Chaucer,+Geoffrey

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 * __Geoffrey Chaucer __**

Chaucer is considered one of the most influential writers today due to his contribution and development of the English language. Some of his works include //The Book of the Duchess //, //The House of Fame //, and //The Legend of Good Women //. His most famous work, Canterbury Tales, went down in history for being the first book of poetry written in the English language. For that reason, Chaucer has made a great contribution to the modern world. Chaucer became the first poet to be buried in Poet's Corner, a section ofWestminster Abbey where many famous poets and writers were buried.

=Early Life = Geoffrey Chaucer was born around 1343 in London most likely in his house on Thomas Street near The Tower of London. His father, John Chaucer, was involved and did well in the wine business. Chaucer learned to read and write at a young age well before he went to school. He is believed to have attended St. Paul's Cathedral School where he first got inspired by works of Virgil and Ovid. In 1357 he became a page to Elizabeth Countess of Ulster. Two years later he served in the army for King Edward III in the Hundred Years War ("Geoffrey Chaucer ") .Then he got captured by the French in the Brittany Expedition of 1359, but was ransomed by the king. Chaucer got married in 1366 to Philippa de Roet and they had 3 or 4 children. He later became a member of Parliament for Kent and served as the Justice of Peace.

=Literary Works = Chaucer first published his poem The Book of the Duchess, a poem of over 1,300 lines, in 1370. This became one of his most recognized works. The poem uses dream-vision which came from French poetry in the 13th century. He was fluent in French, Italian, and Latin therefore making it easy to transfer many poem forms to Middle English (Miller 304). //The House of Fame //, another one of his famous poems, exceeds 2,000 lines. Chaucer used influences from Ovid, Virgil, and Dante making it an Italian based poem. Another one of his famous poems is //The Legend of Good Women // which is considered one of the first poems to influence English literature. In this poem Chaucer wrote about the good deeds of women. Chaucer's early literary works kept getting increasingly better which lead up to his most famous, //Canterbury Tales //.

Canterbury Tales
//Canterbury Tales // is a famous Illuminated Manuscript that combines a humorous allegory with beautiful poetry which makes it one of themost recognizable piece of English literature today. The poem is about a group of people going on a pilgrimage to visit Thomas Becket's shrine in Canterbury ("Geoffrey Chaucer-History ") <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">. They stop into an inn and tell stories to pass the time in a contest, the winner earning a free meal. It tells each story in the person's perspective and has a total of 24 tales some of which incomplete. This poem was one of the first to be written in the vernacular language of Middle English and probably the most important.It created a model for Shakespeare and Elizabethan dramatists. The //<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Canterbury Tales // is still read and looked up to today as one of the most important pieces of English literature.

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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Geoffrey Chaucer died on October 25, 1400 due to unknown causes at the age of 60. He was the first to be buried at Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey therefore in a way creating the famous corner where many poets are buried such as Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare. His gravestone has become the center of Poets Corner. ("Geoffrey Chaucer.Biography "3) <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Chaucer's work became much more famous after his death and after //<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Canterbury Tales // had been published the Canterbury Cathedral became very popular and many came to visit it. =====

=<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 17pt;">Summary = <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Geoffrey Chaucer is not only known for his contribution to English literature but to the English language as well. He had a humble beginning then grew to be in government writing in his spare time. He later wrote great literary works leading to his most famous //<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Canterbury Tales. // Chaucer also became the first to be buried in Poet's Corner a huge honor.His good humor and ability to tell an interesting story makes him one of the most famous and recognizable poets of all time.

= = =**__<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 17pt;">Citations __**= <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">"Geoffrey Chaucer." //<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">BBC-History //. N.p.. Web. 10 Jan 2014. <[]>.

"Geoffrey Chaucer.Biography ." //bio.true story//. N.p.. Web. 13 Jan 2014. [].

www.historylearningsite.co.uk › [|Medieval England]

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Miller, Robert. "Chaucer, Geoffrey ." //<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Academic American Encyclopedia //. 4. Danbury: 1985

"Geoffrey Chaucer-History ." //History Learning Site//. N.p.. Web. 13 Jan 2014. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/geoffrey-chaucer.htm>.