The Canterbury Tales

Geoffrey Chaucer's life (c.1345-1400) spanned a time of extreme turmoil and social upheaval. When he was a small child, the Black Death wiped out around a third of the population of Europe. Chaucer lived through the Peasant's Revolt of 1381, parts of the Hundred Years War and the overthrow of King Richard II. In 1374, he was appointed to the senior position of controller of export taxes on wool, sheepskin and leather and wrote poetry in the evening. He died in 1400 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.