Summary
The host turns away from The Summoner and tells the clerk it is his turn. The Clerk agrees and says he will tell a story he heard from a great gentleman from Padua named Francis Petrarch. The Clerks Tale is about the Marquis of Salucia being forced to produce an heir. He decides that he will produce an heir, but he wants to decide on who it shall be. He chooses to marry a young farm girl named Griselda who has grown up poor and is the most beatiful girl in all of the lands. He asks her father if he can marry her and he gives the Marquis permission. The Marquis also says to Griselda that she must not disobey him ever or he will divorce her. The Marquis shows the people who he choose and they are all so happy because she is beautiful. Soon after they have a young daughter, and to test Griselda's loyalty the Marquis tells her that he is going to kill the kid but he instead has someone take the child far away. After a couple of years she becomes pregnant again with a boy and he repeats the last situation. Soon rumors of his cruel actions spread and he tests her again saying that her low-lineage is the issue. He gets a counterfeit bull from the pope that allows him to divorce her. Meanwhile, Walter has sent for his children in Bologna. He makes it widely known that he intends to marry the maiden who's on her way to Salucia, which is his daughter by the way. On the day the children arrive, Walter sends for Griselda. He asks her how she approves of his new wife and she begs him not to torment her like he did with her because she was high born. The Marquis is pleased with this answer and reveals that the boy and girl are actually their children and he tells Griselda that he still loves her and they get married again. The Clerk concludes the story by claiming that he does not mean for women to follow Grisilde's example; instead, his tale is an allegory about the proper relationship of humankind to God. He also mentions that it's difficult to find women of Grisilde's quality nowadays.