Lesson video

Who was was Geoffrey Chaucer? Considered by many to be the father of English poetry, Chaucer was the author of the first book ever written in English and published in England, the only first remaining edition of which sold for over $4 million pounds at auction.

He was the first person to be buried in Poet's Corner at Westminster Abbey in London and gave us 2,000 words in the English language, from box and desk to princess and universe and even snort and fart.

Hello, and welcome to the first lesson about "The Canterbury Tales" general prologue.

My name is Ms. King, and today, we'll be learning about Chaucer and why he is still important.

For today's lesson, all you'll need is a pen and paper or something to write on and with.

Please take a moment now to clear away any distractions including turning off the notifications on any apps or conversations you have running if you know how to.

Finally, if you can, try to find a quiet place where you won't be disturbed during the lesson.

Okay, so, when you're ready, let's begin.

First, we're going to learn when Chaucer was alive and what we know about his life before moving on to find out what he wrote and why he is still important today.

So when was Chaucer alive? Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London in about 1342.

That's during the 14th century.

This time period is known as the Middle Ages.

When Chaucer was born, Edward III was king.

Now, pause the video, copy out and complete the sentences below filling in the gaps using the words at the bottom.

Resume the video once you're finished.

Well done.

Let's have a look at what you got and see if you got them right.

When was Chaucer alive? Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London in about 1342 during the 14th century.

This time period is known as the Middle Ages.

When Chaucer was born, Edward III was king.

Now, what do we know about Chaucer? What do we know about Chaucer's childhood? Well, he was the son of a vintner.

That means a wine merchant, someone who made a living selling wine.

As a child, he worked as a page boy, a young male servant or messenger to the Duke of Lancaster.

He was also a solider.

Chaucer fought in the Hundred Years War against France when he was only 17.

Pause the video now to complete your task.

What do we know about Chaucer's childhood? You can use the sentence starts to help you.

Resume the video once you're finished.

Great work.

Your sentences might look something like this.

Don't worry if you phrase them differently.

What's important is that the facts are the same.

Chaucer's father was a vintner or wine merchant.

As a child, Chaucer worked as a page boy, a type of servant.

When he was only 17, Chaucer fought as a soldier in France.

Now, which jobs did Chaucer do? Well, he was a courtier.

That's a companion or advisor to the king or queen.

He also worked as a diplomat, an official who represents their country abroad.

And finally, he also worked as a civil servant.

That's someone who works for the government.

And he did these jobs for three kings, Edward III, Richard II, and Henry IV.

Let's check your understanding.

What is a courtier? Well done.

A courtier is a companion or advisor to the king or queen.

What is a diplomat? Excellent.

A diplomat is an official who represents their country abroad.

And finally, what is a civil servant? Brilliant work.

A civil servant is someone who works for the government.

Now let's see if you can remember how many kings did Chaucer work for and what jobs did he do? Pause the video now to complete your task.

I'm going to show what an acceptable answer looks like and then what a really good answer would look like.

So first of all, an acceptable answer.

Chaucer worked for three kings.

A really good answer, Chaucer worked as a courtier, diplomat, and civil servant for Edward III, Richard II, and Henry IV.

Now, what skills did Chaucer have? Well firstly, Chaucer knew lots of languages.

He spoke French, which was the language of the court at the time.

He knew Latin and Italian.

As well as his knowledge of languages, Chaucer was also skilled in the sciences.

He was familiar with astronomy, medicine, physics, and alchemy.

Alchemy is a practise that people in the Middle Ages believed could turn other metals into gold.

Now, let's check your understanding.

Which of these is not a language that Chaucer knew? Yes, the correct answer was Spanish, because Chaucer knew French, Italian, and Latin.

So, moving on.

What did Chaucer write? Well, most of Chaucer's writing falls into two categories.

Firstly, epic poems. Epic poems are long narrative poems. That means they tell a story.

They're set in the past.

They involve the gods and at least one hero.

If you completed unit two, you might already know about epic poems. The second type of poem that Chaucer wrote were called dream visions.

These are poems where the narrator falls asleep and has a dream in which they learn truths or knowledge that they did not have before.

So the most important works that Chaucer wrote are "The Book of the Duchess".

That's a dream vision poem written in memory of the wife of John of Gaunt.

"Anelida and Arcite", an epic poem that tells the story of Anelida, Queen of Armenia, and her lover Arcite from Greece.

"The House of Fame", a poem in which a poet has a dream that teaches him about the true meaning of fame.

Right 1382 must have been a pretty busy year for Chaucer.

He wrote "Troilus and Criseyde", an epic poem about the unfortunate love of Troilus and Criseyde in Ancient Troy, and "The Parlement of Foules".

This is one of my personal favourites.

It's a dream vision in which a group of birds gather on Valentine's Day to choose their mate for the year.

Later on, he wrote "The Legend of Good Women", a dream vision which tells of 10 women who died for love.

"The Canterbury Tales", which we'll be learning lots more about in this lesson and following lessons.

And finally, "A Treatise on the Astrolabe", which teaches the reader how to use a tool of astronomy.

Phew, what a lot of poems. So can you match the type of poem to its definition? Well done.

An epic poem is a long poem which tells a story, usually set in the past, and involving the gods and at least one hero, whereas a dream vision is a poem in which the narrator falls asleep and has a dream in which they learn truths or knowledge that they did not have before.

Now, which type of poem is which? Yes, "The Parlement of Foules" is a dream vision, whereas "Troilus and Criseyde" is an epic poem.

We will be looking at the structure and content of "The Canterbury Tales" in more detail in future lessons.

But as a brief introduction today, "The Canterbury Tales" is an epic poem written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the Middle Ages.

It's the story of a group of pilgrims on their journey from the Tabard Inn in Southwark, London, to visit the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.

This journey is called a pilgrimage.

Along the journey, the pilgrims hold a storytelling competition.

Each pilgrim tells a story, with the best storyteller winning a prize on their return.

So, he lived a very long time ago.

Why is Chaucer still important today? Well, he was the first person who wrote literature in English.

He invented over 2,000 English words.

He inspired many writers, including William Shakespeare.

And his greatest work, "The Canterbury Tales", is one of the most important pieces of writing in English.

Chaucer invented over 2,000 English words, including galaxy, village, theatre, box, princess, rumour, nod, universe, scissors, bagpipe, accident, horizon, words which you will definitely be familiar with and that we use everyday.

Which of these is not a word that Chaucer invented? Well done.

Chaucer did not invent the word poetry, but he did give us accident, theatre, and scissors.

Which Shakespeare plays were inspired by Chaucer? Firstly, Shakespeare's play "Troilus and Cressida" funnily enough was based on Chaucer's "Troilus and Criseyde".

His play "The Two Noble Kinsmen" was inspired by "The Knight's Tale", which is covered in unit five.

And even "Romeo and Juliet" was influenced by Chaucer.

The Queen Mab speech given by Mercutio is partly based on "The Parlement of Foules".

Now, let's see what you've learnt today.

I would like you to write an answer to this question.

Who was Chaucer and why is he still important today? You can use these sentence starts to help you.

Try to include as many of the words next to each sentence start as you can in that sentence.

So for example, your sentence which begins Geoffrey Chaucer lived should include the words Middle Ages, 14th century, and Edward III.

Pause the video now to complete your task.

Now, let's have a look at some example answers.

You may wish to pause the video after each one and compare your own work.

First, an acceptable answer.

This is accurate but lacking in detail.

Geoffrey Chaucer lived in the Middle Ages.

He worked as a page boy and later became a solider.

As an adult, he was a courtier, diplomat, and civil servant under three kings.

He is famous for writing "The Canterbury Tales" and several other epic poems and dream visions.

Chaucer is still important today because he was the first person to write literature in English.

His contributions to English language and literature include inspiring William Shakespeare and inventing lots of new words.

Now, a good answer.

This has a lot more specific detail and shows a better understanding of Chaucer and why he's important.

Geoffrey Chaucer lived in the 14th century, during a time period known as the Middle Ages.

He was born in 1342 when King Edward III was on the throne.

He worked as a page boy and later become a solider, fighting against France in the Hundred Years War.

As an adult, Chaucer worked as a courter, diplomat, and civil servant under three kings: Edward III, Richard II, and Henry IV.

He knew French, Latin, and Italian as well as many sciences including astronomy, medicine, physics, and alchemy.

He is famous for writing "The Canterbury Tales", as well as several other epic poems such as Troilus and Criseyde and dream visions such as "The Parlement of Foules".

Chaucer is still important today because he was the first person to write literature in English and is sometimes called the father of English poetry.

His contributions to English language and literature include inspiring William Shakespeare to write works such as "Troilus and Cressida" and "The Two Noble Kinsmen" and inventing over 2,000 new words.

That brings us to the end of today's lesson.

A really big well done on all the fantastic learning you've achieved today.

I've got two final things I'd like you to do now.

First, don't forget to complete the quiz.

Secondly, if you're able to, please take a picture of your work and ask your parent or carer to share it with your teacher so they can see all the fantastic things you've learned today.

Well, all that's left for me to say is thank you.

Take care, and enjoy the rest of your learning for today.