ABSTRACT In the article it is suggested that there might exist a relationship between Chaucer's Knight's Tale and his Monk's Tale, the latter of which is often listed among other tales about the "victimized children" (The Clerk's Tale, The Physician's Tale or The Prioress's Tale). The ancient and medieval tradition referring to the subject of Saturn's children has to be analyzed as double: the children can be either the individuals born at the time of the planet's domination, or the societies suffering due to the Age of Saturn they live in. Chaucer must have been familiar with that concept as well as interested in both astrology and astronomy in general. The pair: Kronos-Saturn was a significant constituent of that system. The predicament of Dante's and Chaucer's Count Hugolino and his children, who starved to death in Torre della Fame, might be interpreted in the light of the tradition of the Age of Saturn. The pathos of the tale has its source in the sacrifice of Hugolino's children.
