Black Knight Allusions

Geoffrey Chaucer is often considered to be one of the most celebrated authors in English literature. While not much is known of his life, it is certain that his success is partly due to his connections to the English court. His career began in the 1360’s with the Book of the Duchess, which he allegedly wrote as an elegy to the Duke of Lancaster, John of Gaunt whose patronage he possibly enjoyed – or sought after (Evans, 12). In this story a Black Knight mourns the loss of his lover, a character that is often assumed to be an allusion to John of Gaunt. However, the interpretation of the Black Knight as an allusion to John of Gaunt is problematic, as a negative approach to this allusion would insult Gaunt, damaging Chaucer’s reputation. Firstly, it needs to be considered that,

One of these differences occurs in the description of the Black Knight, who the narrator claims to be “of the age of foure and twenty yer” (line 455). However, John of Gaunt was twenty-nine years old at the time of the Duchess’s death, making him quite a bit older than the Black Knight (Condren 196). In addition to this, the knight is described as having “upon hys berd but lytel her” (line 456), implying that he was rather youthful and inexperienced which might possibly have insulted John of Gaunt who, at the time the Book of the Duchess was probably written, was considered to be one of the most powerful lords in England (Palmer 257). Furthermore, another rather obvious difference between the John of Gaunt and the Black Knight is their social status. Gaunt, being the Duke of Lancaster, was of a far higher rank than any English knight, and therefore it could be considered an insult to compare him with a character from a lower rank (Robertson