What is a fabliau?
A comedic, often bawdy, medieval French short story that often centers around adultery or trickery.
Fabulous Fabliaus: The Bawdy Short Stories of Medieval France
Originating in medieval France, fabliaux were short, humorous stories that often took aim at the clergy and nobility. These tales were typically written in verse and featured low-born characters who outwitted their superiors using cunning and wit.
While fabliaux covered a range of topics and themes, they became particularly renowned for their risque subject matter. Many involved adulterous liaisons and sexual conquests, and much of the humor derived from the characters' attempts to conceal their affairs from their spouses or others in positions of power.
Despite the ribald subject matter, fabliaux were immensely popular in their time and had a significant influence on later literary movements. Their irreverent humor and emphasis on conducting oneself cleverly and ingeniously in the face of adversity continue to appeal to modern readers and writers alike.
Step back in time and explore the hilarious yet raunchy world of fabliaux with these two classic examples from medieval French literature:
One of the most famous fabliaux is The Miller's Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer, which tells the story of a carpenter who is cuckolded by his young wife and her lover, a clerk who boards with the couple. The tale is filled with vulgar humor and slapstick comedy, and the characters' various attempts to hide their affairs from one another result in a chaotic and hilarious conclusion.
The Chatelaine of Vergi is another well-known fabliau, this one featuring a noblewoman who is seduced by her husband's squire. When her husband discovers the affair, he forces the squire to marry a pig, with unexpected - and comic - consequences.