At Trumpington, near Cambridge, there is a brook where nearby stands a mill. There is a miller who lived there once who wore ostentatious clothing and could play the bagpipe, wrestle and fish. He always had a knife with him, and had a round face and flattened nose. His name was Simon, and nicknamed Symkyn. His wife came from a noble family; her father was the parson. Symkyn was a jealous man and his wife pretentious. They had a daughter who was now twenty and a toddler. The miller was dishonest in his business dealings. He cheated the college worst of all, and stole meal and corn from the dying steward of Cambridge. Two students, John and Aleyn, received permission from the provost to see the corn ground at the mill. Aleyn tells Symkyn that he is there to ground the corn and bring it back, since the sick steward cannot. While they ground the corn, Symkyn found the students' horse and set it loose. When the students finished, they rush after the horse, forgetting both the corn and the meal. While they were gone, the miller took part of their flour and told his wife to knead it into dough. The students returned to find their meal stolen. They begged the miller for help, and he offers them a place to stay for the night. The miller's daughter slept in the same room alone. The miller himself fell asleep and began to snore, annoying the students. Aleyn vows to seduce the daughter, Molly, as revenge for the stolen corn. John warns him that the miller is dangerous. Aleyn seduced her, while John felt humiliated that he was merely sleeping while Aleyn was having sex with the miller's daughter. John himself seduced the miller's wife. That morning, Molly told Aleyn where he could find the bread that she helped her father steal. Aleyn goes to tell John of his exploits, but Symkyn hears and grabs him by the neck. Aleyn punches him, and the two fight, until the miller tumbles backward on his wife, breaking her ribs. John sprang up quickly to find a staff. The miller's wife found one, and tried to hit Aleyn with it, but instead struck her husband. The students left him lying, got dressed and took their meal. So the proud miller got himself a beating, lost his labor, was cuckolded and had his daughter seduced. The proverb rings true: "Let him not look for good whose works are ill," for a trickster shall himself be tricked.
In Medieval Europe, life was very organized. There were four main classes of people. This was called the Feudal System. The four classes were:
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Kings-
Kings were at the top of the feudal system. They ruled their own country. They made the laws, owned all of the land, and commanded the country's army. The King had many vassals (people of lower classes that served and supported him). The king was all-powerful, and often did not care about the rights of the lower classes. The king felt that in his position of power, he had a right to all of the things that his country produced. The king did not produce anything on his own, and could not protect his land on his own. In order to have support, the king granted large parcels of land to the Nobles. The nobles, in turn, provided for the king's needs. The king worked very hard to keep his nobles in line, and to make sure that none got so strong that they could challenge his power and overthrow him. The king also received, through the barons, the services of Knights to fight in his army.
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Nobles-
The class of the nobles was made up of Barons, Bishops, and Lords. The king's most important noblemen were the Barons and Bishops.
Barons were the most powerful and wealthy noblemen, receiving large amounts of land directly from the king. In return for the land, the Barons provided the kings with troops for his army. These troops were the Knights. The Barons gave portions of their land to the Lords and Knights.
The Lords were knights of royal blood, but they did not have direct inheritances from the king. In exchange for the land, the knights could be called into battle at any time for the king.
The Bishops often wielded as much power as the barons. They ruled large areas of land called dioceses along with every priest and monastery within it. The church collected tithes and the bishop collected taxes, making him extremely rich and powerful.
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Knights-
Knights received land from the nobles in return for their service in battle for the king. They were trained warriors on horseback, and often participated in tournaments to show their strength and to practice their battle skills.
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Peasants-
The peasants were the lowest class, and had the highest population. Peasants were given small amounts of land to farm for themselves, and to provide livestock and produce for the knights, nobles and kings. They worked very hard, had very few rights, and were often sick and malnourished. It was common for peasants to have a life expectancy of 25 years or less. Not only did the upper classes collect food and taxes from them, but the church also collected tithes and taxes. The peasants had the least amount of land, and yet were expected to provide for not only themselves, but for the upper classes as well.
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Traditionally, the cuckold is not simply a man married to an untrue wife. He is a man known to be married to an untrue wife, and therefore a figure of derision to the community. The subject of innumerable jokes in Shakespeare, the horns of the cuckold are emblems of dishonor visible to all the world if not necessarily to the principal. In popular culture cuckolds were sometimes subjected to the ritual of ridicule known as the "charivari," in which a group visits "rough music" or some other strong form of mockery on a chosen victim. Evidently a cruel delight was taken in exposing the cuckold to communal laughter. The Miller's Tale, preceded by a wry discourse on cuckoldry, emanates a spirit of delight. The Reeve, however, takes the jest personally. In the belief that the festivity of the Miller's Tale...
