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 Portrait of Chaucer
alchemy.
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 The Black Death
price of land.
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, Courtly Love
and poetical heart (Coghill, p.
12)
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
courtly love
Britannica)
The courtly love is important through
The Canterbury Tales, such as: Kings
Tale, Wife of Baths Prologue, etc.
 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
Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales
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

 Detail illustrating the
characters in the Canterbury
Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, on

The Canterbury Tales: 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 Some Characters
piligrimage
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 The Monk
* He is loud and well clad in
hunting boots.
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
Wife of Bath
Chaucers time
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 The Mercadant
beaver hat and expensive
boots
* He is a representative of
middle classes.
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