Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer | |
|---|---|
Manuscript portrait by Thomas Hoccleve, 1412 | |
| Born | c. 1343 London, England |
| Died | 25 October 1400 (aged 56–57) London, England |
| Resting place | Westminster Abbey, London, England |
| Other names |
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| Occupations |
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| Era | Plantagenet |
| Spouse |
Philippa Roet (m. 1366) |
| Children | 4, including Thomas |
| Writing career | |
| Language | Middle English |
| Period | Middle English literature |
| Genres |
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| Literary movement | Precursor to the English Renaissance |
| Years active | from 1368 |
| Notable works | The Canterbury Tales |
| Signature | |
Geoffrey Chaucer (/ˈdʒɛfri/ /ˈtʃɔːsər/; JEF-ree CHAW-sər; c. 1343 – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, writer and civil servant best known for The Canterbury Tales.[1] He has been called the 'father of English literature', or alternatively, the 'father of English poetry'.[2] He was the first writer to be buried in what has since become Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey.[3]
Chaucer also gained fame as a philosopher and astronomer, composing the scientific A Treatise on the Astrolabe for his ten-year-old son, Lewis. He maintained a career in public service as a bureaucrat, courtier, diplomat and member of the Parliament of England, having been elected as shire knight for Kent.
Amongst his other works are The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, The Legend of Good Women, Troilus and Criseyde, and Parlement of Foules. A prolific writer, Chaucer has been seen as crucial in legitimising the literary use of Middle English at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were still Anglo-Norman French and Latin.[4] His contemporary Thomas Hoccleve hailed him as "the firste fyndere of our fair langage" (i.e., the first one capable of finding poetic matter in English).[5][6] Almost two thousand English words are first attested in Chaucerian manuscripts.[7]
- ^ "Geoffrey Chaucer in Context". Cambridge University Press. 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
- ^ "Chaucer". Cambridge University Press. 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
- ^ Robert DeMaria, Jr., Heesok Chang, Samantha Zacher, eds, A Companion to British Literature, Volume 2: Early Modern Literature, 1450–1660, John Wiley & Sons, 2013, p. 41.
- ^ Butterfield, Ardis. "Chaucer and the idea of Englishness". History Extra. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
The extraordinary dominance of English now as a world language has made it hard to appreciate that its status in the medieval period was very low. Not only was English just one of three languages used in England before the 15th century, it was not the major one. Although it was, of course, the most widely used spoken language, English fell far short of Latin and French as a written language. [Chaucer's] decision to write exclusively in English was indeed unusual [...] He made English successful because he made it urban and international.
- ^ Simpson, James (27 April 2023). "Literary Traditions – Continuity and Change". The Oxford History of Poetry in English: Volume 3. Medieval Poetry: 1400–1500. Oxford University Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-19-883968-2.
- ^ Lerer, Seth (1 January 2006). The Yale Companion to Chaucer. Yale University Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-300-12597-9.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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