Chaucer's "Cursed Monk", Constantinus Africanus.

Author / Editor
Bassan, Maurice.

Title
Chaucer's "Cursed Monk", Constantinus Africanus.

Published
Mediaeval Studies 24 (1962): 127-40.

Description
Surveys "unreliable" information about Constantine Africanus in scholarly discussions of Chaucer's references to him in GP 1.433 (Doctour of Phisik) and MerT 4.1810-11. Then clarifies Constantinus's importance in the history of medicine, what is and is not known about him, and the likely "contents and medical significance" of his "De Coitu," cited by the Merchant. Surmises that Chaucer may have known the work "at first hand."

Chaucer Subjects
Merchant and His Tale
Physician and His Tale
Chaucer's Life