A leading university has sparked outrage for placing a ‘ridiculous’ trigger warning on Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales because it contains ‘expressions of the Christian faith’.
Critics accused the University of Nottingham of “degrading education” for warning students about the religious elements of works of medieval literature that tell the story of a pilgrimage to one of the most important cathedrals in all of Christendom.
They said teachers were guilty of ‘virtue signalling’, adding that anyone studying such a famous collection would not need the Christian references mentioned.
The Mail on Sunday has obtained details of the notice issued to students studying a module called Chaucer and His Contemporaries under Freedom of Information laws.
It alerts them to instances of violence, mental illness and ‘expressions of Christian faith’ in the works of Chaucer and fellow medieval writers William Langland, John Gower and Thomas Hoccleve.
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories about characters on a pilgrimage from London to the grave of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral
The English author Geoffrey Chaucer lived from 1343 to 1400 and wrote The Canterbury Tales
Written between 1387 and 1400, The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories about characters on a pilgrimage from London to the grave of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral.
The Canterbury Tales were written by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400
Among them are the promiscuous Wife of Bath, the drunken miller and the thieving reeve, who delight and shock each other with stories that contain explicit references to rape, lust and even anti-Semitism.
However, the university’s warning does not refer to anti-Semitism or sexually explicit themes.
Other texts on the university’s module covered by the warning include ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’, a poem full of Christian themes and beliefs.
Another author on the list, Langland, writes about “rich ecclesiastical politics” and “Christian virtue” in the classic poem “Piers Plowman.”
Pressure group Christian Concern said the revelation raised questions about why “trigger warnings” are needed for classical texts and whether there would be similar warnings for other religious and philosophical beliefs.
Andrea Williams, CEO of Christian Concern, said: ‘The Bible is fundamental to understanding the history of English literature. Without an understanding of the Christian faith, students will not gain access to the world of Chaucer and his contemporaries.
Characters in the Canterbury Tales include the promiscuous five-times married Wife of Bath
‘It’s ridiculous to give such trigger warnings. At what point in history do we start censoring literary texts, since most are steeped in a Christian worldview?
“Trigger warnings for Christian themes in literature are demeaning to the Christian faith and hinder the academic progress of our students.
‘Censoring expressions of the Christian faith means erasing our literary heritage. True education encourages and promotes understanding, not avoidance.
‘Our universities should give students who have chosen to study some of the greatest works of English literature the freedom of academic thought to form their own opinions, rather than posting loaded warnings about the Christian faith.’
Also shocked by the trigger warning was Frank Furedi, emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Kent, who said: ‘It is strange to warn students of Chaucer about Christian expressions of faith.
‘Since all the characters in the stories are immersed in a Christian experience, there will undoubtedly be many expressions of faith. The problem is not Chaucer’s so-called student readers, but the virtue-signaling, ignorant academics.”
Andrea Williams, CEO of Christian Concern, said: ‘At what point in history do we start censoring literary texts, as most are steeped in a Christian worldview?’
Historian Jeremy Black, author of English Culture, added: ‘It is strange that someone living in Britain finds it challenging to read works from our literary heritage that contain expressions of the Christian faith.
‘Presumably this Nottingham nonsense is a product of the need to validate courses against box ticking criteria. It is at the same time sad and funny, a perversion of intellectual life and a debasement of education.’
And Monsignor Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Anglican Bishop of Rochester, said: ‘The Canterbury Tales are an account of a pilgrimage from London to Canterbury.
‘If you read a book about a pilgrimage, the Christian faith comes into play. I don’t see how you could understand the work without understanding the references to Christianity.’
He added: ‘I think that when people are at university they have to deal with difficult subjects and give them meaning for their own thinking and lives. You can’t protect people from difficult topics.
The University of Nottingham said that ‘even those students who are practicing Christians will find aspects of the late medieval worldview they will encounter in Chaucer and others alienating and strange’
“That’s the whole point of going to college. I don’t think students need trigger warnings. What is needed is good education, so that these difficult issues can be put into context.’
John Sutherland, emeritus professor of modern English literature at University College London, said the warning was unworthy of a university that trained author DH Lawrence.
He said: ‘There is a point where embarrassment becomes censorship. Nottingham University has crossed the border. I had hoped for more courage from the alma mater of the author of Lady Chatterley’s Lover.’
But a university spokesperson said: ‘The University of Nottingham champions diversity, and its student population is made up of people of all faiths and none.
‘This substantive announcement does not assume that all our students have a Christian background, but even students who are practicing Christians will find aspects of the late medieval worldview they encounter in Chaucer and others alienating and strange.’
Monsignor Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Anglican Bishop of Rochester, said: ‘If you’re going to read a book about a pilgrimage, the Christian faith will play a role in it.’
It comes after the Mail On Sunday revealed in February 2022 that leaders at the University of Leeds had issued ‘content warnings’ on dozens of works studied by students on English courses – including Tarzan, Black Beauty and Robinson Crusoe.
Edgar Rice Burroughs’ 1912 classic Tarzan Of The Apes included a warning that the story of an orphaned boy raised by primates contained “expressions of racism.”
Students were also warned that Anna Sewell’s 1877 novel Black Beauty contained “depictions of cruelty to animals.” And Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe was also highlighted because it “discusses race and slavery” as well as “attitudes typical of the time.”
Previous examples of content warnings applied to books include Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist and Great Expectations, and – in a move described as ‘more than parody’ – George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four .
In August 2022, The Times reported how universities had applied trigger warnings to more than 1,000 books, removing some from reading lists in a bid to protect students.