'Trigger warning' placed on Chaucer's works by the University of Nottingham upsets Christians

It warns of 'incidences of violence, mental illness and expressions of Christian faith' in other medieval texts also

A Christian organisation has criticised a "trigger warning" which the University of Nottingham has put on famous medieval works in English Literature such as Chaucer, William Langland, John Gower, and Thomas Hoccleve. A Freedom of Information request made by the Mail on Sunday revealed the warning is placed on a module entitled Chaucer and his Contemporaries.

It warns of "incidences of violence, mental illness and expressions of Christian faith in the works, leading Christian Concern to remark that "without an understanding of the Christian faith there will be no way for students to access the world of Chaucer and his contemporaries. It’s ludicrous to issue such trigger warnings".

It is the "expressions of Christian faith" which have upset Christian Concern and its chief executive Andrea Williams said: "The Bible is foundational to understanding the history of English literature.

"From what point in history are we going to censor literary texts given most are steeped in a Christian worldview? Trigger warnings for Christian themes in literature are demeaning to the Christian faith and stifle the academic progress of our students.

"To censor expressions of the Christian faith is to erase our literary heritage. True education engages and fosters understanding, not avoidance. Our universities should allow students who have chosen to study some of the greatest works in English literature, the freedom of academic thought to make up their own minds rather than planting loaded warnings about the Christian faith."

Other texts on the university's module, which are covered by the warning include, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a renowned poem full of Christian themes and beliefs such as mercy, forgiveness and escaping sin.

Another author on the reading list, William Langland, writes about "rich ecclesiastical politics" and "Christian virtue" in the classic poem "Piers Plowman".

Responding to the Mail on Sunday Story, a university spokesman said it "champions diversity", adding: "Even those who are practising Christians will find aspects of the late-medieval worldview... alienating and strange."

Nottinghamshire Live has asked the University of Nottingham for a further comment on the reaction to its warning.