Since Chaucer and Wycliffe were contemporaries, scholars debate whether Chauer’s “Parson’s Tale” in the Canterbury Tales is a disguised Wycliffite sermon. The Parson is introduced in the epic with the words, “I smelle a Lollere in the wynd.” Some feel The Parson is Chaucer’s tribute to Wycliffe. The following is from the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales and is adapted from the original Midland English by Ruth M. Stauffer.

A kindly Parson took the journey too. He was a scholar, learned, wise, and true. And rich in holiness though poor in gold. A gentle priest: whenever he was told That poor folks could not meet their tithes that year, He paid them up himself; for priests, it’s clear Could be content with little, in God’s way. He lived Christ’s Gospel truly every day, And taught his flock, and preached what Christ had said. And even though his parish was widespread, With farms remote, and houses far asunder, He never stopped for rain or even for thunder; But ...

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