658 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences , Arts, and Letters . 
posed Brembre in 1386, none from the smaller and obscure 
companies, and none from those who had representatives 
in the Aldermancy. These facts are manifestly significant. 
That Chaucer should have known the ins and outs of fifty 
guilds and condensed in a few lines—or even in a single line— 
information which shows complete mastery of the munici¬ 
pal situation is little short of surprising. 
That Chaucer’s choice was deliberate we can test in an¬ 
other way. A priori we have a right to assume that he 
would select the most powerful companies. 1 He cannot, of 
course, select those companies represented in the Alder¬ 
mancy. But there are as a matter of fact no large non¬ 
victualling companies (having more than four representa¬ 
tives in the Common Council) that had no representatives 
in the Aldermancy. Consequently his choice is limited to 
those companies with four or fewer members in the Council. 
But here he deliberately avoids the ten companies who peti¬ 
tioned against Brembre,—two of which (Sadlers and Cord- 
wainers, having four members each) were as powerful as 
those selected by the poet. When one recalls that there were 
only six other companies, Fullers and Masons and the four 
chosen by Chaucer, who had four representatives, it would 
seem as if the poet’s choice was made with extraordinary 
care. 
If the conclusion of this paper, thus far presented, is 
sound, the General Prologue was not written before the 
latter part of 1386. 2 This confines its limits, therefore, to 
two years. 3 
Is it idle to ask why he did not include the Fuller and the 
Mason? 4 He probably thought that five was a sufficient 
number, as in fact it was. When we ask why he chose the 
particular four he did, it is not so easy to give a reply. 
However, it is doubtful if a Fuller or Mason, any more in 
the fourteenth century than now, held a position equal to 
that of those selected by the poet. In a fairly careful search 
1 For discussion see pp. 652f. 
2 On the question whether the Prologue was written continuously see 
Tatlock, The Development and Chronology , etc., p. 143 n. 2. 
3 That it was not written after 1388 is now well known. 
4 Though the Girdlers had their first representative in the Aldermancy 
in 1397, they joined with a company (Ironmongers) in 1399 that had 
had representatives earlier. The Girdlers, therefore, were on the border 
line. 
