Chaucer, Geoffrey

Chaucer, Geoffrey
(?1340-1400)
   Little is known about Chaucer's life but that he was the son of a rich London wine merchant and that he was a page in the household of Prince Lionel, later duke of Clarence, for many years. In 1359-60 he was with the army of Edward III in France, where he was captured by the French but ransomed. He married a lady-in-waiting to Philippa of Hainault, Edward III's queen. Between 1370 and 1378, Chaucer was frequently on diplomatic missions to the Continent. From 1374 on he held several official positions, and in 1386 he was knight of the shire for Kent. He was the greatest English poet before Shakespeare and first great poet to be buried in the South Transept of Westminster Abbey in what became known as Poets' Corner. His main works: The Book of the Duchess, 1369. The House of Fame, 1370 (circa). Troilus and Criseyde, 1385 (circa). The Canterbury Tales (post 1387). Some of his other poems: "The Complaint of Chaucer to His Empty Purse," "The Complaint unto Pity," "The Hous of Fame," "The Parlement of Foules," "To Rosamounde," "Womanly Noblesse."
   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition, 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). Poemhunter (www.poemhunter.com). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. The Riverside Chaucer. F.N. Robinson, ed. Houghton Mifflin, 1987. Westminster Abbey Official Guide (no date).

British and Irish poets. A biographical dictionary. . 2015.

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