Touching the Real in the Canon's Yeoman's Tale : Alchemy, Anecdote, and the Archives of London Goldwork

Abstract

In Chaucer's Canon's Yeoman's Tale, when a self-styling alchemist needs someone to certify a bit of silver as the real thing, he turns to “som goldsmyth” of London to render conclusive judgment. This essay fixates on this minor incident in the tale as a critical focal point, attempting to reinscribe the scene with its fictional “goldsmyth” in Chaucer's world by setting it among many such incidents recorded in the archives kept by London's goldsmiths themselves. This is a world populated by shadowy suburban tricksters and the trustworthy wardens of the City's mystery who are always on the watch for a false gemstone or a false promise. Is this really Chaucer's world, though? While trying to reread the Canon's Yeoman's Tale in the light of contemporary goldsmithing politics, the article also retraces the ways that the archive has been repurposed by historicist critics to shed light on Chaucer's world, life, and poetry.