Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer, also known as the father of English Literature, was a medieval poet, who wrote one of the most famous of English texts, The Canterbury Tales. Born around the year 1342 to a wine merchant and a heiress, he was well educated, although it is unknown if he received any higher education. As well as knowing several languages, he was also educated in astronomy, medicine, physics, and alchemy. He later became a servant to the Countess of Ulster in 1357, where he traveled to France. He was captured in France while fighting. King Edward III paid 16 million pounds toward Chaucer’s ransom, and after a year or two, Chaucer entered royal service to the king. It is thought that it was in France where Chaucer found his passion for writing. It is during this time that he wrote the Canterbury Tales. Chaucer died in 1400 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. What makes Chaucer’s style so unique is that it is much different from previous English texts, such as those of the Anglo-Saxon period. Chaucer’s work is much more detail oriented, and it is more subtle in the messages that it gets across to its audience.

http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/chaucer.htm
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03642b.htm