James Baquet

    If you know anything about English literature, you’ve probably heard of Geoffrey Chaucer (about 1343-1400), who has been called the “father of English literature.” He was the greatest writer of the Middle Ages in England, and at his death in 1400 was the first to be buried in what is now known as “Poets’ Corner,” a place of honor in Westminster Abbey for writers and other contributors to British culture. Chaucer was placed there for achievements in his “day job,” but later authors and artists were gathered round him for his reputation as a poet.

    Like many educated men of his day, Chaucer was something of a (pre-) “Renaissance man,” writing not only poetry, but also scientific and philosophical treatises. He was also a public servant who worked as a bureaucrat and a diplomat. He was captured in France in 1360, during the Hundred Years’ War, and Edward III had to pay a ransom to get him back! This same king granted him, in 1374, “a gallon of wine daily for the rest of his life,” perhaps in recognition of his skills as a poet.

    But it is perhaps for his “Canterbury Tales” that he is best remembered. It is the masterpiece of Middle English, published in the vernacular in a time when most literature was published in Latin (the lingua franca of its day) or French (the language of the ruling aristocracy). This work is not only a versatile piece of writing incorporating romance, satire, fable, comedy, and religious allegory, it also provides a window into life in the late Middle Ages, portraying the lives of various members of society from different social classes.

    The book was quite popular in its day. Although the original does not survive, there are 83 known manuscripts of the work from the decades after it was written. This is more than almost any other work in English, and is an indicator of its popularity. It saw print in 1478. Only 10 copies of the first printing remain, and one of these sold at auction in 1998 for 4.6 million pounds (US$7.5 million at the time).

    Vocabulary:

    Which word above means:

    1. language used between speakers of other languages

    2. adapted to many different styles

    3. perfect example of something

    4. language of the everyday people

    5. acknowledging an achievement

    6. the upper classes

    7. the period between the Classical and Renaissance times

    8. handwritten copies

    9. person working for a government agency

    10. people who improve something