The Canterbury Tales - Softcover

Chaucer, Geoffrey

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1534671064 ISBN 13: 9781534671065

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016

Synopsis

The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer The Canterbury Tales (Middle English: Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of 24 stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer. In 1386, Chaucer became Controller of Customs and Justice of Peace and, three years later, Clerk of the King's work in 1389. It was during these years that Chaucer began working on his most famous text, The Canterbury Tales. The tales (mostly written in verse, although some are in prose) are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from London to Canterbury in order to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return.

About this title

About the Author:

Geoffrey Chaucer was born c1343 in London to a prosperous family of wine-merchants. Through his father’s connections, he began his official duties as page to the Countess of Ulster, the wife of Lionel, second son to the king, Edward III. Chaucer subsequently served as courtier, diplomat and civil servant while also establishing his poetic reputation. He appears to have travelled widely in Europe during his varied court career. He married Philippa de Roet, lady-in-waiting to the queen, and sister to Katherine Swynford, John of Gaunt’s third wife, and flourished under John of Gaunt’s patronage. His most prolific period of writing was during his time as comptroller of customs for the port of London, between 1374 and 1386, both Troilus and Criseyde, his finely constructed poem based on classical and Renaissance sources, and the early Canterbury Tales, his celebration of the English social landscape, dating from that time. Chaucer is thought to have died in October 1400, not long after the overthrow of his royal patron Richard II and the accession of Henry IV, and he was buried in Westminster Abbey, that being his right as a tenant of the Abbey Close, in what has become known as Poet’s Corner. His son Thomas had a significant career at the court of successive kings, and as Speaker of the House of Commons.

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1534671064
• ISBN 13: 9781534671065
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 374