On a beautiful April day in the late 1300's, a disparate band of about twenty-five people set out from London to Canterbury, a distance of about sixty miles, but in fourteenth-century England, a journey of several days.  To pass the time, the host of the group proposed that they tell stories as they rode along; at the journey's end, the best storyteller would be rewarded with a feast.  This is the beginning of one of the best-known and most-frequently banned books in the corpus of  English literature, Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.

What follows is an extraordinary grouping of stories by and about the pilgrims.  Written in vernacular English, The Canterbury Tales illustrates a panaroma of medieval social behaviors from the ribald to the noble.  With exquisite skill, Chaucer draws unforgettable, archtypal characters complete with hairy warts, gapped teeth, high-pitched voices and an assortment of familiar human foibles. 

The Canterbury Tales marks the point in the history of English literature where a brilliant writer steps confidently away from hidebound literary tradition by discarding rigid classical form and by adopting a fresh use of the language.  Chaucer crafted a work of popular entertainment using the language spoken by the people of London; it appealed to nobles as well as to the rising merchant class.  In highly literate London, The Canterbury Tales  was an immediate success.  The genius of the work lies in Chaucer's integration of the tales—he weaves one tale into another; he displays a breadth of knowledge and deep understanding of the human condition that defies the centuries.  And he does it in verse.

The Canterbury Tales has been banned with regularity for its bawdy subject matter, ribald language, sexual license, and especially for its revelatory treatment of scandalous religious practices such as selling indulgences, hawking fake relics, and the hypocritical behaviors of various church officials. Using sly humor, it makes fun of the establishment.

For most readers, The Canterbury Tales  is a delightful, insightful trip through medieval England; the book offers a chance to hear some wonderful stories, to enjoy a group of cheerful, clever companions, and to bask in the unwavering tolerance and great good heart of Geoffrey Chaucer.  Four centuries after The Canterbury Tales was written, Elizabeth Barrett Browning said, "The laughter (of the pilgrims) never comes to an end, and their talk goes on with the stars."  I agree.