Known as one of the most influential

and important author in English

Literature, Chaucer was born in
London, probably, in 1342. It is likely
that young Chaucer attended school at
St. Paul's Cathedral, and there he was
introduced to great writing such as the
poetry of Virgil (7019 B.C.E. ) and
Ovid
(43
B.C.E.
?).
In 1357 he became a public servant to
Countess Elizabeth of Ulster and
continued in that capacity with the
British court throughout his lifetime.

Chaucer 1342-1400

 Chaucer was sent for

his early schooling to
St. Pauls Almonry.
From there he went
on to be a page in
the household of
Countess of Ulster,
later
Duchess
of
Clarence,
wife
of
Lionel, the third son
of Edward III
( COGHILL, P. X)
King Edward III (1327-1377)

According to Coghill, Chaucer

would have there, at St.
Pauls Almonry, acquired the
finest education in good
manners, a matter of great
importance not only to his
career as courtier, but also
as a poet. Probably, in this
context,
Chaucer
learnt
Latin, an important language
in the construction of his
works.
Chaucer
studied
contemporary sciences as:
astronomy,
medicine,
psychology,
physics
and
alchemy.

Portrait of Chaucer

From a historical
perspective two
important event
developed within
Chaucers
lifetime:
The
Black Death and
The
Hundred
Years war.

The Black Death

The Black Death:

Black plague reached

England and wiped out
1/3 of population (2.25
million to 3.75 million)
The sudden collapse of
population sent the price
of labor skyrocketing
while decreasing the
price of land.

The Black Death

According to Coghill ,in

1359, Chaucer was sent, as
a soldier in the egg, one of
those intermittent forays into
France that made up so
large part of the Hundred
Years war. He was taken as
prisoner and saved only with
the contribution of Edward
III.
Chaucer

It is believed that
Chaucer began to write
his first works when he
returned
from
his
captive
in
France,
however, it is not a
concrete fact.
The Elegance of French poetry
and thrilling doctrines of Amour
Courtois seem to have gone to
his impressionable, amorous,
and poetical heart (Coghill, p.
12)

Courtly Love

Chaucer wrote many poems in a

literary concept, best known, in
medieval times, called courtly love
According to the Encyclopedia
Britannica, the courtly love could be
describe as:
a highly conventionalized code that
prescribed the behaviour of ladies and
their lovers. It also provided the theme
of an extensive courtly medieval
literature
that
began
with
the
troubadour poetry of Aquitaine and
Provence in southern France toward the
end of the 11th century (online version
of Encyclopedia Britannica)

The courtly love is important

through The Canterbury Tales, such
as: Kings Tale, Wife of Baths
Prologue, etc.

courtly love

Acoording to Andreas Copellanus, in de Amore, as adapted in Ann

Haskells A Middle English Anthology, the courtly love is:
1. Marriage should not be a deterrent to love.
2. Love cannot exist in the individual who cannot be jealous.
3. A double love cannot obligate an individual.
4. Love constantly waxes and wanes.
5. That which is not given freely by the object of one's love loses its
savor.
6. It is necessary for a male to reach the age of maturity in order to love.
7. A lover must observe a two-year widowhood after his beloved's death.
8. Only the most urgent circumstances should deprive one of love.
9. Only the insistence of love can motivate one to love.
10. Love cannot coexist with avarice.
[]

Chaucer was sent abroad on

diplomatic missions in 1370 and
again in 13721373. The latter
mission took him to Florence and
Genoa, Italy. There he may have
deepened his acquaintance with
the poetic traditions established by
Dante (12651321) and Petrarch
(13041374). All these authors
influenced Chaucer in some way in
his works, after his diplomatic
work, according to Coghill.

Boccaccio

Chaucer died in 1400,

he was the first
author
burried
at
Abadia
of
Westminster.

Tomb of Chaucer.

Chaucer Works written between 1369 e 1368:

The Book of the Duchess
Anelida and Arcite
The House of Fame
Parlement of Foules
The Legend of Good Women
Troilus and Criseyde
The Canterbury Tales

Chaucer

Between 1386 or
1387,
Chaucer
probably
wrote
the
Canturbery
Tales:
there are some 84 (...)
early printed editions
by Caxtaon, Pynson,
Wynkyn de Worde and
Tynne (p. VXI)

The road to the Canterbury

The Canterbury Tales:

Detail
illustrating
the
characters in the Canterbury
Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, on
the east wall of the North
Reading Room in the John
Adams Building, Library of
Congress

The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories that all fit within one
single narrative;
While the tales themselves are narrated by different character a
scribe writes them down
Chaucer presents many types of literary work : romance, fabliaux,
saint story, parable, dialectical, lays, sermon.

The Tales these pilgrims tell come from all over

Europe, many of them from the works of
Chaucers near contemporary. Some come from
further a field, from the ancients from the Orient.
They exemplify the whole range of contemporary
European imagination, then particularly addicted
to stories especcially to stories that had some
sharp point and deducible maxim, moral or idea.
Almost every tale ends with a piece of proverbial
of other wisdom derived from it and with great
benediction on the company (Coghill, p. VII)

The Canterbury Tales: Structure

and Themes:
A prologue precedes each
characters tale;
The prologue introduces the
character personally;
The tale reveals the
characters chosen subject
and treatment of that subject;
Major themes include morality
and genuine vs. false
piligrimage

Some Characters

Some pilgrims could be

highlighted:
THE MONK:
* Most of the monks of the
Middle Ages devoted their lives
to work and prayer
* This monk cares littler for the
Rule
* His devotion is to hunting and
eating
* He is large has a shiny face and
a shiny bald head, along with
bulging, darting eyes
* He is loud and well clad in
hunting boots.

The Monk

THE WIFE OF BATH:

* She is a seamstress by occupation;
* She has beem married five time and
had many other affairs in her youth,
making her well practiced in the art
of love;
* She takes pleasure in rich attire,
talking and arguing.
* She is deaf in one ear and has a
gap between her front teeth, wich
was
considered
attactive
in
Chaucers time

Wife of Bath

THE MERCADANT:
* He is arrogant and give his
opinion on English trade
policies in a pompous
manner;
* He has a forked beard and is
well dressed with
fashionable motley colored
clothes, stylish Flemish
beaver hat and expensive
boots
* He is a representative of
middle classes.

The Mercadant

The significance of The Canterbury Tales:

Accurate depiction of life in the middle ages
(class, levels, interactions, between the
classes);
First story about lower classes (mix of
classes);
Satire and humor for social, political and
religious commentary;
The Canterbury Tales, point out problems
with society