Chaucerian and Other Pieces: Being a Supplement to the Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer

In Short

This volume is an extensive nineteenth-century academic compilation of Middle English literary works that were historically appended to Geoffrey Chaucer’s canon but written by other hands. edited with critical commentary, line glosses, and textual notes by Walter W. Skeat, the collection brings together allegorical treatises, courtly complaints, anti-clerical satires, and romantic poems produced in the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It features significant works such as Thomas Usk’s philosophical prison dialogue The Testament of Love, John Gower’s plea for peace, John Lydgate’s courtly verses, Thomas Hoccleve’s letters, and Robert Henryson’s northern continuation The Testament of Cresseid. Rather than a singular storyline, the text functions as an archive of medieval English literature, capturing the cultural, political, and spiritual concerns of the period directly following Chaucer's death. Its lasting endurance stems from its role as an indispensable scholarly bridge, illuminating how medieval readers curated, imitated, and preserved late-medieval poetry while expanding the historical understanding of Chaucer’s broader literary circle.

The Story

Because this book is a scholar’s supplementary anthology, its arc is defined by the thematic sequence of the literary works it collects, moving from profound philosophical prose to sharp social satire, courtly romance, and tragic moralizing.

The volume opens with Thomas Usk’s The Testament of Love, a elaborate prose allegory modeled on Boethius and heavily borrowing from Chaucer. The author, trapped in prison following his involvement in London political factionalism, falls into despair over his lost office, wealth, and reputation. As he weeps, the divine figure of Lady Love appears to him. She initially reproves his faint heart before consoling him, guiding him through a rigorous dialectic on the nature of earthly misfortune, divine providence, and human free will. Love disproves the false paths of worldly success, showing him that true peace lies in a higher "knot in the heart." She encourages his devotion to "Margaret," a multifaceted symbol representing at once a pearl, female virtue, divine grace, and the visible Church. Through discussions on natural law, grace, and predestination, Usk processes his political downfall, defending his decision to reveal a secret plot to preserve London’s peace, and ultimately surrenders his fate to divine governance.

Following Usk’s philosophical introspection, the volume shifts abruptly toward fierce religious and political debate with The Plowmans Tale and Jack Upland. Set against the backdrop of the Canterbury pilgrimage, The Plowmans Tale introduces a sunburnt plowman in worn clothes who agrees to tell a story. He recounts a bitter battle between two sides of the faith: on one side, the wealthy prelates, popes, and friars who hoard gold and condemn the poor; on the other, the impoverished, humble believers labeled as "lollers." The poem offers a scathing critique of clerical corruption, unearned luxury, and ecclesiastical greed. In a similar vein, Jack Upland mounts a direct, sharp-tongued assault on the corrupt practices of the friars, questioning their authority, their fees for absolution, and their betrayal of apostolic poverty.

The collection then transitions into political philosophy and ethical counsel aimed at rulers and noblemen. John Gower’s The Praise of Peace addresses King Henry IV, pleading for an end to destructive foreign wars and internal division. Gower reminds the new monarch that Christ’s peace is currently oppressed on three fronts—within the divided Church, through relentless worldly warfare, and via the encroachment of external enemies. He urges the king to govern with righteousness and mercy, warning that earthly glory and military conquests, like those of Alexander and Caesar, inevitably end in vanity and death. Complementing Gower, Henry Scogan’s Moral Balade offers ethical instruction to young lords, warning them against wasting their youth in vice and urging them to cultivate virtue, inner nobility, and quiet faith.

The middle and later portions of the anthology pivot into the realm of courtly love, dream visions, and romantic debate, largely featuring works by John Lydgate and Thomas Hoccleve. Hoccleve’s Letter of Cupid presents the god of love issuing a formal decree defending women against the slander, deceit, and false promises of unfaithful men. Lydgate’s poems—including The Complaint of the Black Knight, The Flour of Curtesye, and Beware of Doubleness—explore the refined conventions of courtly devotion, spring dawns, and the suffering of faithful lovers. In The Flour of Curtesye, the narrator wakes early on St. Valentine’s Day to hear birds singing praises to their mates, prompting a devout balade in honor of a lady who exemplifies ultimate womanhood and grace. Other allegorical dream visions, such as The Leaf and the Flower and The Court of Love, depict seekers venturing into lush grovelling bowers and gardens to observe the strict laws of Cupid, face stern allegorical officers like Rigour and Attemperance, and weigh the fleeting beauty of the Flower against the enduring virtue of the Leaf.

The anthology culminates in tragedy with Robert Henryson’s The Testament of Cresseid, a stark Northern continuation of Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde. After being abandoned by Diomede, Cresseid slips into bitterness, openly cursing Venus and Cupid for her tragic turn of fortune. Offended by her sacrilege, Cupid summons the seven planets to hold a solemn assembly. Mercurius acts as speaker, and Saturn and Cynthia sentence Cresseid to be struck with incurable leprosy and spend the remainder of her life in agony and shame. Reduced to a beggar with a cup and clapper, Cresseid sits by the roadside when Troilus rides past with a victorious company. Though he does not explicitly recognize her ruined face, something in her eyes stirs a distant memory of his lost love. He tosses her a heavy purse of gold and rides on. Upon learning his identity, Cresseid recognizes her own ruin and fickleness, writes her final testament, leaves her ruby ring to Troilus, and dies in despair.

How It Unfolds

The prisoner's lament Thomas Usk begins his prose treatise in a dark prison, weeping over his lost political standing, poverty, and isolation after revealing a dangerous civic secret in London.

Lady Love intervenes The figure of Love appears to console the prisoner, engaging him in a Boethian dialogue to prove that earthly misfortunes are salutary lessons and that true happiness cannot be found in worldly glory.

The debate on grace and predestination Love and the prisoner explore complex theological matters, examining how free will, natural law, and divine grace interact to lead the soul toward the ultimate spiritual bliss symbolized by the Margaret-pearl.

The Plowman takes the road A sunburnt plowman wearing torn clothes joins the pilgrims on the road to Canterbury, offering to tell a tale about the deep conflict dividing the Christian church.

A stern attack on religious corruption The Plowman describes a bitter conflict between proud, wealthy church prelates who hoard corn and money, and the poor, humble believers who suffer under corrupt ecclesiastical tyranny.

A plea for royal peace John Gower addresses King Henry IV in verse, begging the sovereign to refrain from bloodshed and restore peace to a divided Church and nation before death claims his reign.

Counsel to the young nobility Henry Scogan delivers a moral ballade to young lords, warning them that noble heritage is meaningless without personal virtue, self-restraint, and dedication to God.

The God of Love defends women In Thomas Hoccleve’s Letter of Cupid, the deity of love issues a royal proclamation condemning men who slander women, lie to win their favors, and betray their vows.

The lover seeks a Valentine In Lydgate’s The Flour of Curtesye, the narrator walks into a grove on St. Valentine’s morning, listening to the birds select their mates and composing a devout song to his peerless lady.

An assembly at the Court of Love A wanderer enters a lush allegorical court where he is forced to take solemn oaths before the officer Rigour, witnessing the strict laws and rituals that govern Cupid's subjects.

Cresseid curses the gods Cast off by Diomede, Cresseid yields to despair and bitterly accuses Venus and Cupid of betraying her, provoking the anger of the heavenly deities.

The planetary judgment Cupid convenes the seven planets, where Saturn and Cynthia sentence Cresseid to be struck with incurable leprosy and condemned to a life of begging.

A final encounter and testament Cresseid receives a charitable gift of gold from Troilus, who fails to recognize her disease-ravaged face; overwhelmed by remorse for her unfaithfulness, she writes her last will and dies.

The People

• Thomas Usk (The Prisoner): A disgraced London official held in captivity. He desperately seeks to justify his past political revelations while trying to understand his sudden fall from power and fortune. Through his dialogue with Love, he seeks spiritual redemption and internal peace.
• Lady Love: An authoritative, divine figure who visits Usk in prison. Acting as a spiritual guide, she uses gentle reasoning and firm reproof to detach Usk from earthly vanities, leading him toward heavenly grace and the "knot" of spiritual truth.
• The Plowman: An overworked, sunburnt laborer who joins the pilgrimage wearing ragged clothes. He speaks as a plain-spoken representative of the common folk, fearlessly exposing the greed, hypocrisy, and pride of the church hierarchy.
• King Henry IV: The monarch addressed directly in Gower’s political verse. He represents the earthly authority responsible for ending domestic strife, establishing peace, and protecting the integrity of the realm under God's law.
• Cresseid: A tragic heroine who falls from grace after being rejected by Diomede. Impetuous and vengeful in her sorrow, she blasphemes the gods of love, bringing down a terrible planetary curse that leaves her leprous, abandoned, and filled with deathbed repentance.
• Troilus: The noble Trojan knight who once loved Cresseid. He appears briefly as a victorious, generous warrior who shows mercy to a leprous beggar without realizing she is his former lover, triggering Cresseid’s final moment of self-realization.
• Rigour: A stern, unyielding court officer within The Court of Love. Impartial and severe, he enforces the strict rules of the court without favor, ensuring that all lovers take their oaths and remain bound to Cupid's statutes.

In Its Own Voice

When the distressed prisoner in The Testament of Love breaks down in despair over his lost estate, his divine visitor steps in with gentle authority to restore his composure:

'And with these wordes I brast out to wepe, that every teere of myne eyen, for greetnesse semed they boren out the bal of my sight, and that al the water had ben out-ronne.'

In The Plowmans Tale, the narrator introduces a humble worker whose rough appearance contrasts sharply with the wealthy ecclesiastics he critiques:

'In scrippe he bar both breed and lekes, He was forswonke and all forswat; Men might have seen through both his chekes, And every wang-toth and where it sat.'

During the dark climax of The Testament of Cresseid, the council of planets gathers to render its severe verdict against the despairing heroine:

'Than thus proceidit Saturn and the Mone, Quhen thay the mater rypely had degest; For the dispyt to Cupid sho had done, And to Venus oppin and manifest, In all hir lyf with pane to be opprest And torment sair, with seiknes incurábill, And to all lovers be abominábill.'

What It's Really About

At its core, this volume explores the deep anxieties of late-medieval English culture: the search for ultimate truth amid political instability, the burden of moral responsibility, and the nature of love. A central theme across several pieces is the tension between earthly fortune and divine justice. Works like Usk's treatise examine how human beings can maintain integrity, faith, and free will when stripped of wealth, office, and social standing. The text presents suffering not as mere punishment, but as a purgative process that forces the soul to reject worldly vanity in favor of eternal grace.

Another prominent argument running through the anthology is the urgent need for institutional and personal reformation. Satires like The Plowmans Tale and Jack Upland voice a deep frustration with ecclesiastical corruption, arguing that true Christianity lies in apostolic humility, labor, and charity rather than institutional power and greed. Similarly, the political verses of Gower and Scogan extend this call for reform to the state, maintaining that true nobility is defined by moral action and the maintenance of peace, rather than military conquest or hereditary pride. Finally, the romantic and allegorical works interrogate the ethics of love, contrasting the destructive double standards of courtly seduction with genuine devotion, female dignity, and spiritual purity.

Why Read It Today

This volume offers readers an extraordinary window into the literary landscape of late-medieval England. For anyone fascinated by the Middle Ages, Chaucer’s contemporaries, or the evolution of the English language, Skeat’s edition provides an invaluable collection of minor masterpieces that shaped the post-Chaucerian tradition. It is particularly rewarding for readers who enjoy unearthing forgotten literary history, as it demonstrates how fourteenth- and fifteenth-century authors absorbed, imitated, and challenged Chaucer’s style to address their own political, religious, and personal crises.

Reading the collection requires patience and an interest in historical literature. The text presents genuine linguistic challenges, ranging from the complex Middle English prose of Thomas Usk to the distinct Northern dialect of Robert Henryson. Modern readers must navigate archaic spellings, Middle English grammar, specialized courtly vocabulary, and dense scholastic arguments on grace and predestination. Furthermore, the work reflects medieval attitudes toward religion, gender roles, and social hierarchy that require historical contextualization.

Despite these hurdles, the collection remains deeply rewarding. The vivid satire of The Plowmans Tale, the quiet emotional power of Henryson’s The Testament of Cresseid, and the raw, vulnerable prose of Usk’s prison testament possess an enduring human weight. Skeat’s careful editing, complete with detailed textual notes and glossaries, provides the necessary structural support to make these challenging Middle English texts accessible, offering a profound journey into the imagination, poetry, and philosophy of a bygone era.