The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories in verse and prose by Geoffrey Chaucer, written in Middle English. It presents a group of pilgrims travelling from Southwark to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury, who agree to pass the journey by telling tales. Their varied social classes, including a knight, a miller, a prioress and the Wife of Bath, allow Chaucer to range across romance, comedy, satire and moral tale, while the General Prologue paints sharp portraits of each pilgrim. He began it in the 1380s and left it unfinished at his death in 1400. It is regarded as one of the foundations of English literature, and was among the earliest books printed in England by William Caxton.
Before and after
- 1386Construction of Heidelberg University
- 1386Construction of Milan Cathedral
- 1386Birth of Donatello
- from 1386 to 1395Tokhtamysh–Timur War
- 1387Publication of The Canterbury Tales
- from 1389 to 1392Lithuanian Civil War of 1389–92
- 1389Death of Hafez
- 1390Birth of Jan van Eyck
- c. 1390The Kingdom of Kongo is founded
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- July 1054East-West Schism
- from 11th century to 14th centuryOrigins of Catharism
- 1320The Divine Comedy
- from 14th century to 17th centuryRenaissance
- 1469Origins of Sikhism
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 14th century.