n“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” (anonymous author) n. William Langland “The Vision of Piers Plowman”
Geoffrey Chaucer 1340(3)-1400
n 1340 (3) - was born in London to a family of a wine merchant
n 1357 – became a page to a lady at the court of Edward III
n 1360 – was in France serving as a squire, imprisoned by the French, participated in peace negotiations with France
1362 – passed into attendance on John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the fourth son of the king n 1367 – was granted a life pension n
n 1373 -1376 – travelled much (France, Italy)
n 1376 – occupied the post of the Controller of Customs in the port of London
1380 – was appointed “Knight for the shire of Kent” n 1386 - withdrawal from London n
n 1389 – returned to London and was appointed a Clerk of the King’s Works
n 1400 – died and was buried in Westminster Abbey (Poet’s Corner)
Chaucer’s work: the 1 st period – earliest poems (imitation of the French romances) 1368 – “The Book of the Duchess” n the 2 nd period – Italian influence, poems “The House of Fame”, “The Legend of Good Women” 1372 n the 3 d period – 1384 when he started “The Canterbury Tales” n
“Canterbury Tales’’ an unfinished collection of tales told in the course of a pilgrimage to Canterbury, to the place where Thomas a Becket was buried. n
n 30 pilgrims
Chaucer’s contribution to literature: n The “Canterbury Tales” sums up all types of stories that existed in the Middle Ages.
n Chaucer was the creator of a new literary language. He chose to write in a popular tongue bringing together the OE and French influences.