Geoffrey

Chaucer
1. Chaucer was named Controller of Customs
on wools, skins, and hides for the port of
London in 1374, and continued in this post for
twelve years
2. Considered the "Father of English
literature," Chaucer wrote in the English
vernacular while court poetry was still being
written in Anglo-Norman or Latin
3. The decasyllabic couplet Chaucer used for
most of the Canterbury Tales later evolved
into the heroic couplet, commonly used for
epic and narrative poetry in English. Chaucer
is also credited with pioneering the regular
use of iambic pentameter.

1. Until less than a year before his death, Chaucer remained Clerk of
Works of the Palace of Westminster
2. In 1367, Chaucer was given a life pension by the king, and began traveling
abroad on diplomatic missions
3. In 1366, Chaucer married Philipa de Roet, who was a lady-in-waiting to
Edward III's wife.
4. Chaucer, his family name is derived from the French word ‘chausseur’
meaning shoemaker.
5. As Chaucer was a public servant his life is well known with five hundred of
his writings as a witness to his remarkable career.
6. He became a courtier, a diplomat and also worked for the King later to
become one of the greatest poets in history.
7. Chaucer was the first poet buried in Westminster Abbey, in the part of
the church, which later came to be known as ‘Poet’s Corner’.

"Troilus and Criseyde"

After The Canterbury Tales (of which more below),
this is Chaucer’s greatest achievement: a long
narrative poem, written in rhyme royal stanzas,
detailing the doomed love affair between the
Trojan prince Troilus and the beautiful woman
Cressida during the Trojan War
"The Knight’s Tale"

This tale kicks off the storytelling competition among the pilgrims. A story of rivalry
(between two Athenians, Palamon and Arcite) and love, its pure, straight-faced nature
prompts the Miller to tell his tale of bawdy high-jinks that follows
"The Canterbury Tales"
To begin exploring the sheer range and scope of Chaucer’s eclectic compilation, begin at the
beginning with his General Prologue, in which he sets the scene a group of pilgrims traveling
from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of St Thomas Becket and introduces his cast of
colorful characters, including a monk, knight, miller, reeve, manciple, prioress, nun’s priest, and,
of course, the Wife of Bath. But of course, The Canterbury Tales is vast, so in the remainder of
this pick of Chaucer’s best works we’ll break down that huge work into five shorter works