The Canterbury Pilgrims Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Tabard

"Befell that, in that season, on a day
In Southwark, at the Tabard, as I lay
Ready to start upon my pilgrimage"

This is where it all began...

Answer: The Knight

"A knight there was, and he a worthy man,
Who, from the moment that he first began
To ride about the world, loved chivalry,
Truth, honour, freedom and all courtesy."

The picture of respectability.

Answer: The Squire

"With him there was his son, a youthful squire,
A lover and a lusty bachelor,
With locks well curled, as if they'd laid in press."

Seems quite different from his father.

Answer: The Prioress

"There was also a nun, a prioress,
Who, in her smiling, modest was and coy;
Her greatest oath was but "By Saint Eloy!"
And she was known as Madam Eglantine."

Interestingly enough, the Prioress is not known as 'the nun,' even though she is one. There is a separate nun.

Answer: The Monk

"Therefore he was a rider day and night;
Greyhounds he had, as swift as bird in flight.
Since riding and the hunting of the hare
Were all his love, for no cost would he spare."

Who needs a vow of poverty?

Answer: The Friar

"And in his harping, after he had sung,
His two eyes twinkled in his head as bright
As do the stars within the frosty night.
This worthy limiter was named Hubert."

It's pretty randomly stuck in there, not rhyming with anything.

Answer: The Oxford Cleric

"But all that he might borrow from a friend
On books and learning he would swiftly spend,
And then he'd pray right busily for the souls
Of those who gave him wherewithal for schools."

Sounds like modern students.

Answer: The Wife of Bath

"She'd been respectable throughout her life,
With five churched husbands bringing joy and strife,
Not counting other company in youth;
But thereof there's no need to speak, in truth."

I ain't saying she's a gold digger...

Answer: The Miller

"His mouth was like a furnace door for size.
He was a jester and could poetize,
But mostly all of sin and ribaldries."

I recommend the Miller's Tale for mature audiences. Who knew they could get away with that in the 1300's?

Answer: The Summoner

"Who had a fiery-red, cherubic face,
For eczema he had; his eyes were narrow
As hot he was, and lecherous, as a sparrow;
With black and scabby brows and scanty beard;
He had a face that little children feared.
There was no mercury, sulphur, or litharge,
No borax, ceruse, tartar, could discharge,
Nor ointment that could cleanse enough, or bite,
To free him of his boils and pimples white,
Nor of the bosses resting on his cheeks."

You know you're ugly when you scare small children.