Birth of Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer was born in 1343 in London. An English poet, Chaucer was also a courtier, diplomat and royal official who served under Edward III and Richard II. He is best known for The Canterbury Tales, an unfinished collection of stories told by pilgrims travelling from London to Canterbury, which presents a lively cross-section of medieval English society. Other major works include Troilus and Criseyde and The Book of the Duchess. By writing in Middle English rather than French or Latin, he helped to establish the vernacular as a language of serious literature. He was the first poet to be buried in what became Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey.

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