clerk of the king's works--"Canterbury
Tales"--The meeting at the "Tabard"--Gift of observation--Real
life, details--Difference with Froissart--Humour,
sympathy--Part allotted to "lowe men."
The collections of tales--The "Decameron"--The aim of
Chaucer and of Boccaccio--Chaucer's variety; speakers and
listeners--Dialogues--Principal tales--Facetious and coarse
ones--Plain ones--Fairy tales--Common life--Heroic
deeds--Grave examples--Sermon.
The care for truth--Good sense of Chaucer--His language
and versification--Chaucer and the Anglo-Saxons--Chaucer and
the French 3