General Notes

(Research):Father of Geoffrey Chaucer, the poet
John Chaucer himself was a citizen and vinter of London, th
e son of Robert le Chaucer, who, in 1310, was collector o
f the customs on wine, and who had property at Ipswich an
d elsewhere in Suffolk. In 1349, John was certainly marrie
d to an Agnes whose maiden surname is unknown, who survive
d him and, in 1367, married again: therefore, unless she wa
s the vintner’s second wife, she must have been Chaucer’s m
other. The father seems to have had some link of service wi
th the royal household, and the poet was connected with i
t more or less all his days. Probably he was born in Thame
s Street, London, where his father had a house at the tim
e of his death in 1366.
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"Geoffrey Chaucer's father was vintner John Chaucer (b. ab
t 1312; d. 1366), who is known to have been in attendance o
n the Edward III and his queen, Philippa of Hainault, in th
eir 1338 edpedition to Planders and Cologne. . . John Chauc
er was 'married at least twice,' his first wife being 'prob
ably'Joan de Esthalle, according to the DNB. He also marrie
d (late 13330s/bef 1343) Agnes de Cop[ton (d. prob. 1381)
, daughter of John de Copton and niece of Hmo de copton. Th
e date of the marriage of John and Agnes is not known, bu
t Joan was alive in 1331 and Agnes was wife of John Chauce
r in 1349. John Chaucer died in 1366, and, according to th
e DNB, Geoffrey Chaucer's 'widowed mother soon after marrie
d one 'Bartholomew Attechapel,' or Chappel. John Chaucer wa
s a wealthy vintner who rendered military and civilian serv
ices to the king. Silva-Vigier notes that a John Chaucer wa
s an active participant in support of Edward III as he seiz
ed control of power from Roger Mortimer in 1327 and tha
t a John Chaucer was in military service in Flanders in 133
8 with Edward III."
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Geoffrey Chaucer was the son of a London wine merchant. H
e became a page of Lionel Plantagenet (son of Edward III) a
nd his wife Elizabeth de Burgh before 1357. In early 1360'
s he studied at Chancery Inn, the Inns of Court and at Oxfo
rd. In 1366 he married Philippa de Roet (sister of John o
f Gaunt's mistress and third wife Katherine). By 1367, Chau
cer was a valet in Edward III's household and in 1368 he wa
s graduated to Armiger (squire). He maintained his close re
lationship with the English court (especially with his brot
her-in-law John of Gaunt) for the rest of his life. He is n
oted in literature as the first Author who published a boo
k of tales in English "The Canterbury Tales". (Prior work
s 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.