22 Dec Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer was probably born in 1343 or 1344 in London. Today he’s remembered as the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and the “Father of English Literature”. In 1387 he started writing The Canterbury Tales, in which a disparate group of people tell stories during a pilgrimage to Canterbury. There are 24 stories in all and Chaucer left the work unfinished in 1400. The characters include the virtuous Knight, the devout Parson, the odious Pardoner, the dishonest Miller and the uninhibited Wife of Bath.

Chaucer is thought to have died in 1400 in London. He was buried in Westminster Abbey because he was a tenant of the Abbey’s close. In 1556 his remains were moved to an ornate tomb, thereby becoming the first writer to be buried in the area of the Abbey now called Poets’ Corner. Also in London are busts at the Red Lion Inn (on Parliament Street) and Temple Bar (on Fleet Street). Canterbury celebrates him with a life-size statue in Three Cities Garden and a tourist attraction called The Canterbury Tales.