Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer was born circa 1343 in London into a prosperous vintner family. Serving as a court page, soldier, diplomat, and Comptroller of the Customs of the Port of London, Chaucer’s civil service under King Edward III and King Richard II took him across France, Spain, and Italy. In Italy, his exposure to the Renaissance masterpieces of Dante Alighieri, Giovanni Boccaccio, and Petrarch profoundly revolutionized his literary vision.

Chaucer's decisive historical breakthrough was his deliberate decision to write high literature in Middle English rather than Anglo-Norman French or ecclesiastical Latin. In works like 'The Book of the Duchess' (1368), 'The House of Fame', and the supreme courtly romance 'Troilus and Criseyde' (c. 1385), he introduced iambic pentameter and the rhyming couplet to English verse.

Between 1387 and 1400, Chaucer composed his magnum opus, 'The Canterbury Tales'. Featuring a diverse cross-section of medieval society—from the noble Knight and the Miller to the irrepressible Wife of Bath and the corrupt Pardoner—journeying together on a pilgrimage to Canterbury, Chaucer captured human nature with unmatched psychological realism, subversive wit, and ribald comedy. Chaucer passed away on October 25, 1400, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, inaugurating the world-famous 'Poets' Corner'.