The Winter Sun in Capricorn: Portal Imagery in Chaucer’s Franklin’s Tale and the Cathedral of Chartres

At the dead center of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Franklin’s Tale, part of his Canterbury Taleswritten in Middle English between 1385-1400, is a striking visual emblem. This passage describes the feeling of winter when the sun is in the zodiac sign Capricorn, and then describes the Roman god Janus sitting by a Christmas feast. It was long ago recognized that this image was derived from the Labors of the Month tradition, a medieval motif in art which pairs zodiac signs with seasonal work or occupations. If this is so, then which version of the Labors of the Month, exactly? Are there visual matches with Chaucer’s poetic description and extant contemporary art? The answer is surprising: the only precise match with Chaucer’s emblem is at Notre-dame de Chartres, on the north porch and portail royal. I explore these analogous images and consider what this parallel may indicate, both for Chaucer’s tale and the cathedral sculptures. At the dead center of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Franklin’s Tale, part of his Canterbury Taleswritten in Middle English between 1385-1400, is a striking visual emblem. This passage describes the feeling of winter when the sun is in the zodiac sign Capricorn, and then describes the Roman god Janus sitting by a Christmas feast. It was long ago recognized that this image was derived from the Labors of the Month tradition, a medieval motif in art which pairs zodiac signs with seasonal work or occupations. If this is so, then which version of the Labors of the Month, exactly? Are there visual matches with Chaucer’s poetic description and extant contemporary art? The answer is surprising: the only precise match with Chaucer’s emblem is at Notre-dame de Chartres, on the north porch and portail royal. I explore these analogous images and consider what this parallel may indicate, both for Chaucer’s tale and the cathedral sculptures. 

Shelley Williams is a doctoral candidate at Jesus College at the University of Oxford. Her research investigates medieval astronomy and astrology, the poetry of Geoffrey Chaucer, and visual art. She was honored to receive the Dietlinde Hamburger grant, the first grant from the Servane de Layre-Mathéus Fund for Research on Chartres with the American Friends of Chartres in 2022. This grant allowed Shelley to travel and spend time researching, immersed in the cathedral of Chartres and its libraries. Part of this research is being published in an article next year with the prestigious academic journal, Studies in the Age of Chaucer, which is the basis of this presentation.