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This chapter explores children in Chaucer's work between seven and fourteen years of age, beginning with the ten-year-old Lowys, the son of the poet, depicted in the Treatise on the Astrolabe. When a child is silent, as litel Lowys is, the artifacts and objects surrounding that child—toys, cradles, and even astrolabes—create a material context that makes a reading of that child possible. The children addressed here include the anonymous schoolmate of the litel clergeon, the two daughters of the widow in the Nun's Priest's Tale, the maid child of the Shipman's Tale, Canacee of the Squire's Tale, and Emelye of the Knight's Tale.

DOI: 10.1057/978-1-137-43637-5_4

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