preview

Who Was Geoffrey Chaucer?

Better Essays

Who was Geoffrey Chaucer? One of the most unique poets of during the Middle Ages was Geoffrey Chaucer. He was born in London sometime between 1340 and 1344. His parents were John Chaucer and Agnes Copton. John Chaucer was an affluent wine merchant and deputy to the king’s butler. Geoffrey held several opportunities early in his life serving as a noblewoman’s page, a courtier, a diplomat, a civil servant, and a collector of scrap metal. He was given theses oppurtunities because of who his father was and the role he played in society. There is not much about his early life. It was proven that he could speak French, Latin, and Italian. Chaucer joined the English Army’s invasion of France in 1359, this was during the Hundred Years war, it was also during the time of te Black Death. After joining the war he was soon taken prisoner; King Edward the third of England paid his ransom in 1360. Six years later in 1366 Chaucer married Philipa de Roe, who was Kind Edward the thirds wife’s maid. It was rumored that they had two sons an a daughter, but was never proven. The king gave Chaucer a life pension in 1367, and began traveling abroad on diplomatic missions. While on his trips to Italy in 1372 and 1378, he discovered the works of Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrach all of these had a huge impact on Chaucer’s own literary work. Chaucer had taken a liking to love poetry of the French tradition, including the Romaunt of the Rose (c. 1370) and Saint Cecilia (c. 1373), later used as the

Get Access