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Sorted by time period 1000-1599 |
 1000-1599
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Featured author: The known details of Geoffrey Chaucer's life are sketchy at best. He was born in London to vintner John Chaucer sometime between 1340-1344. Around 1387 Chaucer began his master work, The Canterbury Tales. This lengthy poem, which weighs in at an impressive 17,000 lines, was never finished. It tells the tale of a group of pilgrims journeying from London to the shrine of Thomas � Becket at Canterbury. To pass the time on their trip, they tell each other stories. The stories themselves are not always as impressive as is Chaucer's ability to vividly portray a broad cross-section of English society, its foibles, fancies, and attitudes. The Canterbury Tales are by turns bawdy, humorous, and preaching, and the characters come alive. Prior to Chaucer's time (with the notable exception of William Langland's Vision of Piers the Plowman), literary works were written in Latin. Chaucer is rightly remembered as the first major author to popularize the use of English in literature. Geoffrey Chaucer died on October 25, 1400, and was buried at Westminster Abbey. |
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