Geoffrey Chaucer

Introduction & Top Questions
Forebears and early years
Diplomat and civil servant
The middle years: Political and personal anxieties
Last years and The Canterbury Tales
Descendants and legacy

Quotes References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Illuminated manuscript page showing Geoffrey Chaucer riding a horse, dressed in dark robes, with ornate decorative borders and Gothic script text from the Canterbury Tales.

A vintage sepia-toned image of two women embracing.

Compare Middle English and modern English readings of the opening lines of The Canterbury Tales

Follow a dramatization of the “Pardoner's Prologue” from Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

At a Glance

Geoffrey Chaucer summary

Quizzes

Row of colorful books on a bookshelf. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society

The Literary World

Edgar Allan Poe 1848. Photo of daguerreotype by W.S. Hartshorn 1848; copyright 1904 by C.T. Tatman. Edgar Allan Poe, American poet, short story writer, editor and critic. Edgar Allen Poe

Who Wrote It?

Illustration of "The Lamb" from "Songs of Innocence" by William Blake, 1879. poem; poetry

A Study of Poetry

4:043 Dickinson, Emily: A Life of Letters, This is my letter to the world/That never wrote to me; I'll tell you how the Sun Rose/A Ribbon at a time; Hope is the thing with feathers/That perches in the soul

Famous Poets and Poetic Form

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) only confirmed photograph of Emily Dickinson. 1978 scan of a Daguerreotype. ca. 1847; in the Amherst College Archives. American poet. See Notes:

Poetry: First Lines

Related Questions

How did Geoffrey Chaucer begin his career at the royal court?
How did Geoffrey Chaucer use humor to explore serious ideas?
How did Italian writers influence Geoffrey Chaucer’s poetry?
How did the Statute of Pleading of 1362 affect the use of English in court proceedings?
How do free will and fate shape Troilus and Criseyde?
How does Geoffrey Chaucer explore love in Parlement of Foules?
How does Pandarus affect the relationship between Troilus and Criseyde?
How does The Canterbury Tales explore the relationship between worldly pleasure and spiritual aspiration?
How does the General Prologue introduce the pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales?
How does the ending of Troilus and Criseyde contrast earthly love with divine love?
How many pilgrims travel in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales?
How many tales are told in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales?
How was Geoffrey Chaucer released after his capture at the siege of Reims?
What are the links between tales in The Canterbury Tales?
What happens in Geoffrey Chaucer’s House of Fame?
What happens in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Parlement of Foules?
What is rhyme royal, and how did Geoffrey Chaucer use it?
What is the plot of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde?
What kind of work did Geoffrey Chaucer do in the royal government?
What philosophical ideas from Boethius appear in Geoffrey Chaucer’s writing?
When did Geoffrey Chaucer write The Canterbury Tales?
When was Geoffrey Chaucer born and when did he die?
Where do the pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales begin their journey?
Where was Geoffrey Chaucer born?
Which dialect of Middle English did Geoffrey Chaucer use?
Which genres appear in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales?
Which major literary genres did Geoffrey Chaucer use in his writing?
Which royal buildings did Geoffrey Chaucer help maintain as clerk of the king’s works?
Which social groups are represented among the pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales?
Which works by Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio influenced Geoffrey Chaucer?
Who organizes the storytelling contest in The Canterbury Tales?
Who were Geoffrey Chaucer’s parents?
Why are the pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales traveling to Canterbury?
Why did Geoffrey Chaucer change from octosyllabic couplets to 10-syllable lines?
Why does Criseyde leave Troy in Troilus and Criseyde?
Why does the god of love order Geoffrey Chaucer to write Legend of Good Women?
Why is The Canterbury Tales unfinished?
Why was Geoffrey Chaucer buried in Westminster Abbey?
Why was Geoffrey Chaucer captured in France in 1359?
What did Geoffrey Chaucer do for a living?
What is Geoffrey Chaucer known for?
What is The Canterbury Tales?
What did Margaret Atwood invent?
What awards did Margaret Atwood win?
What is Margaret Atwood best known for?
What were Sir Walter Scott’s influences?
What did Sir Walter Scott write?
What jobs did Sir Walter Scott have?
What is Rudyard Kipling known for?

Literature Poetry Poets A-K

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External Websites

BBC - The Forum - Chaucer, father of English poetry
Harvard's Geoffrey Chaucer Website - About Chaucer
ABC listen - You're Dead to Me - Geoffrey Chaucer: the medieval father of English literature
History of Parliament Online - Geoffrey Chaucer
Poetry Foundation - Geoffrey Chaucer
Poets.org - Geoffrey Chaucer
World History Encyclopedia - Geoffrey Chaucer
Westminster Abbey - Geoffrey Chaucer
Humanities LibreTexts - Geoffrey Chaucer
Historic UK - Geoffrey Chaucer
Official Site The Chaucer Heritage Trust
University of Glasgow - The World of Chaucer

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

Geoffrey Chaucer - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Geoffrey Chaucer

English writer

Written by

R.M. Lumiansky

Professor of English, New York University, New York City, 1975–83. Author of Of Sondry Folk: The Dramatic Principle in the Canterbury Tales and others.

R.M. Lumiansky

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Oct. 21, 2026 •History

Geoffrey Chaucer (born c. 1342/43, London?, England—died October 25, 1400, London) was the outstanding English poet before William Shakespeare and “the first finder of our language.” His masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, ranks as one of the greatest poetic works in the English language. Chaucer also contributed importantly in the second half of the 14th century to the management of public affairs as a courtier, diplomat, and civil servant. In that career he was trusted and...

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