(Published in the Preceedings of the 9^th International Conference of the Spanish Society for Medieval English Language and Literature, Margarita Giminez Bon & Vickie Olsen eds. 1997: 326-337)

The suggestion of a possible connection between The House of Fame and Spain appears in a note of The Riverside Chaucer concerning Book III, when the narrator, describing where the House of Fame is located, says: "That stood upon so high a roche/ Hier stant ther non in Spayne", (1116-1117):

Smith (MLN 60, 1945, 39-40) compares RR 2437-47, Rom 2573-74 (see 2573 n). `Thou shalt make castles thanne in Spayne/ And dreme of joye', and refers to OED on "castles in the air". But Chaucer is now known to have visited Spain in 1366, and the reference may be to actual places. Baugh (45) suggests the Rock of Gibraltar, but there is no indication Chaucer went that far south.

I maintain the hypothesis that Chaucer visited Catalonia in 1365-66 . I would like to say that I am looking for two important documents which may be the definitive proof of my hypothesis: one is a historical record and the other is a literary poem. I have already found enough clues proving the existence of these two documents.

The main support of this part of my research is based on a comparative study of Book III and the historical records from Catalonia concerning the Monastery of Montserrat and the Catalan folklore: Amselm Albareda's Historia de Montserrat, Russell's The English Intervention in Spain and Portugal in the Time of Edward III and Richard II, Baugh's "The Background of Chaucer's Mission to Spain", Jordi Morant i Clanxet's Historia dels Castells de Tarragona y les Comarques Castelleres, some photos and other different documents from Catalonia .

I agree with John M. Fyler (1992: 149) that this poem has a "notable speculative energy" . I think this is the fruit of noting how many different and contradictory essays there are on The House of Fame. It leads us to think that it is not an easy work reading and interpreting this poem. The same text is the source of many points of view. In Sheila Delany's (1994: 2) words:

Most critics, however, view the House of Fame as a peculiarly puzzling or untypical work, not really amenable to the critical methods so fruitfully applied elsewhere.

In my opinion this is one of the reasons to be taken into account when one considers this poem a minor work from the point of view of its lentgh. It might be one of the most important Chaucer's works in order to understand his poetry, his mind and his concept of poetry.

The sources of The House of Fame are basically compiled in Windeatt's Chaucer's Dream Poetry: Sources and Analogues. Cambridge: Brewer, 1982. All of these sources are literary sources, that is, books are the space which fed Chaucer, and the reading of these books is the action to get influence on Chaucer's poetry. Professor Boitani (1986: 42) is right when he says that "When Chaucer dreams, a book inevitably produces another book. The `old'book becomes `new'. Ovid becomes Chaucer."

My hypothesis is that there was a real space, a territory, and a real action, a journey and a visit, a real experience which provoked the writing of The House of Fame: a real journey and visit to Catalonia becomes part of Chaucer's vital experience. There is only, up to my mind, one essay suggesting that Chaucer may have been thinking of a real place when he wrote The House of Fame: Laura Kendrick suggests parallels between details in Book III and the design of the Palais de Justice in Paris with which Chaucer was familiar from his embassies. My research has its foundation not only on the parallels we can find between the Monastery of Montserrat and the House of Fame, but on many details of the journey, the folklore, the territory, and the history at that time connected with Spain. I try to demonstrate that some passages from The House of Fame, especially those in Book III mean that this poem is an autobiographical allegory which can be connected at every point with Chaucer's visit to Catalonia. Boitani (1986: 52-53) thinks that this Chaucer's work is " a journey through tradition, myth, literature and poetry", but I think there is also a journey through the territory of Catalonia.

The description in Book III is the result of a process of memorizing a reality. I can find that there are two types of sources conforming this reality: literary sources and the experience of real facts. I know, as John Fyler (1986: 565) says that "When Chaucer alludes to his sources, his full meaning often comprises not only the allusion itself, but its original context." Nevertheless, Chaucer's allusions to his literary sources, in The House of Fame, are explicit: Ovidid's Metamorphoses, Cicero's Somnium Scipionis, Martianus Capella's astronomical works, The Anticlaudianus of Alanus de Insulis, Dante's Divine Comedy, Ovide Moralisi, and so on. When Chaucer describes the reality he has lived as an experience of his life, his memory process may reveal what Boitani (1983: 198) says: "Dream poems embrace the whole of reality, factual and imaginary." I agree with Rubin Valdis (1995: 354) when he says that " the House of Fame goes beyond mere textual play and refers to historical reality, however obliquely". It is very significant that Chaucer in the Invocation of Book III shows that his interest is not focused on the craft but on the meaning ("sentence, 1100"), and that the description he tries to give us is supported by his memory:

That in myn hed ymarked ys. (1101-1103)

Mary Carruthers (1987: 187) thinks that "Aenea's visit to the Temple of Juno in Carthage, in which he sees on the wall-murals of the events of Troy's last days" recall to Chaucer "his own experience ." Chaucer's visual experience is emphasized with the verb "saugh". Beryl Rowland (1975: 49) says that

In the third book the dreamer is an indefatigable observer on his own account, and he uses more than twenty references to sight before reaching the castle.

Piero Boitani (1983: 204) summarizes, clarifies, and supports my opinion about these two types of sources:

What Chaucer has the eagle promise at the beginning of the flight are on the other hand "tydynges...of love" and information about to real world, both "fro fer contree" and from his "verray neyghebores". Chaucer evokes here the primary muse of his inspiration love, which has made him compose "bookys, songes, dytees" and which is an endless source of literary material, of fiction and poetry (672-98).

At the same time Chaucer shows himself ready to look upon the world of reality. He points with self-irony to the life of the bureaucrat and passionate reader that he lives and seems to pay a new attention to his neighbours and all human kind, moving away from books.

This interest in the "verray neyghbores" (649) is another element that matches my hypothesis: the neighbourhood of Catalonia and Aquitaine was a real fact in the XIV century when it was part of the English territory. It is just referring about this area where I locate the historical events and the starting point of Chaucer's visit to Catalonia. We know that not only were the French king and Henry of Trastamara allied against Peter the Cruel in 1365-66, but also the Pope and the king of Aragon, through whose territory the army, including the Companies, would have to pass. My interest to support my hypothesis of Chaucer's travel to Catalonia is concentrated on the word "secrecy", in order to give an explanation of Chaucer's mission in Catalonia. The arrangements to pay the Companies and to plan the entrance into Spain through Catalonia were secret. Baugh (1968: 61) confirms this idea:

How secret they were can be judged by the fact that when Pedro IV laid the Plan for a joint invasion of Castile before the Corts or Catalan parliament at Barcelona in the middle of 1365, the members were first sworn not to reveal anything that was said. Perhaps it was also in the interest of secrecy that the purpose of the invasion was concealed under the cloak of a crusade against Moors in the south, although this may have been, as has been suggested, only a pretext to secure the collaboration of the pope and the financial support of the Church.

I suggest, with no record at the moment, that Chaucer may have joined the forces of Trastamara following this context of secrecy and deceit. Perhaps Suzanne Honori-Duvergi's suggestion that Chaucer joined the forces of Trastamara and took part in the military campaign may be considered, from this historical perspective, a sensible possibility. This possibility may be supported in the context Russell (1955: 33) describes:

Aragon was to provide both military and naval assitance for the conquest of Gascony. It was no doubt fear that the Black Prince was aware of the existence of this undertaking which contributed largely to En Pere's panic during the English invasion of Castile in 1367.

But if Chaucer's reason to visit Catalonia was a secret mission or not would be very difficult to demonstrate and the aim of this paper is just to show the possibility of Chaucer's stay in Catalonia.

Among the various purposes for which the poet's journey might have been undertaken I am inclined to think that Chaucer was there " to lernen in this place" (1088), because if someone asked Chaucer himself "the cause he stonde he here" (1885), he would answer: "somme newe tydynges for to lere/somme newe thynges, y not what" (1886-87). These words of Chaucer can lead us to understand "the cause he stonde he here" (1886)from a new point of view if we consider the word "folklore" following Joan Corominas's (1976: 277) explanation:

FOLKLORE, 1925. Tom. del ingl. folklore md., cpt. de folk `gente, vulgo', y lore `erudidisn', `conjunto de hechos y creencias'( de la misma ramz que learn `aprender').

If we believe Chaucer's own words, he was there "somme newe tydynges and thynges for to lere" (1886-87), that is, "somme folk for to lere". In other words, he was there to learn folklore, some songs, dances, and other things from people from "some contre" (2135). This was the eagle's wish when he said goodbye to Chaucer at the ending of Book II: "And God of heven sende the grace/ Some good to lernen in this place" (1087-88).

Like many of the details in The House of Fame, which have been considered conventional, traditional, topics or literary references, the date "of Decembre the tenthe day" (63-111), twice repeated, may refer to a real date if we take into account, following Russell's (1955: 37) words that the "grans companies" assembled at Montpellier from 20 November to 3 December and then crossed the Aragonese frontier." Baugh (1968: 63) informs that "du Guesclin and most of his forces reached Barcelona shortly after December 25. Calveley was already there. On January 1, 1366 Pedro IV feasted all the leaders of the Companies." It was usual for Pedro IV going up Montserrat to entrust his campaigns to the Virgin of Montserrat. There are so many parallels between details in Book III and the reality of Montserrat, some Catalan folklore and these historical events that we would need a whole book to develop my work: the mention of the "laurel" in the Invocation as a symbol of victory, the location on the high place, the colour of the rocks, the names on the stone, the "castel", the stone of beryle, the windows, "pynacles", the instruments used in feasts, the "pipers of Duche tonge" (1234), the "love-dances" in particular one called "Reyes" (1236), the "clarion of Cataloigne and Aragon" (1247-48), the "tregetours" (1260) and "jugelours" (1261), the "laudes" (1324) and "heraudes" (1321), "famous folk than han ybeen/In Affrike, Europe, and Asye" (1338-39), the "hall", "A femynyne creature" (1365), the columns with historical authorities on them, the nine groups of petitioners, and the House of Rumor that "stonde in a valey" (1918), and some other details. Among all of these details I cannot resist showing you briefly one of the last result of my research. The word "Reyes" (1236) is written in the context of "love-dances, sprynges" (1235) and "these strange thynges" (1236), and certainly it is an strange word not only in Chaucer's works but in the English Literature. The note 1235 in The Riverside Chaucer defines it as "a round dance". The Explanatory Notes confirms the idea that it is a very strange word: "Smith ( MLN 65: 521-22) notes that this is apparently the first occurrence of these terms in English. "Reyes" translating a Dutch word are ring dances" (798). My explanation is just that Chaucer saw, among other "straunge thynges" the dance of the "Gremi de Sastres" which was called the "Ball dels Reis" . My source is Jordi Morant i Clanxet in his Historia dels Castells de Tarragona y les Comarques Castelleres, Patronat Munipal de Tarragona, 1976 , who includes in his work how "la dansa i els gremis" were two of the most important factors for the flourishing of the Catalan popular culture in the XIV century (p. 19).

"Reyes" was only a part of the folklore Chaucer may have seen there. I would like to catch your attention to the ending of The House of Fame, taking into account this possible historical context: the "grans companies" and the Aragonese forces were feasted in Barcelona on January 1, 1366 by Pedro IV. Music, dances, laudes, and the visit to the Monastery of Montserrat were the usual celebrations. The context we find in Book III describes these celebrations. Boitani's (1983: 208) words, once again, open the next and final part of this paper:

The House of Fame is the literary universe of a fourteenth-century Englishman with a rich formation. These are his songs, his music, his tales; these above all, his books. When after a day of "labour", of "rekenynges", Geoffrey returns home, he sits "also domb on any stoon", "at another book". It is this obssessive and slightly ridiculous bibliophily (not very different from that of Richard de Bury) that the eagle's mission purports to correct, offering instead "tydynges" of the real world and of love.

To find these, Geoffrey goes down a valley under the castle and reaches the House of Rumor.

About the ending of The House of Fame I am not going to comment anything on whether or not the poem is, as Kay Stevenson (1978: 17) says "carefully organized, so skillfully balanced indeed that no solemn conclusion is necessary". I am interested in offering a new interpretation of the ending of The House of Fame within my hypothesis of Chaucer's visit to Catalonia, trying to show you how Chaucer describes one of these "wonder thynges" which is part of the Catalan folklore. At the end of my words you will find another identity for the man of great authority: he is not Virgil, as Baker proposes, nor Boethius proposed by Ruggiers, nor Boccaccio by R. C. Goffin, nor Christ or a priest by B.G. Koonce, nor the Master of Revels by Shoeck, nor poet as authority by James Winny. Chaucer is not even "satirizing the man of great authority and authorities in general" as Donald K. Fry (1975: 28) thinks.

I herde a gret noyse withalle

In a corner of the halle,

Ther men of love-tydynges tolde,

And I gan thiderward beholde;

For I saugh rennynge every wight

As faste as that they hadden myght,

And everych cried, "What thing is that?

And somme sayde, "I not never what."

And whan they were alle on an hepe,

Tho behynde begunne up lepe,

And clamben up on other faste,

And up the nose and ykn kaste,

And troden fast on others heles,

And stampen, as men doon aftir eles.

Atte laste y saugh a man,

Which that y [nevene] nat ne kan;

But he semed for to be

A man of gret auctorite.... (2141-2158)

After reading this passage, what do readers understand? What images are there in our minds? The Explanatory Notes of The Riverside Chaucer (p. 990, n. 2154) say that "Editors have in general refrained from commenting on this line (the line referred to eels)

either because its meaning seems clear or because the custom was familiar" and these words are followed by an explanation of the words "strodem" and "stampen" used to describe the way of catching eels. Shortly, one takes the idea of people in a corner of a hall running, forming a heap, and stamping each other like eels. They would seem to be running to see the man of great authority. These are the images I see every time I read this passage:

And whan they were alle on a hepe (2149)

 Tho behynde begunne up lepe (2150)

And clamben up on other faste (2151)

And up the nose and ykn kaste (2152) 

  "Chaucer "herde", then he "gan thiderward beholde", and after that, the sequences are described as by a good observer. There are some scenes which constitues the most important actions when the "castellers" build a human tower:

1.- The first scene is when he sees "rennynge every wight/ as faste as that they hadden myght".

2.- The second scene is "whan they were alle on an hepe", that is, when they form what is called "la pinya", which is the base of the tower.

3.- The third scene is, following the instructions in Els Castells a L'Escola "Quan la pinya is formada hi pugen els segonds", (p. 10) . Following Chaucer, this is when "Tho behynde begunne up lepe".

4.- The fourth scene is when they "clamben up on other faste/And troden fast on others heles", that is, when they form "els pisos d'alsada", (p. 10) .

There is a further curious detail to comment in the line "And up the nose ykn kaste". The Explanatory Notes says that " the reading is uncertain. The line means either " And lifted up their noses and eyes on high" or "And lifted up their noses and eyes". See Textual Notes", (p. 990, n. 2152). Certainly, in The Textual Notes (page 1142), the different words that appear in the different manuscripts have in common that the noses are on high as you can see in the slides when a "castel" is being built.

On the other hand, I have to say that the picture Chaucer describes is based on three basic ideas or concepts: Everybody, speed, height. Chaucer uses repetition to reinforce these ideas which are the foundation to build a "castel":

Everybody: "every wight", "they alle", "men".

Speed: "faste as...", "...other faste", "...fast on others".

Height: "up lepe", "clamben up", "up the nose kaste".

"A man of gret auctorite" appears at last. The custom of building a human tower ("castel") to receive and welcome authorities is very old in Catalonia. There are documents to support this. Jordi Morant i Clanxet (1976:25-26) mentions some of them:

- "la visita a Tarragona l'any 1412 del Rey Ferran d'Antequera. En el llibre d'actes dels regidors de la ciutat consta la relacis de les festes organizades: " Apris los Consols ab les banderes, juglars e balls tornaren a Fra-Menors e feren grans dances los pescadors ". The dance by "los pescadors" consisted of building a "castel" whose original name was " Ball de Titans" .

- "la jornada del 17 de juliol dle 1599 visitaren la capital tarragonina, SS. MM Felip i Margarid d'Austria...les cofraries comengaren a entrar en lo pati del palau y fer cada una las jocs. Primer los pescadors, la invencis dels titans ."

Although there are many examples, I would like to finish with this one:

El segle XVIIi ens ofereix rodonament la revaloracis de la dansa en la qual era part integrant la construccis d'una torre humana. Angel del Arco escrivma: " Ofrecer mayores recompensas que las ordinarias a las orquestas y danzas que quisieron acudir de todas las partes solicitar la cooperacisn de las Cofrarias de Tarragona, singularmente la renombrada de los Pescadores, para que ejecutase la danza de los Titanes que por singular y costosa sslo salma al recibimiento de los Reyes y Prelados.

The "man of gret auctorite" was Pedro IV, who significantly was called "El Ceremonioso" .

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