_detail.jpg) |
| Reynard |
I'll
try and make this interesting. Chauntecler is the hen...you know them
now as a particular breed of them (chicken) and it is that hen or type
that shows up in the Canterbury Tales with the story of the fox and the
hen. That story is part and parcel of a play "Le Roman de Renart"
written by Pierre de Saint Cloud around 1175, which sets the typical
barnyard setting. Reynard has been summoned to the court of king Noble,
or Leo, the Lion, to answer charges brought against him by Isengrim the
Wolf. Other anthropomorphic animals, including Bruin the Bear, Baldwin
the Ass, Tibert (Tybalt) the Cat, all attempt one stratagem or another.
The stories typically involve satire whose usual butts are the
aristocracy and the clergy, making Reynard a peasant-hero character. The
story of the preaching fox found in the Reynard literature was used in
church art by the Catholic Church as propaganda against the Lollards
(you don't know who they are so I'll tell you...Lollards were generally
members of the church of the faithful..not necessarily bowing to the
Pope which at the time was not so good for your life and health).
Anyway
the point of the play was that all the animals did throughout was play
jokes on one another, and their names are, quite telling and in use
today. Shakespeare obviously found them so and Tybault...well 'good
name'. So why bore you to death this morning? Remember the setting in
Canterbury Tales ("Nun's Priest's Tale" is set Syn March bigan thritty
dayes and two)...well some people, fools mainly, thought that meant from
the beginning of March go 30 days plus two .. March has 31 so it would
be April 1) and the story is about Chautecler (clear speaking or clear
recitation) and the Fox and the Fox trying to trick Chautecler into
becoming a meal.
There
you go. Armed with all this you can set forth into April Fool's Day so filled to the brim with tidbits of useless knowledge. Go forth and Prank.