Abygayl (Abigail) the wife of Nabal, from I Samuel; Nabal refused to help David, for which God smote him dead.
Aldiran a star in the constellation Leo.
Alexander the representative of the ideal for the medieval person.
Alnath a star in the constellation Aries.
Amphion the king of Thebes and husband of Niobe; he was noted for his beautiful singing voice.
Andromache wife of Hector, leader of the Trojan forces, who one night dreamed of Hector's death.
Apollo the god of the sun.
The Arc of his Artificial Day from dawn to sunset as opposed to the "natural day of twenty-four hours."
Archbishop Dunstan (924-988) an archbishop of Canterbury who was later canonized.
Argus . . . pull his beard a mythological giant with a hundred eyes whose duty was to guard a mortal (Io) whom Zeus loved. By Chaucer's time the word referred to any observant, vigilant person or guardian.
Argus a mythological creature with one hundred eyes meant to guard anything valuable.
Aristotle, Alhazen (Alocen), Witelo (Vitulon) learned men — a philosopher, an astronomer, and a mathematician, respectively — who wrote of the powers of mirrors.
Arnold reference to Arnoldus de Villa, a fourteenth-century French physician, theologian, astrologer, and alchemist.
Assuerus (Ahasuerus) husband of the biblical Esther.
Aurelian (Aurelianus) emperor of Rome, preceded by Gallienus.
Avicenna an Arabian physician (980-1037) who wrote a work on medicines that includes a chapter on poisons.
azure a semi-precious stone, today called lapis lazuli. In the description of Chaunticleer, the use of azure reinforces his courtly appearance.
Bacchus (Bacus), Venus Bacchus was the god of wine. Virginia had never tasted wine because it would arouse her interest in Venus, the goddess of love.
Bacchus the god of wine and interceder in quarrels.
Bethulie (Bethulia) a city of the Israelites, besieged by Holofernes.
Bob-Up-And-Down a town very near Canterbury; the pilgrims must be in the vicinity of the Cathedral of Canterbury.
Bologna during Chaucer's lifetime, one of the principal cultural centers, especially famed in medicine and science.
Bretons (Britouns) inhabitants of Brittany in France.
Bromeholm (Bromeholme) a piece of wood reputed to be a part of the cross known as the Rood of Bromeholme, highly venerated in Scotland.
Bruges (Brugges) an important commercial city in Flanders, north of Brussels.
Brutus Cassius Chaucer erroneously supposes these two famous assassins of Julius Caesar to be one person, not two.
Bush unburnt, burning in Moses' sight F. N. Robinson maintains, "The figure of the burning bush . . . was of course a familiar symbol of the Virgin" (The Poems of Chaucer, page 840). God appeared to Moses in the form of a burning bush to give him instructions about receiving the Ten Commandments.
Caesar, Nero, Mark Anthony, and Mars in a chariot figures, all of whom had functioned in wars, used as decoration on the altar to Mars.
Callisto, Dana (Daphne), and Atalanta figures, all of whom avoided — with varying degrees of success — marriage, used as decoration on the altar to Diana.
Cambuskan F.N. Robinson points out that the name was chosen so as to resemble Genghis ("Cambyus" or Chingis) Khan ("skan").
canon a member of a certain religious order.
Capaneus proud, vain man so disdainful that he boasted that not even Jove could stop him. He took part in the war to restore Oedipus' oldest son to the throne of Thebes.
Cate (Caton, or Catoun) meaning Cato, a famous Roman writer and orator.
Cato Dionysius Cato, the author of a book of maxims used in elementary education (not to be confused with the more famous Marcus Cato the Elder and Marcus Cato the Younger, who were famous statesmen of ancient Rome).
Ceix. . .halcyon their story is found in Chaucer's first long original poem, The Book of the Dutchess, 1369.
Centaurs, Cerberus, Busiris, Achelous, Cacus, and Antacus all part of the Labors of Hercules.
Cheapside and Fish Streets streets in London that were known for the sale of strong spirits.
Chepe today, London's Cheapside. In Chaucer's time, it was a favorite scene of festivals and processions.
chimica senioris zadith tabula here, attributed by Chaucer to Plato but in the original publication (Theatrum Chemicum, 1695), it was attributed to Solomon.
Cicero (Scithreo) the Roman orator and writer.
Citherea the residence of Venus, goddess of Love.
convent in Chaucer's time, a dwelling for any religious group of either sex.
Cormeum eructavit! the opening words of Psalm 14.
Corpus Dominus Chaucer has clever ways of commenting on his characters. Here, he lets us know that the Host is not an expert in Latin. He meant to say "corpus Domini," which means "the body of our Lord."
Croesus the king of Lydia who depended too strongly upon fortune.
Crosus (Croesus) King of Lydia, noted for his great wealth.
