Ransom and release in the Knight’s Tale

Chaucer constructs the first two parts of the Knight’s Tale around the imprisonment and release/escape of two young knights of royal blood. Consequently, some knowledge of the practice of holding or ransoming noble prisoners in medieval Europe may be helpful in lending some historical context to the Tale itself.

As we have already discussed in class, ransoming was a common element of medieval warfare and even happened to Chaucer himself. Ransoming was considered an important part of chivalry. Even prisoners of the highest ranks, including dukes and kings, were very rarely held without ransom, which makes the imprisonment of Arcite and Palamon in the Knight’s Tale unusual and implies that Theseus is unchivalric. Chaucer had at least two historical examples of royals held for ransom that he could draw upon while writing the Tale.

Typically, the most well-known example in medieval England of capture and ransom is that of King Richard I, who in 1192 was seized by Duke Leopold V of Austria on his way home from his crusade to the Holy Land. The Duke held Richard prisoner for more than a year until his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, could raise the 150,000-mark ransom, an amount that nearly bankrupted England.

Americans are probably best familiar with this story through the Disney cartoon “Robin Hood,” in which Prince John attempts to sabotage the fundraising effort by keeping the money for himself —not too far from the truth, as the real John collaborated with King Philip of France to pay the Duke 80,000 marks to keep Richard a prisoner. When Eleanor finally paid the full ransom and the Duke released Richard, Philip sent John a letter saying, “Look to yourself; the devil is loose.” Richard, indeed, took full advantage of his freedom and, prevented from punishing John, wreaked vengeance on Philip, using all his resources to wage war on France until his death in 1199. Although Richard did not avenge himself on the Duke of Austria, his ransom and release provides an example of how dangerous it could be to release someone with a political grudge and the power and resources to back it up.

While Chaucer would have been very familiar with this historical event, there was another capture-and-ransom incident that occurred in his lifetime, when he was 13, that more closely resembles the two cousins’ imprisonment in the Knight’s Tale. Four years before Chaucer served in King Edward III’s army, Edward III’s son Edward the Black Prince captured King John II of France at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. Edward sent John back to England, where he was imprisoned in the Tower of London — although he was permitted privileges and luxuries — and his ransom was set at 3 million crowns, a prohibitive amount at the time. In 1360, Edward III agreed to release John to return to France to raise the ransom, and John left his son, Louis, as a replacement hostage. Louis, however, escaped and fled to France. John was so incensed at his son’s perceived lack of honor that he surrendered himself to the English and died in captivity.

King John II’s release — technically ransom-less at the time — mirrors Arcite’s release and exile from Athens. Prince Louis and Palamon both languish in prison alone afterward and devise some means of escaping, fleeing back to their homelands. However, where Louis refrains from raising forces to attack the English, Palamon, echoing Richard I, originally intends to make for Thebes and call on his friends for help in making war on Theseus: “This was his opinion … in the nyght thane wolde he take his way / To Thebes-ward, his freendes for to preye / On Theseus to helpe him to werreye” (l. 1480-1484). This waging of war is what is expected of any prince or King in order to re-establish their honor; Palamon expects it of Arcite as well: “Thou mayst, syn thou hast wisdom and man-hede / Assemblen alle the folk of oure kyndrede / And make a were so sharp on this citee” (l. 1285-1287).

This information about ransoming as part of chivalry in medieval England adds to readers’ understanding of chivalry in the Knight’s Tale. All three main male characters violate the code of chivalry in various ways: Theseus refuses to set a ransom, Arcite violates his honor by breaking his promise not to return to Athens, and both he and Palamon fails to return to Thebes and raise an army to fight Theseus.