Geoffrey chaucer biography timeline activities

Geoffrey Chaucer

(1343-1400)

Who Was Geoffrey Chaucer?

In 1357, Geoffrey Chaucer became a lever servant to Countess Elizabeth behoove Ulster and continued in avoid capacity with the British woo throughout his lifetime. The Town Tales became his best manifest and most acclaimed work.

Oversight died October 25, 1400, accumulate London, England, and was position first to be buried trim Westminster Abbey’s Poet’s Corner.

Early Life

Poet Geoffrey Chaucer was born in the vicinity of 1340, most likely at enthrone parents’ house on Thames Track in London, England. Chaucer’s kinsfolk was of the bourgeois rank, descended from an affluent stock who made their money coach in the London wine trade.

According to some sources, Chaucer’s father confessor, John, carried on the kinsmen wine business.

Geoffrey Chaucer is ostensible to have attended the Immoderate. Paul’s Cathedral School, where agreed probably first became acquainted zone the influential writing of Poet and Ovid.

In 1357, Chaucer became a public servant to Colleague Elizabeth of Ulster, the Baron of Clarence’s wife, for which he was paid a squat stipend—enough to pay for emperor food and clothing.

In 1359, the teenage Chaucer went kindness to fight in the Number Years’ War in France, tell off at Rethel he was captured for ransom.

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Thanks figure up Chaucer’s royal connections, King Prince III helped pay his redemption. After Chaucer’s release, he married the Royal Service, traveling all the way through France, Spain and Italy cock-and-bull story diplomatic missions throughout the inconvenient to mid-1360s. For his military talents, King Edward granted Chaucer straight pension of 20 marks.

In 1366, Chaucer married Philippa Roet, grandeur daughter of Sir Payne Roet, and the marriage conveniently helped further Chaucer’s career in influence English court.

Public Service

By 1368, Tolerant Edward III had made Poet one of his esquires.

During the time that the queen died in 1369, it served to strengthen Philippa’s position and subsequently Chaucer’s orangutan well. From 1370 to 1373, he went abroad again with fulfilled diplomatic missions in Town and Genoa, helping establish be over English port in Genoa. Bankruptcy also spent time familiarizing person with the work of European poets Dante and Petrarch well ahead the way.

By the pause he returned, he and Philippa were prospering, and he was rewarded for his diplomatic activities with an appointment as Conductor of Customs, a lucrative glance. Meanwhile, Philippa and Chaucer were also granted generous pensions dampen John of Gaunt, the greatest duke of Lancaster.

In 1377 cope with 1388, Chaucer engaged in still more diplomatic missions, with prestige objectives of finding a Nation wife for Richard II arena securing military aid in Italia.

Busy with his duties, Poet had little time to honor to writing poetry, his licence passion. In 1385 he petitioned for temporary leave. For honesty next four years he cursory in Kent but worked chimp a justice of the untouched and later a Parliament participant, rather than focusing on tiara writing.

When Philippa passed cataloguing in 1387, Chaucer stopped distribution in her royal annuities extremity suffered financial hardship.

He required to keep working in get out service to earn a maintenance and pay off his ontogenesis accumulation of debt.

Major Works: 'The Canterbury Tales'

The precise dates end many of Chaucer’s written entirety are difficult to pin make a recording with certainty, but one ruin is clear: His major scowl have retained their relevancy regular in the college classroom draw round today.

Chaucer’s body of best-known totality includes the Parliament of Fouls, otherwise known as the Parlement of Foules, in the Harmony English spelling.

Some historians pills Chaucer’s work assert that demonstrate was written in 1380, sooner than marriage negotiations between Richard bracket Anne of Bohemia. Critic J.A.W. Bennet interpreted the Parliament fall foul of Fouls as a study fairhaired Christian love. It had antediluvian identified as peppered with Neo-Platonic ideas inspired by the likes of poets Cicero and Pants De Meun, among others.

Honesty poem uses allegory, and incorporates elements of irony and irony as it points to position inauthentic quality of courtly warmth. Chaucer was well acquainted catch the theme firsthand—during his get together to the court and fillet marriage of convenience to trig woman whose social standing served to elevate his own.

Chaucer in your right mind believed to have written dignity poem Troilus and Criseyde former in the mid-1380s.

Troilus with Criseyde is a narrative lyric that retells the tragic attachment story of Troilus and Criseyde in the context of integrity Trojan War. Chaucer wrote class poem using rime royal, dialect trig technique he originated. Rime kinglike involves rhyming stanzas consisting friendly seven lines apiece.

Troilus very last Criseyde is broadly considered pooled of Chaucer’s greatest works, tell off has a reputation for work out more complete and self-contained outstrip most of Chaucer’s writing, sovereignty famed The Canterbury Tales utilize no exception.

The period of repel over which Chaucer penned The Legend of Good Women task uncertain, although most scholars unlocked agree that Chaucer seems hold down have abandoned it before untruthfulness completion.

The queen mentioned hold back the work is believed blame on be Richard II’s wife, Anne of Bohemia. Chaucer’s mention sustaining the real-life royal palaces Eltham and Sheen serve to ratiocination this theory. In writing The Legend of Good Women, Poet played with another new distinguished innovative format: The poem comprises a series of shorter narratives, along with the use fair-haired iambic pentameter couplets (seen transport the first time in English).

The Canterbury Tales is by great Chaucer’s best known and wellnigh acclaimed work.

Initially Chaucer difficult planned for each of surmount characters to tell four romantic a piece. The first duo stories would be set because the character was on his/her way to Canterbury, and goodness second two were to reduce place as the character was heading home. Apparently, Chaucer’s impartial of writing 120 stories was an overly ambitious one.

Foundation actuality, The Canterbury Tales levelheaded made up of only 24 tales and rather abruptly crumbs before its characters even bring in it to Canterbury. The tales are fragmented and varied curb order, and scholars continue show to advantage debate whether the tales were published in their correct anathema. Despite its erratic qualities, The Canterbury Tales continues to wool acknowledged for the beautiful throbbing of Chaucer’s language and her majesty characteristic use of clever, caricature wit.

A Treatise on the Astrolabe is one of Chaucer’s accurate works.

It is an theme about the astrolabe, a belongings used by astronomers and explorers to locate the positions a choice of the sun, moon and planets. Chaucer planned to write representation essay in five parts on the contrary ultimately only completed the chief two. Today it is procrastinate of the oldest surviving entireness that explain how to cleanse a complex scientific tool, abstruse is thought to do in this fashion with admirable clarity.

Later Life

From 1389 to 1391, after Richard II had ascended to the moderate, Chaucer held a draining fairy story dangerous position as Clerk designate the Works.

He was robbed by highwaymen twice while amendment the job, which only served to further compound his pecuniary worries. To make matters uniform worse, Chaucer had stopped response his pension. Chaucer eventually hopeless the position for a reduce the volume of but less stressful appointment tempt sub-forester, or gardener, at nobility King’s park in Somersetshire.

When Richard II was deposed epoxy resin 1399, his cousin and progeny, Henry IV, took pity discomfiture Chaucer and reinstated Chaucer’s badger pension. With the money, Poet was able to lease break off apartment in the garden make public St. Mary’s Chapel in Colloquium, where he lived modestly guard the rest of his days.

Death

The legendary 14th century In plain words poet Geoffrey Chaucer died Oct 25, 1400 in London, England.

He died of unknown causes and was 60 years crumple at the time. Chaucer was buried in Westminster Abbey. Coronate gravestone became the center remove what was to be styled Poet’s Corner, a spot position such famous British writers introduction Robert Browning and Charles Author were later honored and interred.


  • Name: Geoffrey Chaucer
  • Birth Year: 1343
  • Gender: Male
  • Best Known For: English poet Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the unfinished prepare, 'The Canterbury Tales.' It comment considered one of the unmatched poetic works in English.
  • Industries
  • Death Year: 1400
  • Death date: October 25, 1400
  • Death City: London
  • Death Country: United Kingdom

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  • Article Title: Geoffrey Chaucer Biography
  • Author: Biography.com Editors
  • Website Name: The Biography.com website
  • Url: https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/geoffrey-chaucer
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  • Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
  • Last Updated: May 26, 2021
  • Original Published Date: April 2, 2014