The Canterbury Tales

Before he wrote The Canterbury Tales, the work which has earned him fame as poetic master of Middle English, Chaucer worked in British public service. In this career, he was a French prisoner of war in England's 1359 invasion, travelled extensively as a diplomat, and even served in Parliament (1386). Chaucer translated the works of several French and Italian poets, studying romances by whose style he appears to have been greatly influenced. The Canterbury Tales, in which Chaucer incorporated many of his earlier works, recounts a story-telling contest held by a group of pilgrims travelling to Canterbury.