GEOFFREY CHAUCER

 

See Also: FOREIGN RELATIONS Sir John Hawkwood; INNS & TAVERNS The George Inn; ITALIANS The Lombards; LANGUAGE & SLANG The Canterbury Tales; LANGUAGE & SLANG Parliamentary Languages; LITERATURE; NAUTICAL The Custom House; A STIRRING TALE; WESTMINSTER ABBEY MEMORIALS & GRAVES Poet's Corner

Geoffrey Chaucer was born into a family of vintners that had connections to the royal court. As a young man he served the Crown as a soldier, a diplomat, and an official. It is possible that Chaucer may have learned to speak Italian from Italian merchants who were resident in London. In 1371-2 he made his first journey to Italy of which there is evidence. The mission may have involved him conducting negotiations with the Bardis, who were a family of Florentine bankers. It is possible that the trip provided him with his initial exposure to the poetry of Dante and Petrarch. The writer's output was to be informed by his appreciation of their work.

In 1374 Chaucer moved into a dwelling that was part of the structure of Aldgate gate. Four years later he was appointed as the Comptroller of the Port of London. He was required to oversee the charging of customs on consignments of wool, leather, and skins that were being exported. He continued to perform diplomatic missions for the Crown. The same year he made another trip to Italy. Among those whom he had dealings with there was the Essex-born condottiere Sir John Hawkwood. It was after this journey that the writer's poetry began to display signs of its author having been exposed to Boccaccio's work; Boccachio's characters were from a narrow privileged social spectrum, whereas Chaucer's were from a broader one. By 1387 Chaucer had resigned from his Port of London position and had stopped living at Aldgate. In 1389 he was appointed as the Clerk of the King's Works. This involved him supervising the infrastructure of numerous royal buildings as well as having oversight of a number of parks. A couple of years later the post was bestowed upon someone else.

Chaucer s compositions reflect a familiarity with contemporary English songs. The author also had a knowledge of the poetry that was being written at the French court and took a number of his themes from it. He was a friend of John Gower, an Englishman who wrote poetry in three languages. His work was more influenced by Italian vernacular poetry than was that of any of his contemporaries. His poems mark the literary birth of the English language.1 His output was indicative of how the language of the court (which since 1066 had been Norman French) and the demotic language (Old English) were merging to become a new, single entity.

Chaucer s reputation was cemented by Caxton and the first printers publishing his works.

King Henry VIII banned pilgrimage in 1538.

Location: The Tabard Inn, Talbot Yard, SE1 1YP. The inn was where the Canterbury Tales pilgrims were supposed to have set out from for Canterbury.

1. The modern reader may not automatically think so from reading his work. For many, it is about as comprehensible as Dutch is to a non-Dutch speaker.

 

Manuscript

What is regarded as being the primary text for the The Canterbury Tales is held in the National Library of Wales at Aberystwyth.

Website: www.library.wales/discover/digital-gallery/manuscripts/the-middle-ages/the-hengwt-chaucer

David Backhouse 2024