There is not a great deal of biographical information about Geoffrey Chaucer. The exact date of his birth (about 1340) is not known. Many of his writings have not survived and the chronology of the what do have is not certain. It is as the author The Canterbury Tales that Chaucer is best known. It follows a typical contemporary pilgrimage as the framework for a collection of stories about a group of thirty people who are travelling as pilgrims to Canterbury in England. They come from many levels of society and they tell each other stories to help pass time on their journey.
On the shelves
Collection highlights
For information about the period of time the Geoffrey Chaucer lived you could refer to the following books:
- Allen, V., The Age of Chaucer, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
- Black, M, 'Chaucer's company', in The Medieval cookbook, London : British Museum Press, 1996, pp. 34-50.
Study notes
- Cookson, L, Loughrey, B., edts., Critical essays on The General Prologue to Canterbury Tales, Burnt Mill, Harlow, Essex: Longman, 1989.
- Elliot, R.W.V., Chaucer's prologue to the Canterbury Tales, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1967.
Reference resources - subject encyclopedia
- The Oxford Companion to English Literature - Entry for Geoffrey Chaucer