General Notes

One of the greatest English poets, whose masterpiece, The C
anterbury Tales, was one of the most important influences o
n the development of English literature. His life is know
n primarily through records pertaining to his career as a c
ourtier and civil servant under the English kings Edward II
I and Richard II.
The son of a prosperous London wine merchant, Chaucer may h
ave attended the Latin grammar school of Saint Paul's Cathe
dral and may have studied law at the Inns of Court.
In 1357 he was page to the countess of Ulster, Elizabeth, t
he wife of Prince Lionel, third son of Edward III; there, h
e would have learned the ways of the court and the use of a
rms. By 1367 Chaucer was an esquire to Edward. About 1366 h
e married Philippa de Roet, a lady-in-waiting to the quee
n and afterward in the service of John of Gaunt, who was Du
ke of Lancaster and Edward's fourth son. (Philippa's sister
, Catherine de Roet Swynford, was Gaunt's mistress; he late
r married her and their children were legitimized by roya
l decree.)
Chaucer served as controller of customs for London from 137
4 to 1386 and clerk of the king's works from 1389 to 1391
, in which post he was responsible for maintenance of roya
l buildings and parks. About 1386 Chaucer moved from Londo
n to a country residence (probably Greenwich), where in 138
6 he was justice of the peace and representative to Parliam
ent. He traveled on several diplomatic missions to France
, one to Spain in 1366, and two to Italy from 1372 to 137
3 and in 1378. In the last year of his life, Chaucer lease
d a house within the precincts of Westminster Abbey. Afte
r his death, he was buried in the Abbey (an honor for a com
moner), in what has since become the Poets' Corner.
(Research):Geoffrey Chaucer was the son of a London wine me
rchant. He became a page of Lionel Plantagenet (son of Edwa
rd III) and his wife Elizabeth de Burgh before 1357. In ear
ly 1360's he studied at Chancery Inn, the Inns of Court an
d at Oxford. In 1366 he married Philippa de Roet (sister o
f John of Gaunt's mistress and third wife Katherine). By 13
67, Chaucer was a valet in Edward III's household and in 13
68 he was graduated to Armiger (squire). He maintained hi
s close relationship with the English court (especially wit
h his brother-in-law John of Gaunt) for the rest of his lif
e. He is noted in literature as the first Author who publis
hed a book of tales in English "The Canterbury Tales". (Pri
or works were in Latin or French).
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Of the date of the birth of Geoffrey Chaucer we have no dir
ect knowledge. But indirect evidence of various kinds fixe
s it between 1328, when his father, John Chaucer, was stil
l unmarried, and 1346, before which date his own statement
, at the Scroope-Grosvenor suit in 1386, of his age as "for
ty years or more" would place it. Within this rather wide r
ange, selection has, further, to be guided by certain fact
s to be mentioned presently; and, for some time past, opini
on has generally adopted, in face of some difficulties, th
e date about 1340.