British Literature: Chaucer

A Credo Reference landing page on Geoffrey Chaucer. This page includes links to reference works, journal articles, and a mind map.

This video covers the life of English author, poet, philosopher, courtier, and diplomat Geoffrey Chaucer to middle age. Chaucer's 14th-century saw him survive the Black Death as a child, the plague that wiped out a third of the population of Europe, and become actively involved, both as a soldier and later as a secret agent, in the 100 Years' War—a war that was to leave England devastated. Despite these man-made and natural catastrophes, English literature went through a short Renaissance, and the program hints as to why this might have happened while considering the leading role that Chaucer was to play in it. Terry Jones (Monty Python) stars.

A journey through some selected works, including "Piers Ploughman" and "The Canterbury Tales", highlights the rise of vernacular English poetry in the 14th century, with English also becoming a principle vehicle for religious writing.

Written in the 14th century, The Canterbury Tales has stood the test of time as a landmark in the development of English literature. This innovative "frame story" owes its classic standing and impact to the diversity both of the narrators and of the styles of tales they tell. In this program, expert commentators Dr. Christiania Whitehead and Dr. Peter Mack, both of the University of Warwick, discuss the tradition of 14th-century poetry, the General Prologue, Chaucer’s social grouping of the pilgrims and the themes they explore, and the poem as a reflection of medieval English society. Dramatic reenactments of the pilgrims on horseback and numerous period images help bring the tales to life.