Geoffrey Chaucer

The Mahalo Top 7

Harvard: The Geoffrey Chaucer Website
Luminarium: Geoffrey Chaucer
geoffreychaucer.org: An Annotated Guide to Online Resources
Washington University in St. Louis: The New Chaucer Society
University of North Carolina: The Chaucer Metapage
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee: The Classic Text: Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer Online: The Electronic Canterbury Tales

Geoffrey Chaucer Online Resources

Teacher’s Resources

SparkNotes: The Canterbury Tales Study Guide
Web English Teacher: Geoffrey Chaucer Lesson Plans
Lit Plans: Geoffrey Chaucer
EDSITEment: Lesson Plans for Chaucer’s Wife of Bath
Purdue Univeristy: Chaucer Teaching Resources

Fun with Chaucer and Middle English

Guardian Unlimited: "Dumbledore’s Death in the Style of Geoffrey Chaucer" (2005)
Blog: Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog
University of Maine at Machias: A Basic Chaucer Glossary
Harvard: The English Language in the Fourteenth Century

Chaucer's Literature Online

Canterburytales.org: Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
Harvard: The Canterbury Tales
Librarius: The Canterbury Tales and other works
The Online Medieval & Classical Library: The Parliament of the Fowles
Brooklyn College: Troilus and Criseyde
University of Calgary: Book of the Duchess Reading Edition

Geoffrey Chaucer Literary Criticism and Profiles

Luminarium: Essays and Articles on Chaucer
geoffreychaucer.org: Essays and Criticism
eNotes: Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale Criticism
Gode Cookery: Pilgrims Passing To and Fro
Pathguy.com: "Enjoying The Knight’s Tale" (2005)

Geoffrey Chaucer Background and Biographies

New Advent: Geoffrey Chaucer Biography
Wikipedia: Geoffrey Chaucer
Carson Newman College: Chaucer Biography and Timeline
LitWeb: Geoffrey Chaucer Biography and List of Works
Humanities Web: Beginning with Chaucer (Biography)

Geoffrey Chaucer Books and Merchandise

Amazon.com: Geoffrey Chaucer Merchandise
AllPosters.com: Geoffrey Chaucer Posters and Prints
eBay: Geoffrey Chaucer Merchandise
Barnes & Noble: Geoffrey Chaucer Books
Powells.com: Geoffrey Chaucer Books

Geoffrey Chaucer Photos

Google Image Search: Geoffrey Chaucer
University of Maine: Chaucer Gallery
Washington State University: Images of Canterbury
Poet's Graves: Images of Geoffrey Chaucer's Tomb
Yahoo! Image Search: Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer Videos

AOL Television: Canterbury Tales Video
Google & YouTube Video: Geoffrey Chaucer Search
YouTube: Dr. Enelow Raps the Canterbury Tales (Time 00:53)
YouTube: Chaucer: A Dream, a Myth, a Legend
Google Video: Canterbury Tales Recitement in Middle English (Time 03:39)

Geoffrey Chaucer News

Google News Search: Geoffrey Chaucer
Digg News Search: Geoffrey Chaucer
BBC News: "Chaucer’s Tales Become Rap Songs" (2005)
Literature Film Quarterly: "A 'Cinema of Poetry': What Pasolini Did to Chaucer..." (2002)

Geoffrey Chaucer Timeline

c. 1343: Born
1357: Worked as Page for Elizabeth de Burgh
1359: Travelled with English Army During Hundred Years' War
1360: Captured by the French and Ransomed for 16 Pounds
1366: Marries Philippa Roet, Death of his Father
1367: Begins Translating Romaunt of the Rose
1368: Book of the Duchess in Memory of the Duchess of Lancaster
1378: Begins The House of Fame, which would later become The Knight's Tale, a story in The Canterbury Tales
1380: Parliament of the Fowles
1381-85: Boece and Troilus and Criseyde
1386: Legend of Good Women
1387: Chaucer's Wife Dies, begins The Canterbury Tales
1391: Treatise of the Astrolabe
1392-95: Writes most of The Canterbury Tales
1396: Adds The Nun's Priest's Tale, The Canon's Yeoman's Tale and The Parson's Tale to The Canterbury Tales
1400: The Complaint of Chaucer to His Purse
October 25, 1400: Died

Geoffrey Chaucer Film Adaptations

The majority of the links in this timeline are to IMDb, which has pop-ups

1954: BBC Sunday Night Theatre: Troilus and Cressida
1956: Warner Brothers Presents: The Deadly Riddle
1966: Troilus and Cressida
1972: Racconti di Canterbury I
1978: The Last Waltz
1981: Troilus & Cressida
1985: Ribald Tales of Canterbury
1998-2000: The Canterbury Tales
2003: The Canterbury Tales

Life in Geoffrey Chaucer’s England

Sacred Sites: Pilgrimage in Medieval Europe
The ORB: Medieval English Towns
Annenberg Media: Exhibits Collection: The Middle Ages
Harvard: The Geoffrey Chaucer Page: Life and Manners
Medieval-life.net: Black Death
Internet Medieval Sourcebook: The “Calamitous” 14th Century
University of Maryland: The Code of Chivalry
Lollardsociety.org: The Lollard Society

Related Searches

The Canterbury Tales | John of Gaunt | Edward III | The Black Prince | Katherine Swynford | Paul Bettany | Dante Alighieri | The Middle Ages | Pilgrimage | Lollards | John Wycliffe | The Black Plague | The Hundred Years War | Parliament of the Fowles | William Shakespeare

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Guide Note

Geoffrey Chaucer was a 14th century English nobleman who, among many more stately occupations, was a celebrated poet and playwright. Although he wrote many poems and plays, he has been called the father of English Literature for his work on The Canterbury Tales.

Fast Facts

Born: Between 1340-1345
Died: October 5, 1400
Birthplace: London, England
Literary Genre: Poetry, Playwrighting
Married to: Philippa Roet
Brother-in-law of John of Gaunt
His surname, "Chaucer" is derived from "chausseur," French for "shoemaker"
Worked as a soldier, squire, diplomat, controller of customs, a justice of the peace, member of Parliament, clerk, forest official, philosopher, poet and author
Portrayed by Paul Bettany in A Knight’s Tale

Career

Though born into a middle-class merchant family, Chaucer was introduced into courtly life at a young age when he became a page for a noblewoman. He went on to travel with Lionel of Antwerp, First Duke of Clarence, during the England's invasion of France during the Hundred Years' War. When he was captured, King Edward III contributed to the ransom that freed Chaucer.

Afterwards he would hold many governmental jobs, including soldier, squire, diplomat, customs controller, justice of the peace, Parliament member, clerk, and forest official.

Notable Works

Classing It Up for the English Language

He is honored as the "Father of English Literature" not only because of the stylistic achievements of The Canterbury Tales, but chiefly because he wrote the poem in the native Middle English tongue. Until that point, the overwhelming majority of literature, primarily poetry and romances, was written in French. By writing a legitimate masterpiece in English, Chaucer brought artistic legitimacy to the entire English nation.

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