Anti-Fraternal Literature

 You should be prepared to give a very brief definition of anti-fraternal literature in your midterm exam. Someone emailed me to say they are not sure about it.  I hope this will help...

Anti-fraternal literature was written from the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries. It was written against the friars, monks and other "religious" men and women who were supposed to be living lives of purity and holiness, but in reality were often living lives of  luxury at the expense of the poor. Often anti-fraternal literature would make fun of these hypocrites. Sometimes it would attack them directly.

The Pardoner



Interestingly, friars (like Grendel, hundreds of years before!) were often described as 'sons of Cain'. Chaucer, Gower, Langland and John Wyclif (who we discussed briefly in class) were all significant writers of anti-fraternal literature.  Remember, though - Chaucer could also present very positive images of religious men. For a contrast with the images of the Pardoner, the Summoner, and the Friar, look at the image of the 'holy-minded', honourable Parson in the 'General Prologue'.

You can find a review of a book on this subject here (appropriately for us, in a journal called 'COMITATUS'!) This review is short (one and a half pages) but quite difficult, especially at the start. Don't worry if you only understand a little. If you are really interested in this subject, you can have a look at this article on JSTOR, which you can access through the university library. Again, this is difficult, so don't worry if you have problems with it. You don't need to read it for the exam!