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Geoffrey Chaucer Biography
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Life of Geoffrey Chaucer
circa 1340-1400
Chaucer was born in London about 1340. His father and
grandfather were vintners, who belonged to the upper class of
merchants. Our first knowledge of Geoffrey Chaucer is obtained from
the household accounts of the Princess Elizabeth, daughter-in-law of
Edward III, in whose family Chaucer was a page. An entry shows that
she bought him a fine suit of clothes, including a pair of red and
black breeches. Such evidence points to the fact that he was early
accustomed to associating with the nobility, and enables us to
understand why he and the author of Piers Plowman regard life from
different points of view.
In 1359 Chaucer accompanied the English army to France and was taken
prisoner. Edward III thought enough of the youth to pay for his
ransom. After his return he was
made valet of the king's chamber. The duties of that office "consisted
in making the royal bed, holding torches, and carrying messages."
Later, Chaucer became a squire.
In 1370 he was sent to the continent on a diplomatic mission. He seems
to have succeeded so well that during the next ten years he was
repeatedly sent abroad in the royal service. He visited Italy twice
and may thus have met the Italian poet Petrarch. These journeys
inspired Chaucer with a desire to study Italian literature,--a
literature that had just been enriched by the pens of Dante and
Boccaccio.
We must next note that Chaucer's life was not that of a poetic
dreamer, but of a stirring business man. For more than twelve years he
was controller of customs for London. This office necessitated
assessing duties on wools, skins, wines, and candles. Only a part of
this work could be performed by deputy. He was later overseeing clerk
of the king's works. The repeated selection of Chaucer for foreign and
diplomatic business shows that he was considered sagacious as well as
trustworthy. Had he not kept in close touch with life, he could never
have become so great a poet. In this connection we may remark that
England's second greatest writer, Milton, spent his prime in attending
to affairs of state. Chaucer's busy life did not keep him from
attaining third place on the list of England's poets.
There are many passages of autobiographical interest in his poems. He
was a student of books as well as of men, as is shown by these lines
from the Hous of Fame:
"For whan thy labour doon al is,
And halt y-maad thy rekeninges,
In stede of rest and newe thinges,
Thou gost hoom to thy hous anoon,
And, also domb as any stoon,
Thou sittest at another boke,
Til fully daswed is thy loke,
And livest thus as an hermyte."
In 1386 Chaucer was elected member of Parliament from Kent, and the
distinctly English period of his life and work begins. Though exceedingly
busy in public affairs and as receiver of customs, his heart was still with
his books.
Chaucer was pensioned by three kings, Edward III, Richard II, and
Henry IV. Before the reign of Henry IV., Chaucer's pensions were
either not always regularly paid, or they were insufficient for
certain emergencies, as he complained of poverty in his old age. The
pension of Henry IV. in 1399 must have been ample, however; since in
that year Chaucer leased a house in the garden of a chapel at
Westminster for as many of fifty-three years as he should live. He had
occasion to use this house but ten months, for he died in 1400.
He may be said to have founded the Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey,
as he was the first of the many great authors to be buried there.
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