Geoffrey Chaucer Essay, Research Paper

?…I think some of Chaucer belongs to his time and that much of that

time is dead, extinct, and never to be made alive again. What was

alive in it, lives through him…?

–John Masefield

Geoffrey Chaucer?s world was the Europe of the fourteenth century.

It was neither rich or poor, happy nor sad. Rather, it was the

intermingling of these, a mixture of splendor and poverty, displaying

both worldly desire and spiritual purity. Chaucer?s travels through

it, mostly on ?the King?s business,? or civil service, shaped his

writing, offering the readers of today a brief glimpse into the world

in which he lived.

Chaucer lived from approximately AD 1340 to 1400. The world in which

he lived was not one of peace or stability. Born the son of a London

vintner, he remained a Londoner for most of the rest of his life,

leaving the city only on ?the King?s business?.

The city of London was thus Chaucer?s environment for most of his

life. Aside from brief visits into other countries or areas of

England, he remained in the city, and it?s affects on his writing was

immense.

London of that time was not the London of today. It was a walled

city, guarded against invasion, but long enough time had passed since

such a threat had approached that the defenses had loosened. Houses

perched upon the walls, and Chaucer in fact, lived for a time in a

house built over Aldgate, (one of the gates of the city).

London was a city less than three-quarters of a square mile in size:

It ran east and west along the Thames less than one and a half miles,

and extended northwards less than half a mile. Over 20,000 people

were packed into this small area; the diversity of the inhabitants was

overwhelming. Londoners ranged from wealthy to impoverished, from

small to large, from shoemaker to blacksmith to minstrel to priest.

The city was thus fairly close. Stone building mingled with tile,

wood, and thatch. While the major streets were fairly wide, small

shops and stands often spread out into the road, effectively narrowing

it by up to half it?s width. London Bridge (the only bridge in the

city) was home to a multitude of homes and shops, perched on top of

the span to conserve space.

Waste was disposed of simply. It was emptied out the windows into

the alley or street and slaughtering was done in he streets as well,

with scraps being tossed underfoot. Hogs were often used to keep the

streets clean, but were assisted by wild dogs and scavenger birds.

Open sewers ran through the streets and into the Thames.

Most of the rest of Chaucer?s life was open at the courts of the king

of England. Here a startling change was apparent. The filth of the

streets disappeared, to be replaced by the splendor so often

associated with royalty.

The royal court of England was home to many in Chaucer?s time.

Courtiers, pages, knights, nobles, princes, and of course the King and

Queen. Chaucer rose through the ranks of the king?s men, experiencing

all aspects of court life. He was a page, squire, court-bard,

counselor and finally courtier to various monarchs.

Many kings rose an fell in his lifetime. Chaucer began his life in

the king?s service in the reign of Edward III, and performed his

service a long while. He was important enough to Edward that he was

personally ransomed after being captured by the French in the war

between Edward and Charles, an honor usually reserved for nobles.

By 1378 Edward III had died, and Chaucer was the man of Richard II.

The country was caught up in a political battle between the nobles of

Gloucester and Lancaster. The actions of these two nobles sent

Chaucer reeling , his world constantly changing about him.

The only stable item in Chaucer?s world was religion. The

institution of religion, the church, was quite prominent and visible.

Cathedrals dotted the cities of the world, and even the smallest town

had a church.

The glory of the Church may even have outshone that of the royal

court. Cathedrals were brilliant with magnificent carvings, statues

of precious metals murals, holy artifacts, and many other gleaming

treasures. Even the smallest church was home to some splendor. The

glory of the church, and the power it put forth over the population

made it a major political power of the time.

Chaucer was born in the early 1340?s. Very little is known about the

first stage of his life. However, two items are fairly certain. It

appears that Chaucer was the son of a London vintner and relatively

strong evidence supports that he attended one of three

grammar-schools: either St.Paul?s, St. Mary-le-Bow?s or St.

Martin-le-Grand?s.

Aside from this slim bit of information details of Chaucer?s early

life are few. The next reliable bit of information places him at

around the age of fourteen, a page in the household of the wife of

Prince Lionel, the second son of Edward III. He held this position

for some time.

Chaucer?s first appearance into the king?s business appeared in

October of 1360, when he carried letters from Calais to England during

peace negotiations there. For this service he held the official title

of clerk of the king attached to the person of Prince Lionel.

In this way, Chaucer began his life of service to his king. In 1368,

Chaucer was awarded a royal reward for a long and valued service to

his job. His actual duties during this period were apparently fairly

hazy. He served as a sort of jack of all trades. The only thing we

know about Chaucer?s life between 1358 and 1367 is that he was

imprisoned in France, during the hundred years war, and was ransomed

in March of 1360, for a rather large sum.

In this time Chaucer also married Philippa Roet, lady in waiting to

the Queen. She bore at least two children, Thomas and ?Lyte Lowys,? a

child who was delighted in arithmetic.

Between 1368 and 1387, Chaucer undertook nearly a dozen diplomatic

missions to Flanders, France, and Italy. Most were important, many

were so secret that they were not mentioned in the histories of the

time at all. In 1381, Chaucer was sent to deal with marriage

negotiations between Richard II and the daughter of the French King.

While Chaucer was not on diplomatic missions, he was performing his

duties in the position for which he is best known, the Kings Custom

Service. From 1374 to 1386, he was the comptroller of London. When

he was removed from the post in 1386 he was instead granted the title

?Knight of the Shire?, an important Parliament post, and later was

placed as the Clerk of the King?s works at Westminster, the Tower, and

other royal property in South England.

Chaucer?s final post in the King?s service was that of the keeper of

the small royal forest of North Pertherton. He held this post twice,

from 1390 to 1391, and from 1397 to 1398.

In 1399, he settled in Westminster. On Christmas Eve he leased, for

fifty-three years, the garden of the monks of Westminster, to live in.

However, he did not live long to enjoy his retirement. Geoffrey

Chaucer died in October 25, 1400.

In a time when literacy was a luxury affordable only by the very

wealthy and powerful, Chaucer?s writings stand out as unique. The

main language of literature of the time was Latin. Literacy and

fluency in Latin were taught as early as literacy in English. In

fact, many people could read Latin yet had treat difficulty figuring

out the simplest English sentences.

What little literature was not written in Latin was written in

French. Latin and French poetry was widely recognized as being the

only real literature of any worth. This of course, makes Chaucer?s

works even more unusual. Unlike most of the other writers of the

time, Chaucer wrote his works in English. It was read in English to

the Royal Court upon completion.

Chaucer?s writing career was not completely original nor free of

influences. His first works borrowed heavily form French and Latin

poems, and it was only later that some of his works became more

original. For example, Chaucer?s first recorded poem (the Book of the

Duchess) the opening lines are simply translations of the openings of

Froissart?s Paradys d?Amour. While this is the most obvious use of

the French poem, other instances reminiscent of the work appear

throughout Chaucer?s poem. In the first part of Chaucer?s career as a

writer, it can be seen that his writing is restricted by a style made

popular at the time by French poetry.

As in the prominent French poetry of the time, the Book demonstrates

a love for detail and description. Chaucer never quite escapes the

French influences in his writing but escapes some areas of French

style.

It was not until Chaucer began writing his most well-known work The

Canterbury Tales, that he did this. Until this work, his writings

were simply translations of old myths, or barely original poems

written to fit the standards of French style. Chaucer wished to write

something more ambitious, original, and memorable. The Canterbury

Tales was the result. Chaucer?s style of writing in The Canterbury

Tales is quite different from his earlier works. Hidden within the

stories of the Pilgrims are sermons and scoldings about the world he

knew, and the evils he saw within it. The Canterbury Tales have no

single style throughout, to which each shorter story is fit. Rather,

Chaucer gives each section of the poem it?s own style. In fact, the

over-ruling style of Chaucer?s last work seems to be no style at all,

each work is written to fit the subject.

Chaucer worked throughout his life to break away from the molds which

society had set about poetry in general, and his work in specific.

Instead of forging beautifully crafted lies and tales about society,

his poetry held up a mirror to reflect reality as he saw it.

Chaucer?s growth out of the mold imposed by tradition is illustrated

by the steady departure of it in his writings. And his final works,

escaping at last form the accepted style, set the stage for the

beginnings of English literature.

Bibliography

Chute, Marchette. Geoffrey Chaucer of England. New York: E.P. Dutton

& Co, 1946.