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The Second Nun’s Tale
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The Second Nun’s Tale

story by Chaucer
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History

The Second Nun’s Tale, one of the 24 stories in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.

This religious tale exemplifies Chaucer’s mercurial shifts in tone and poetic style. Taken from the 13th-century compilation of lives of the saints, the Legenda aurea (Golden Legend) of Jacobus de Voragine, “The Second Nun’s Tale” relates the story of St. Cecilia, who on her wedding night tells her husband, Valerian, that an angel has instructed her to remain celibate. Valerian converts to Christianity and has a vision of the angel; awestruck, he persuades his brother to convert. The three perform miracles and convert others until they are tried and executed by Roman authorities.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.