Chaucer’s Parson’s Tale is a sermon on penance told by a fictional late-fourteenth-century Parson in The Canterbury Tales. What the Parson preaches is incompletely aligned with Roman Catholic orthodox beliefs, as suggested both by accusations of Lollardy elsewhere in the Canterbury Tales and heterodox features of the sermon itself. The Parson’s soteriology—the theology of how to attain salvation—invites consideration of the sermon’s potential influence from the contemporary heretical movement known as Lollardy, including the theology of John Wyclif; this theology disagreed with orthodox Catholic penitential practices.
However, despite increasing anti-Wycliffite sentiment at the turn of the fifteenth century, Chaucer’s Parson’s Tale was not suppressed or censored as a heretical text. This thesis argues that Chaucer’s tiered lists in the structure of the Tale and abbreviated discussions of priests effectively conceal the potential heresy in the Parson’s presentation of penance. Building on prior scholarship identifying Chaucer’s orthodox and heterodox sources and cataloging manuscript witnesses of the Parson’s Tale, this thesis asserts that the Parson’s Tale’s convoluted structure made it possible for the sermon at the end of the Canterbury Tales to evade the label of heresy in the 1400s. This reading of the Parson’s Tale contends that whether or not Chaucer himself was aware of the tale’s possible heresy, the rhetorical strategies of the tale—employing tiered lists, presenting orthodox sources in heretical ways, and strategically placing references to priests—effectively hide the sermon’s more heretical points behind a veil of orthodoxy.
","abstract_html":"<p>Chaucer’s <em>Parson’s Tale</em> is a sermon on penance told by a fictional late-fourteenth-century Parson in <em>The Canterbury Tales</em>. What the Parson preaches is incompletely aligned with Roman Catholic orthodox beliefs, as suggested both by accusations of Lollardy elsewhere in the <em>Canterbury Tales</em> and heterodox features of the sermon itself. The Parson’s soteriology—the theology of how to attain salvation—invites consideration of the sermon’s potential influence from the contemporary heretical movement known as Lollardy, including the theology of John Wyclif; this theology disagreed with orthodox Catholic penitential practices.</p> <p>However, despite increasing anti-Wycliffite sentiment at the turn of the fifteenth century, Chaucer’s <em>Parson’s Tale</em> was not suppressed or censored as a heretical text. This thesis argues that Chaucer’s tiered lists in the structure of the <em>Tale</em> and abbreviated discussions of priests effectively conceal the potential heresy in the Parson’s presentation of penance. Building on prior scholarship identifying Chaucer’s orthodox and heterodox sources and cataloging manuscript witnesses of the <em>Parson’s Tale</em>, this thesis asserts that the <em>Parson’s Tale</em>’s<em> </em>convoluted structure made it possible for the sermon at the end of the <em>Canterbury Tales </em>to evade the label of heresy in the 1400s. This reading of the <em>Parson’s Tale </em>contends that whether or not Chaucer himself was aware of the tale’s possible heresy, the rhetorical strategies of the tale—employing tiered lists, presenting orthodox sources in heretical ways, and strategically placing references to priests—effectively hide the sermon’s more heretical points behind a veil of orthodoxy.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Burleson, Samantha"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Leah Parker","Dr. Jameela Lares","Dr. Nicolle Jordan"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2024-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:47Z","subjects":["The Parson's Tale","Chaucer","orthodox","heterdox","heresy","John Wyclif","English Language and Literature"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1025","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Leah Parker","Dr. Jameela Lares","Dr. Nicolle Jordan"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Burleson, Samantha"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-05-09T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["The Parson's Tale","Chaucer","orthodox","heterdox","heresy","John Wyclif","English Language and Literature"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1025"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Chaucer’s Parson’s Tale is a sermon on penance told by a fictional late-fourteenth-century Parson in The Canterbury Tales. What the Parson preaches is incompletely aligned with Roman Catholic orthodox beliefs, as suggested both by accusations of Lollardy elsewhere in the Canterbury Tales and heterodox features of the sermon itself. The Parson’s soteriology—the theology of how to attain salvation—invites consideration of the sermon’s potential influence from the contemporary heretical movement known as Lollardy, including the theology of John Wyclif; this theology disagreed with orthodox Catholic penitential practices.
However, despite increasing anti-Wycliffite sentiment at the turn of the fifteenth century, Chaucer’s Parson’s Tale was not suppressed or censored as a heretical text. This thesis argues that Chaucer’s tiered lists in the structure of the Tale and abbreviated discussions of priests effectively conceal the potential heresy in the Parson’s presentation of penance. Building on prior scholarship identifying Chaucer’s orthodox and heterodox sources and cataloging manuscript witnesses of the Parson’s Tale, this thesis asserts that the Parson’s Tale’s convoluted structure made it possible for the sermon at the end of the Canterbury Tales to evade the label of heresy in the 1400s. This reading of the Parson’s Tale contends that whether or not Chaucer himself was aware of the tale’s possible heresy, the rhetorical strategies of the tale—employing tiered lists, presenting orthodox sources in heretical ways, and strategically placing references to priests—effectively hide the sermon’s more heretical points behind a veil of orthodoxy.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Chaucer’s Lists and the Parson’s Priests: Heresy, Censorship, and The Parson's Tale"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Leah Parker","Dr. Jameela Lares","Dr. Nicolle Jordan"],"dc:creator":["Burleson, Samantha"],"dc:date.available":["2024-05-09T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Chaucer’s Parson’s Tale is a sermon on penance told by a fictional late-fourteenth-century Parson in The Canterbury Tales. What the Parson preaches is incompletely aligned with Roman Catholic orthodox beliefs, as suggested both by accusations of Lollardy elsewhere in the Canterbury Tales and heterodox features of the sermon itself. The Parson’s soteriology—the theology of how to attain salvation—invites consideration of the sermon’s potential influence from the contemporary heretical movement known as Lollardy, including the theology of John Wyclif; this theology disagreed with orthodox Catholic penitential practices.
However, despite increasing anti-Wycliffite sentiment at the turn of the fifteenth century, Chaucer’s Parson’s Tale was not suppressed or censored as a heretical text. This thesis argues that Chaucer’s tiered lists in the structure of the Tale and abbreviated discussions of priests effectively conceal the potential heresy in the Parson’s presentation of penance. Building on prior scholarship identifying Chaucer’s orthodox and heterodox sources and cataloging manuscript witnesses of the Parson’s Tale, this thesis asserts that the Parson’s Tale’s convoluted structure made it possible for the sermon at the end of the Canterbury Tales to evade the label of heresy in the 1400s. This reading of the Parson’s Tale contends that whether or not Chaucer himself was aware of the tale’s possible heresy, the rhetorical strategies of the tale—employing tiered lists, presenting orthodox sources in heretical ways, and strategically placing references to priests—effectively hide the sermon’s more heretical points behind a veil of orthodoxy.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1025"],"dc:subject":["The Parson's Tale","Chaucer","orthodox","heterdox","heresy","John Wyclif","English Language and Literature"],"dc:title":["Chaucer’s Lists and the Parson’s Priests: Heresy, Censorship, and The Parson's Tale"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:47Z"}