Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer had a busy official life, as an esquire to royalty, as the comptroller of the customs for the port of London, as an active player in important diplomatic missions, and in a variety of other official duties. All this is richly recorded in literally hundreds of documents. But such documents tell us little about Chaucer the man and poet. Chaucer himself tells us very little about himself. He is a lively presence in …

…from Chaucer is the record of his deposition in the Scrope-Grosvener Trial. It reveals Chaucer as a curious and sociable character, rather like the man who scurried about meeting and talking to all the nine and twenty pilgrims that gathered at the Tabard. By the 1380's Chaucer had earned wide admiration for his work, and a number of contemporaries mention Chaucer and his poetry. Naturally enough, they describe Chaucer's works rather than Chaucer the man.