The Canterbury Tales hit with ‘trigger warning’ for ‘expressions of Christian faith’
A university in England has placed a trigger warning on The Canterbury Tales due to “expressions of Christian faith.” The Canterbury Tales is a collection of 24 stories written by poet and author Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century, framed as a storytelling contest among pilgrims journeying to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.
The University of Nottingham added the warning to its “Chaucer and His Contemporaries” module, cautioning students about “incidences of violence, mental illness, and expressions of Christian faith,” the U.K.-based group Christian Concern said in a statement sent to The Christian Post, citing a report by the Mail on Sunday.
The module features works by medieval authors such as William Langland, John Gower, Thomas Hoccleve and Chaucer himself.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Christian Concern Chief Executive Andrea Williams criticized the university’s decision. “Without an understanding of the Christian faith there will be no way for students to access the world of Chaucer and his contemporaries. It’s ludicrous to issue such trigger warnings.”
Williams added, “Trigger warnings for Christian themes in literature are demeaning to the Christian faith and stifle the academic progress of our students.”
Frank Furedi, emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Kent, also expressed disapproval. “Warning students of Chaucer about Christian expressions of faith is weird. Since all characters in the stories are immersed in a Christian experience, there is bound to be a lot of expressions of faith,” Furedi said, according to The Telegraph.
Historian Jeremy Black commented, “Presumably, this Nottingham nonsense is a product of the need to validate courses in accordance with tick-box criteria. It is simultaneously sad, funny, and a demeaning of education,” as reported by GB News.
The university’s warning does not mention other explicit themes present in The Canterbury Tales, such as references to rape and antisemitism, which has led to further criticism. The Mail on Sunday noted that while the stories contain these themes, the warning focuses solely on expressions of Christian faith, violence and mental illness.
A university spokesman defended the decision, stating that the institution “champions diversity.” He added, “Even those who are practicing Christians will find aspects of the late-medieval worldview ... alienating and strange.”
Other texts covered by the warning include “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” a renowned poem rich with Christian themes like mercy, forgiveness and escaping sin, according to Christian Concern. William Langland’s “Piers Plowman,” also on the reading list, is described as “the most searching Christian poem of the Middle Ages in English” and explores “the struggles of Conscience to discern how to go on in his often baffling culture.”
The Mail on Sunday obtained the information about the trigger warning through a Freedom of Information request.
The move by the University of Nottingham appears to be the first time that warnings about the Christian faith have been revealed in such a context, as previous stories have focused on other aspects of medieval literature.
“Our universities should allow students who have chosen to study some of the greatest works in English literature the freedom of academic thought to make up their own minds rather than planting loaded warnings about the Christian faith,” Williams said.
Furedi further commented, “The problem is not would-be student readers of Chaucer but virtue-signaling, ignorant academics.” He noted that all characters in Chaucer’s stories are immersed in a Christian experience, making expressions of faith an integral part of the literature.
The Standard reported that the university explained the warning was introduced due to the text’s depiction of Christianity from a 14th century perspective and its historical context.
Furedi stressed that the issue lies not with the students but the academics imposing these warnings.
