Chaucer
Chaucer's tomb in Westminster Abbey
Geoffrey Chaucer was born about 1343 AD, probably in London, England, during the Hundred Years' War. His father seems to have been pretty well off; he sold wine to bars and taverns. Chaucer's mother was also well off; she inherited twenty-four shops in London from her uncle. The plague struck England when Chaucer was about five years old, but he and his family seem to have survived.
When Chaucer (CHAW-sir) was about fourteen, he left home and became a page (a sort of servant) in the house of a rich lady, the Countess of Ulster. This was pretty normal in the Middle Ages as a way for teenagers to meet other teenagers and be looked after without fighting with their parents. It was kind of like going to boarding school is for us.
When he grew up, Chaucer worked in the government, helping out various different rich men and kings. For a while he was in the English army. He travelled to Italy many times on government business, where he met Petrarch and apparently became familiar with Italian poetry and stories.
Even though Chaucer had a busy life working for the King as a customs official and various other jobs, he found time to write a lot of stories too. The first thing he wrote that we know about is the Book of the Duchess, which he wrote when he was about thirty years old. But the most famous stories Chaucer wrote are the Canterbury Tales.
The idea of the Canterbury Tales is that a group of
people are traveling together to Canterbury on a pilgrimage to pray
at the shrine of St. Thomas
a Becket. In the 1300's this was a common way for people to travel
and improve the state of their soul at the same time. Chaucer begins
by telling us,
"When April comes with its sweet showers...then people long to go on
pilgrimages"
These people, as they ride their horses
along the road on their pilgrimage, naturally get to talking, and they agree that to pass
the time they will each tell a story. There are 24 stories altogether.
To find out what some of these stories are about, click on the title:
When Chaucer died, probably in 1400 AD, he was about 57 years old. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.
To find out more about Chaucer, check out these books from your local library or from Amazon:
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, rewritten by Marcia Williams (2007). For kids, nine of Chaucer's tales retold, including some of the funny ones. Edited to be appropriate for kids, with funny pictures.
The Canterbury Tales: In Modern English , by Geoffrey Chaucer, translated by Neville Coghill (2000). The complete text, translated into modern English. Some stories may not be appropriate for kids.
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