who is the father of english literature

Video Who is the father of English literature on October 25, 1400, English poet Geoffrey Chaucer passed away. Known as the Father of English Literature, Chaucer is considered by many to be the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages. Today he is best known for The Canterbury Tales and was the first poet to be buried in the Poets’ Corner of Westminster Abbey. which vertu engendred is flour; Whan Zephirus eek with his sweet breeze Inspired in every dance and heeth The tere croppes, and yonge sonne Hath in Ram his half cours yronne, And the smale foweles maken melody, That slpen al the nyght with open ye (So piketh hem nature in hir corages); Thanne longs for the folk to go on pilgrimage. – Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue, l. 1-12 Reading: who is the father of English literature The first written mention of his name can be found in 1357 in the household book of the Countess of Ulster, Elizabeth de Burgh, wife of Prince Lionel by Antwerp. Lionel, son of King Edward III, was one of the commanders of the invasion of France in 1359. Chaucer also joined the war as a soldier and in 1360 was captured by the French at Reims in a briefly, but was acquired for £16. During the peace negotiations in Calais, which began shortly thereafter, he was a courier serving Lionel. , who granted Chaucer and three companions a free escort across his kingdom to the Castilian frontier. In the following years, Chaucer continued to carry out diplomatic missions on behalf of the king of England. came to England on the judgment of the king’s wife. From 1367, Geoffrey Chaucer was considered a member of the royal family, sometimes a valet, sometimes a squire, at least as a member of a group of about 40 men. common use in the imperial court. . He probably also studied at the Inns of Court, London Law School. From 1366 to 1370, he was sent abroad four times by royal order and toured France, Flanders, and perhaps Italy. Top Q & AH His first literary achievement was probably the translation of his French Novel into Chinese English. His first poem is considered the Book of the Duchess, a eulogy dedicated to Blanche of Lancaster, who died in 1368. 1372-73 he traveled Genoa and Florence on a royal commission. During this journey he learned Italian and was probably also exposed to the poems of Boccaccio . [1] and Dante [2] for the first time, after the model he wrote then Canterbury Tales.Career and Downfall In 1374, he was appointed customs inspector for the export of wool, fur and leather. At that time wool was Britain’s most important export. From 1380, a court document circulated, in which Chaucer was exonerated for causing a state of infatuation with a baker’s daughter. Researchers are still debating whether this crime can be translated as “rape” or “kidnapping”. After 1382 he increasingly delegated work in the customs office to his deputies, and in 1385 he moved to Kent. A year later, he represented the district in the House of Commons, the British House of Commons. all his offices have been revoked. In 1387, Chaucer’s wife died, and despite his former ordinary income, he now accumulates debts. In 1390, Richard II appointed him secretary of works, that is, overseer of royal building projects. In this function, he was robbed by brigands in September of the same year; some researchers suspect that Chaucer orchestrated the robbery to settle his debts with the money allegedly robbed. After only a year, his office was revoked. Instead, he was appointed forest supervisor of the royal forests in North Petherton, Somerset County, and maintained contact with the court in the following years. During this time, most of the Stories of Canterbury also surfaced. however, the poem Chaucer’s Complaint with His Wallet attributed to Chaucer is interpreted as an indication that the money has not been paid. He again settled in London, but died a year later, probably on 25 October 1400 – at least this is the date that can be read on his tomb today; However, it was not erected until the 16th century. Although Old English produced a rich literature in the early Middle Ages, this writing tradition came to an abrupt end after the invasion of Normans in 1066. Since then, French or English-Norman has been the language of the educated and elite. It was not until the 14th century that English regained its prestige and Chaucer was one of the first to use it as a literary language and is therefore considered the “father of English literature”. His work is strongly influenced by archaic, French and Italian models, but also contains the innovations related to measure, style and content that forged the independence of early English literature. . Most of the Canterbury stories were written after 1388, during Chaucer’s “English” period. His literary model, however, was Boccaccio’s Decamerone (1353).[1] From this collection of 100 novel maps, Chaucer first adopted the organizing principle of the frame plot; The stories themselves are Chaucer’s original creation. The famous opening passage provides the background to the event: the poet is on a pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury.[3] In a pub on the outskirts of London, he joins a group of 29 like-minded people and joins them. The owner suggests that each pilgrim should tell two stories on the way back and forth, also with the ulterior motive of keeping guests in the drinking mood. In the opening paragraph, Chaucer characterizes each pilgrim in short but very realistic portraits. The result was a diminished image of British society at the time, because every class was represented, from knights to nuns to peasants. A pilgrimage is the only plausible occasion on which such a colorful society might actually find one another, and thus the plot framework proves to be a realist tool. Fragments. The variety of Canterbury Tales is what makes them so appealing. Chaucer has provided each of his pilgrims with a distinctive language and a tailored story, so that a multitude of different genres exist side-by-side, yet showing a unity through the plot. In this way, Chaucer was able to combine pious legends of the saints, court poetry, and crude swings in an elegant and non-contradictory manner. In recent times, interpretations of the Canterbury Tale as satire on the estates have proved particularly effective. References and Further Reading:

[1] Boccaccio and his Decameron, SciHi Blog
[2] Dante Alighieri and the Divine Comedy, SciHi Blog
[3] The Assassination of Thomas Becket, SciHi . Blog
[4] Geoffrey Chaucer at the Encyclopdia Britannica
[5] Works by or about Geoffrey Chaucer at Wikisource
[6] Digitized version of the Caxton edition of the Canterbury Story by Geoffrey Chaucer (1476-83), at the British Library
[7] Geoffrey Chaucer at Wikidata
[8] Timeline for Geoffrey Chaucer, via Wikidata