Geoffrey Chaucer

Rachel Potter, 11/14/07

Chaucer was born in 1340 in England. It has often been said he was the greatest author of the Middle Ages. He was supposed to be the first major poet to write in Middle English. His most famous piece is "Canterbury Tales", a story of a group of pilgrims each telling his own story. One character was based on himself. The poem, "Troilus and Criseyde", is also well known. Not only a poet, Chaucer was a diplomat and even rose to Parliament in 1386. He was a friend of the nobleman John Gaunt and wrote about his wife after she died, "The Book of the Duchess". Chaucer died in 1400 at 60 years of age, no longer rich or in Parliament, but happy, for he was among the common people--the people he had written for.