So, the next really significant step in the development of the English language — in the development of both our language and certainly our literature— is Geoffrey Chaucer and his Canterbury Tales. And there is no way I can overstate Chaucer’s important place in the history of our language. It，s easy to remember his time on the historical timeline of the English language—he died in the year 1400，at the very beginning of the fifteenth century. England had been under Norman-French rule for three hundred years by then——ever since the Norman Conquest in 1066. With William the Conqueror, Norman-French had become the language of power and commerce in England. In fact, the court of Chaucer’s king, King Richard the Second, was probably the first English-speaking English court since the Conquest. So, for the previous three hundred years, England had been more or less bilingual, practically speaking. The Anglo-Saxon or Germanic English of the commori people, and the Anglo-Norman-French of the court and the clergy and the schoolmen——these had been influencing each other for a long, long time.

Geoffrey Chaucer wasn’t an aristocrat, but he came from a very well-to-do family, and as a young man, he was sent into royal serviceat as first as a sort of butler. This was a common practice in those days, a way to advance a family’s fortunes. In his long career, Chaucer held many jobs. He was by turns a soldier, a courier, a diplomat and a public official. Consequently, he travelled widely in England—and to France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands—Consequently, he travelled widely in England—and to France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands—and he spoke French, Italian and Latin. So it should be no surprise that his greatest work, The Canterbury Tales, strongly reflects the influence of the continental writers, both in style and in content.