Could the man considered as the woman's friend by Gavin Douglas one day actually be a rapist (SOURCE)? Do the Canterbury Tales act as a vessel to prove his innocence or further damn him, and can they bring clarity to Geoffrey Chaucer's written release of Cecily Champagne from responsibility for all actions regarding his raptus? Since Cecily Champagne's discovery of Chaucer's release on May 4, 1380, there has been fervent speculation about the nature of her accusations against Chaucer (SOURCE). To reach a conclusion regarding Cecily Champagne's raptus, it is important to understand and consider; Emilly Champagne; Chaucer's publication, historians' beliefs, different translations of the term raptus, trends in rape in the Middle Ages, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, and psychoanalytic data on the minds of those who rape and do not rape. It is by understanding and considering these elements that we can personally conclude whether Chaucer raped Emilly Champagne or not. On May 4, 1380, Cécile Chaumpaigne went to the Chancellery of Richard II and brought an act of release which was inscribed on the close rolls. Cecily Champagne's deed had been noted on May 1, 1380, three days before she took it to Richard II's chancery, by several prominent members of Richard II's state (SOURCE). Witnesses included William Beauchamp, John Clanvowe, William Neville, John Philpot and Richard More. The deed read “omnimodas actions tam de raptus meo tam de aliqua alia re vel causa” (SOURCE). Basically, it means "I release Geoffrey Chaucer from all measures relating to my raptus or other causes" (SOURCE) Besides the depth itself, a microscopic amount is known of the accusations made by...... middle of paper ...... ministry of champagne. , which at the time represented more than half of Chaucer's annual income. Additionally, Pearsel describes how some evidence was presented which shows that Chaucer was in fact trying to raise money at the time of his release on 28 November 1380. After receiving his half-yearly payments on two debts, he also paid £14 in fees for the trip to Lombardy in 1378 and then on 6 March he received £22 compensation for his trip to France in 1377. In the years following the liberation, Chaucer sold his father's house on 18 June 1381. While acknowledging that some of these financial events could have been purely coincidental, the person states that the totality of the evidence probably indicates that Chaucer was facing increasing debts, mainly that of Grove who could have made the initial payment of 10, along with other departments . Be done to Cecily.