Before William Shakespeare, Geoffrey Chaucer was the preeminent English poet, and he remains in the top tier of the English canon. He also was the most significant poet to write in Middle English. Chaucer was born in the early 1340s to a fairly rich though not aristocratic family. His fathe...
(a clerk, a wife, the poet himself) The knight • An excellent man: truth, courtesy , openhandedness, prowess, • Fighting in A, A and E • Plain dress Chaucer’s ideal of a national champion The squire • 20-year-old, moderate height, curled hair, embroidered flowers, short ...
from Speght to Furnivall, have laboured so zealously and successfully as the life of Chaucer. The secret of their success has been that Chaucer was more actively engaged in public affairs than any poet of celebrity since his time, and has consequently left many traces in official records...