Geoffrey Chaucer, a man known as the father of English literature, was THE master of poetry and verse in the 14th century prior to William Shakespeare. Chaucer wrote during a time in England when Latin was considered the ‘grammatica’ (aka language that would not change), and most of the upper class English spoke French fluently. The most popular of his works is The Canterbury Tales, which we will discuss for a bit later in the podcast, and he saw the reign of three different kings during his days on earth. Oddly enough, there are just about five hundred “records” of his life that we still have today, all of which pertain to his courtly and civic posts, awards he received through his life, and also where he lived; however, not one of the existing records mentions anything whatsoever of Chaucer’s career as a poet. Why do these kind of records overshadow his literary works? Well, probably because Chaucer was actually kind of a big deal at court, holding positions of high esteem as a courtier, diplomat, and civil servant. For a time, he was additionally a member of Parliament, and saw his best friend’s son become King Henry IV just before his death. There may not be a plethora of information about good old Geoff, but the history we do have is absolutely fascinating. So let’s dive into this week’s episode of Legacy and learn about the life and works of Geoffrey Chaucer.